11 Amazing Things You Can Do With Godot (Even If You’re New!) – A Journey From Global Game Jam to Our Local Godot Workshop
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Alright, let me start by saying this: I’m a doctor. Yep, the kind with a stethoscope and everything. But here’s the twist—I also code. Weird combo, right? Well, it gets weirder.
My coding journey took an unexpected turn when I decided to dive into game development—not for me, but for my son. He’s at that age where he loves games, but I wanted him to make them instead of just playing them all day. So yeah, enter Godot , the underdog engine that turned out to be way more than I bargained for.
Now, before we get into the juicy stuff—like how you can whip up an FPS game in less than five minutes or why shaders are secretly magical—I need to set the stage. This whole adventure started during the Global Game Jam , which was basically a caffeine-fueled rollercoaster ride of creativity and sleep deprivation.
I made something cool—a VR experience designed to help ADHD folks relax (because hey, as a doctor, I like solving problems). It was built using JavaScript, and while it worked well enough, recreating it in Godot later blew my mind. Sure, it ran a bit slower on the web, but holy smokes, did it feel polished!
Fast forward to now: after the jam, some friends and I decided to keep the momentum going. We formed a little Godot Workshop —three weeks, three meetings, and zero regrets. Let me tell you, these past few weeks have been wild. Some of us were complete newbies to Godot, others had dabbled in Unity or Unreal Engine, but none of us expected to progress so fast. By the end of week three, we’d created demos that even impressed our seasoned developer pals. And trust me, they weren’t shy about telling us how “impossible” it was supposed to be.
So, without further ado, here’s what we learned—and why you should give Godot a shot too. Spoiler alert: it’s not just powerful; it’s FUN.
1. Whip Up an FPS Game Faster Than Brewing Coffee
Seriously, in less than five minutes, you can have a fully functional first-person shooter. Movement controls? Check. Camera following your player around like a loyal puppy? Double check. Action mechanics? Oh yeah. The best part? You don’t need to write pages of code. Godot makes it ridiculously easy to prototype ideas quickly.
Want to add jumping or crouching? Just tweak a couple of settings. Done. Honestly, if I could’ve done this back in med school, I would’ve spent less time studying anatomy and more time making games about skeletons fighting each other. Priorities, am I right?
While there are many tutorials, that takes 20+ mins to do that, it can be done faster soon as you know your way around the right Nodes.
2. Smooth Camera Follows Are Ridiculously Easy, 2D and 3D
Here’s a tip for beginners: getting the camera to smoothly follow your character is one of those things that sounds simple until you actually try it. In Godot? Piece of cake. There’s this nifty trick where you attach the camera to your player node and adjust its transition speed. Boom—instant cinematic vibes.
Watching your tiny 3D dude run around feels oddly satisfying, like watching your kid take their first steps. Except this time, no one trips over furniture.
It also works in 2D, with simple drag-and-drop your camera within the player scene tree, and you are done.
3. Collision Detection That Doesn’t Make You Cry
If you’ve ever tried setting up collision detection in another engine, you know it can feel like wrestling a greased-up octopus. Not in Godot. Whether you’re working in 2D or 3D, collisions are intuitive and straightforward.
Drag-and-drop shapes, tweak properties, and voilà—you’ve got walls that stop players from walking through them. No tears required.
4. Greyboxing Like a Pro
Greyboxing used to intimidate me because it sounded fancy and technical. Turns out, it’s just building levels with basic shapes before adding details. In Godot, it’s laughably easy. Throw down some cubes, stretch them into walls or platforms, and suddenly you’ve got a playable level. It’s like playing with LEGO blocks, except now you’re officially a game designer. Congrats!
5. Grid Maps = Instant Level Design Genius
The Grid Map Node deserves its own parade. Seriously, creating intricate 3D levels becomes almost therapeutic. Snap pieces together, rotate them, stack them—it’s like Minecraft meets professional game design. One of our workshop members built a dungeon crawler demo in record time, and everyone thought they were secretly a level-design wizard. Spoiler: they weren’t. They just knew how to use Grid Maps.
6. Mix 3D Models Into 2D Scenes (And Vice Versa)
This blew my mind. You can plop 3D models into 2D scenes and vice versa. Imagine having a pixel-art hero running around a lush 3D forest. Or maybe you want a cartoonish 2D sprite floating lazily in a futuristic 3D cityscape. Whatever your weird creative brain dreams up, Godot lets you do it. During one meeting, someone joked about making a game where a flat cat chases a 3D laser pointer dot. Ten minutes later, they had a working prototype. True story.
7. Particles That Spark Joy
Fire, fog, smoke, explosions—Godot’s particle system is absurdly fun to play with. Need a campfire? Done. Want mist rolling across a spooky graveyard? Easy peasy. At one point, someone accidentally created a fire-breathing dragon while experimenting with particles. Accidental genius strikes again.
8. World Environment Magic
Tweak the WorldEnvironment settings, and suddenly your game looks like it belongs in a Pixar movie. Play around with lighting, skyboxes, and post-processing effects, and boom—your bland test scene transforms into a breathtaking landscape. Even our most skeptical workshop member admitted, “Okay, this is kinda cool.”
Fogs, Sky, Mirrors, Sci-fi scenes, making galaxy background, you name it. The World Environment Node is your friend.
9. Tilemaps Are Ridiculously Intuitive
For anyone who loves pixel art or retro-style games, Godot’s TileMap feature is pure gold. Lay out tiles, paint terrain, and build entire worlds faster than you can say “retro revival.” One guy recreated his childhood backyard in 2D pixel art, complete years of nostalgia packed into a single screen.
Hazem Abbas
10. Animations That Feel Alive
Yes, animation takes practice, but once you invest a bit of time learning Godot’s tools, it clicks. Skeletal animations, blending transitions, keyframes—it’s all there. After a few hours, one of our members animated a dancing robot that became the unofficial mascot of the workshop. Side note: robots shouldn’t dance. Ever.
11- Godot Works well with others
If there’s one thing I’ve learned during our Godot Workshop, it’s this: Godot plays incredibly well with other tools. Whether you’re into voxel art, 3D modeling, or even borrowing assets from other engines, Godot is like the ultimate team player—except when it comes to lighting. But let’s save that headache for later.
Voxel Art Magic with Goxel and MagicaVoxel
For fans of voxel art, tools like Goxel and MagicaVoxel are pure joy. These apps are lightweight, beginner-friendly, and perfect for crafting blocky, retro-style masterpieces. And guess what? Exporting your creations to Godot is a breeze. Just save your models in formats like .obj or .glb, drag them into your scene, and voilà—your voxel dreams come to life.
During one workshop session, a member spent an afternoon building a tiny voxel village in MagicaVoxel. Within minutes of importing it into Godot, they had it running in a 3D environment. It was so satisfying that we all started making voxel versions of random things—pets, furniture, even snacks. My dog now exists as a slightly lopsided cube creature in a Godot scene. He seems proud of his digital debut.
Blender: A Match Made in Heaven
When it comes to 3D modeling, Blender reigns supreme. Pairing it with Godot feels like teaming up Batman and Spider-Man—it just works . Exporting models from Blender to Godot is straightforward. Use .glTF or .FBX, tweak a few settings, and you’re ready to roll.
One workshop participant brought in a spaceship model they’d been working on in Blender. After some quick material adjustments in Godot, it looked like it belonged in a AAA game. The level of detail was jaw-dropping, especially considering Godot is free. Not bad for an engine that doesn’t cost a dime!
The only tricky part? Rigging animations. While Godot supports skeletal animations, getting them to behave exactly as you want can take some trial and error. But hey, nothing worth doing is ever easy, right?
Unreal Assets in Godot? Yes, You Can!
Now here’s where things get wild. We decided to experiment with downloading and importing Unreal Engine assets into Godot. Spoiler alert: it worked better than expected. With a bit of tinkering, most models and textures slotted right into our projects. One member imported a high-quality medieval castle asset pack, and after adjusting materials and shaders, it looked stunning.
But—and this is a big but—lighting is where Unreal assets test your patience. Unreal’s lighting system is notoriously complex, and replicating those cinematic effects in Godot requires serious effort. Think of it as trying to teach a cat to fetch. Possible? Sure. Easy? Not even close.
What does all this mean for you? Simple: Godot isn’t just a standalone engine; it’s a gateway to endless creative possibilities. Whether you’re sculpting voxels, modeling in Blender, or raiding Unreal’s asset store, Godot gives you the freedom to bring your ideas to life without breaking the bank—or your sanity (mostly).
So go ahead, experiment, mix tools, and push boundaries. Just don’t blame me if you lose hours tweaking lights. Trust me, I’ve been there.
Why We’re Sticking With Godot
Look, I’ll admit it—Godot isn’t perfect. Documentation is still a work in progress, and advanced tutorials can be hard to find. But honestly? None of that matters when you see what you can create in such a short amount of time. Plus, it’s free, open-source, and lightweight. What’s not to love?
Oh, and remember those friends I mentioned earlier—the ones who came from Unity and Unreal backgrounds? Yeah, they’re sticking around too. One even said, “I didn’t think I’d switch engines, but Godot feels… refreshing.” High praise coming from someone who swore by blueprints forever.
Your Turn to Dive In
If you haven’t tried Godot yet, stop reading this and go download it. Seriously. Whether you’re a parent wanting to teach your kids to code, a hobbyist looking to experiment, or a pro searching for a fresh perspective, Godot has something for you. Join communities, attend workshops, and embrace the chaos of creation.
And hey, if you make something awesome—or hilariously terrible—tag me on social media. I’d love to see what you come up with. Who knows? Maybe someday you’ll inspire someone else to pick up Godot and start their own journey.
