Unity is a real-time engine that you can use to create 2D and 3D applications, and then use Unity’s gaming services to manage the lifetime of your application beyond its development. There’s a few different pathways to getting started, depending on whether you’re completely new to game development, or if you’re moving from a different engine or DCC tool.
The main way to download and install the Unity Editor is through the Unity Hub.
For more information on the different ways of installing Unity, refer to Install Unity.
Once you have installed the Editor, familiarize yourself with the Editor interface. It contains all the windows you need to manage and create gameplay.
If you’re new to game development, the best place to start is by completing some Unity Learn tutorials.
For a beginner tutorial on using the Editor and creating basic gameplay, refer to the Unity Essentials pathway.
For information on creating your first project, refer to Create your first project.
Unity’s architecture is based around GameObjectsThe fundamental object in Unity scenes, which can represent characters, props, scenery, cameras, waypoints, and more. A GameObject’s functionality is defined by the Components attached to it. More info
See in Glossary (similar to Actors in Unreal, and Nodes in Godot) and componentsA functional part of a GameObject. A GameObject can contain any number of components. Unity has many built-in components, and you can create your own by writing scripts that inherit from MonoBehaviour. More info
See in Glossary. Everything in your project is a GameObject, which acts as a container for components. Components add functionality like lighting, collisionsA collision occurs when the physics engine detects that the colliders of two GameObjects make contact or overlap, when at least one has a Rigidbody component and is in motion. More info
See in Glossary, and audio to GameObjects. You can also group together GameObjects into reusable templates called prefabsAn asset type that allows you to store a GameObject complete with components and properties. The prefab acts as a template from which you can create new object instances in the scene. More info
See in Glossary to create reusable gameplay elements.
You add GameObjects to a sceneA Scene contains the environments and menus of your game. Think of each unique Scene file as a unique level. In each Scene, you place your environments, obstacles, and decorations, essentially designing and building your game in pieces. More info
See in Glossary, and manage their relationships in the Hierarchy.
Unity uses a Y-up, left-handed coordinate system, which differs from other engines. It also uses C# for scripting. For information about some of the important types and classes in Unity, refer to Fundamental Unity types.
The following articles cover common workflows you can perform in Unity: