Building your first Roblox game step by step: from empty baseplate to published obby
Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2026 4:55 pm
Building your first Roblox game comes down to five stages: open Roblox Studio with a baseplate template, learn to place and anchor parts, build a simple obstacle course (an obby), playtest until it feels fair, then publish it through File > Publish to Roblox and flip it to public in the Creator Dashboard. That whole loop, from empty baseplate to a live game with real players, is doable in a weekend, and I want to walk you through exactly how I'd do it today.
I've watched a lot of newcomers stall out because they try to build their dream RPG on day one. Don't. Your first game should be an obby. It teaches you every core Studio skill (parts, properties, a little scripting, publishing) without needing art skills or a big codebase, and Roblox itself uses the obby format in its official [url=https://create.roblox.com/docs/tutorials/curriculums/building]Intro to building curriculum[/url], which is built on the Classic Obby template.
[b]Step 1: Install Studio and open a baseplate[/b]
Roblox Studio is free. Download it from the Creator Hub, log in with your normal Roblox account, and on the new project screen pick the Baseplate template. You get a flat grey plate, a spawn point, and nothing else. That emptiness is the point: everything you see in your finished game will be something you placed.
Quick orientation before you build anything:
[list]
[*]The Explorer panel (right side) lists every object in your game as a tree. Workspace is where physical stuff lives.
[*]The Properties panel shows settings for whatever you have selected: size, color, material, and the important checkboxes.
[*]The toolbar has Move, Scale, and Rotate. You will live in these three tools.
[/list]
Camera controls: hold right mouse button to look around, WASD to fly, scroll to zoom. Spend five minutes just flying around so it feels natural.
[b]Step 2: Parts, and the one checkbox that matters[/b]
Everything in a classic obby is made of parts: blocks, spheres, wedges, cylinders. Insert one from the toolbar, then move, scale, and rotate it into a platform.
Here is the mistake literally every beginner makes: unanchored parts. Parts obey physics by default, so the moment you hit play, your beautiful floating platforms fall into the void. Select each part and tick the Anchored checkbox in Properties (or select everything and anchor it in one go). If your obby collapses on playtest, this is why.
Use Material and Color in Properties to make platforms readable at a glance. A common convention: neon red means danger, everything else is safe. Players learn your visual language fast, so keep it consistent.
[b]Step 3: Build the actual obby[/b]
Start stupidly simple. A line of platforms over a gap, each jump slightly harder than the last. Default Roblox characters can jump roughly 7 studs of gap comfortably, so start your gaps around 4 to 5 studs and work up. Playtest every few platforms; you cannot judge a jump by eyeballing it from the editor camera.
Then add kill bricks, the classic obby hazard. Insert a part, make it neon red, anchor it, then right-click it in Explorer and insert a Script. Roblox scripts are written in Luau, Roblox's own fast variant of Lua. A minimal kill brick looks like this:
[code]
script.Parent.Touched:Connect(function(hit)
local humanoid = hit.Parent:FindFirstChildOfClass("Humanoid")
if humanoid then
humanoid.Health = 0
end
end)
[/code]
Six lines, and you've written your first game code. The Touched event fires when anything touches the part; the script checks whether the toucher belongs to a character (that's the Humanoid check) and sets its health to zero. Duplicate that brick everywhere you want danger.
For checkpoints, insert SpawnLocation objects along the course instead of plain parts. Anchor them too. This means a player who falls at stage 12 doesn't restart at stage 1, and that single decision is the difference between players finishing your game and rage-quitting it.
If you get stuck on the building side, the official [url=https://create.roblox.com/docs/tutorials/first-experience]Create your first game tutorial[/url] and the [url=https://create.roblox.com/docs/tutorials/fundamentals/coding-1/coding-fundamentals]Luau coding fundamentals[/url] on the Creator Hub are genuinely good and kept up to date.
[b]Step 4: Playtest like a player, not a builder[/b]
Hit the Play button in Studio and run your own course start to finish, several times. You're checking three things: can every jump actually be made, do kill bricks kill, and do checkpoints respawn you where you expect. Then do a run where you deliberately try to break it: jump around obstacles, skip stages, fall off the edge of the world. Whatever cheese you find, your players will find in the first hour.
[b]Step 5: Publish it[/b]
In Studio go to File > Publish to Roblox. You'll fill in a name, description, and supported devices, then hit Create. Your game now exists on Roblox's servers, but here's the part people miss: it publishes as private by default. Nobody can play it yet.
To go public, open the [url=https://create.roblox.com/dashboard/creations]Creator Dashboard[/url], select your experience, go to its settings, and change the audience setting to Public. Note that Roblox now requires some account verification before public publishing: your account needs to be in good standing and at least a couple of days old, and you'll complete an age check plus a content maturity questionnaire that determines the game's rating. It takes a few minutes and you only do the account parts once.
[b]Step 6: Getting your first players[/b]
Don't expect the algorithm to bless a brand-new obby. Your first players will be people you bring yourself: friends, this forum, your group if you have one. Watch them play if you can. The first time you see someone fail a jump you thought was easy, you'll understand more about game design than any tutorial can teach. Update the game based on what you see, because on Roblox, shipping is the beginning of development, not the end.
[b]Frequently asked questions[/b]
[b]Do I need to know how to code to make my first Roblox game?[/b]
No. You can build a working obby with parts, SpawnLocations, and one copy-pasted six-line kill brick script. Learn Luau gradually as you want more behavior, not as a prerequisite.
[b]Is Roblox Studio really free? What's the catch?[/b]
Studio is completely free, publishing is free, and hosting is free (Roblox runs the servers). The trade-off is that Roblox takes a share when you monetize, but for your first game that's irrelevant.
[b]How long does it take to build a first obby?[/b]
A playable 10 to 15 stage obby is a weekend project for a total beginner, less if you follow the official building curriculum. Polishing it and adding stages can go on as long as you enjoy it.
[b]Why do my platforms fall or disappear when I press Play?[/b]
Unanchored parts. Physics is on by default, so select your parts and enable Anchored in the Properties panel. This is the single most common first-build bug.
That's the whole path from grey baseplate to a link you can send people. If you build your first obby after reading this, post the link in a reply, I genuinely play them. And if you got stuck anywhere along the way, describe what happened and I or someone else here will help you sort it out.
I've watched a lot of newcomers stall out because they try to build their dream RPG on day one. Don't. Your first game should be an obby. It teaches you every core Studio skill (parts, properties, a little scripting, publishing) without needing art skills or a big codebase, and Roblox itself uses the obby format in its official [url=https://create.roblox.com/docs/tutorials/curriculums/building]Intro to building curriculum[/url], which is built on the Classic Obby template.
[b]Step 1: Install Studio and open a baseplate[/b]
Roblox Studio is free. Download it from the Creator Hub, log in with your normal Roblox account, and on the new project screen pick the Baseplate template. You get a flat grey plate, a spawn point, and nothing else. That emptiness is the point: everything you see in your finished game will be something you placed.
Quick orientation before you build anything:
[list]
[*]The Explorer panel (right side) lists every object in your game as a tree. Workspace is where physical stuff lives.
[*]The Properties panel shows settings for whatever you have selected: size, color, material, and the important checkboxes.
[*]The toolbar has Move, Scale, and Rotate. You will live in these three tools.
[/list]
Camera controls: hold right mouse button to look around, WASD to fly, scroll to zoom. Spend five minutes just flying around so it feels natural.
[b]Step 2: Parts, and the one checkbox that matters[/b]
Everything in a classic obby is made of parts: blocks, spheres, wedges, cylinders. Insert one from the toolbar, then move, scale, and rotate it into a platform.
Here is the mistake literally every beginner makes: unanchored parts. Parts obey physics by default, so the moment you hit play, your beautiful floating platforms fall into the void. Select each part and tick the Anchored checkbox in Properties (or select everything and anchor it in one go). If your obby collapses on playtest, this is why.
Use Material and Color in Properties to make platforms readable at a glance. A common convention: neon red means danger, everything else is safe. Players learn your visual language fast, so keep it consistent.
[b]Step 3: Build the actual obby[/b]
Start stupidly simple. A line of platforms over a gap, each jump slightly harder than the last. Default Roblox characters can jump roughly 7 studs of gap comfortably, so start your gaps around 4 to 5 studs and work up. Playtest every few platforms; you cannot judge a jump by eyeballing it from the editor camera.
Then add kill bricks, the classic obby hazard. Insert a part, make it neon red, anchor it, then right-click it in Explorer and insert a Script. Roblox scripts are written in Luau, Roblox's own fast variant of Lua. A minimal kill brick looks like this:
[code]
script.Parent.Touched:Connect(function(hit)
local humanoid = hit.Parent:FindFirstChildOfClass("Humanoid")
if humanoid then
humanoid.Health = 0
end
end)
[/code]
Six lines, and you've written your first game code. The Touched event fires when anything touches the part; the script checks whether the toucher belongs to a character (that's the Humanoid check) and sets its health to zero. Duplicate that brick everywhere you want danger.
For checkpoints, insert SpawnLocation objects along the course instead of plain parts. Anchor them too. This means a player who falls at stage 12 doesn't restart at stage 1, and that single decision is the difference between players finishing your game and rage-quitting it.
If you get stuck on the building side, the official [url=https://create.roblox.com/docs/tutorials/first-experience]Create your first game tutorial[/url] and the [url=https://create.roblox.com/docs/tutorials/fundamentals/coding-1/coding-fundamentals]Luau coding fundamentals[/url] on the Creator Hub are genuinely good and kept up to date.
[b]Step 4: Playtest like a player, not a builder[/b]
Hit the Play button in Studio and run your own course start to finish, several times. You're checking three things: can every jump actually be made, do kill bricks kill, and do checkpoints respawn you where you expect. Then do a run where you deliberately try to break it: jump around obstacles, skip stages, fall off the edge of the world. Whatever cheese you find, your players will find in the first hour.
[b]Step 5: Publish it[/b]
In Studio go to File > Publish to Roblox. You'll fill in a name, description, and supported devices, then hit Create. Your game now exists on Roblox's servers, but here's the part people miss: it publishes as private by default. Nobody can play it yet.
To go public, open the [url=https://create.roblox.com/dashboard/creations]Creator Dashboard[/url], select your experience, go to its settings, and change the audience setting to Public. Note that Roblox now requires some account verification before public publishing: your account needs to be in good standing and at least a couple of days old, and you'll complete an age check plus a content maturity questionnaire that determines the game's rating. It takes a few minutes and you only do the account parts once.
[b]Step 6: Getting your first players[/b]
Don't expect the algorithm to bless a brand-new obby. Your first players will be people you bring yourself: friends, this forum, your group if you have one. Watch them play if you can. The first time you see someone fail a jump you thought was easy, you'll understand more about game design than any tutorial can teach. Update the game based on what you see, because on Roblox, shipping is the beginning of development, not the end.
[b]Frequently asked questions[/b]
[b]Do I need to know how to code to make my first Roblox game?[/b]
No. You can build a working obby with parts, SpawnLocations, and one copy-pasted six-line kill brick script. Learn Luau gradually as you want more behavior, not as a prerequisite.
[b]Is Roblox Studio really free? What's the catch?[/b]
Studio is completely free, publishing is free, and hosting is free (Roblox runs the servers). The trade-off is that Roblox takes a share when you monetize, but for your first game that's irrelevant.
[b]How long does it take to build a first obby?[/b]
A playable 10 to 15 stage obby is a weekend project for a total beginner, less if you follow the official building curriculum. Polishing it and adding stages can go on as long as you enjoy it.
[b]Why do my platforms fall or disappear when I press Play?[/b]
Unanchored parts. Physics is on by default, so select your parts and enable Anchored in the Properties panel. This is the single most common first-build bug.
That's the whole path from grey baseplate to a link you can send people. If you build your first obby after reading this, post the link in a reply, I genuinely play them. And if you got stuck anywhere along the way, describe what happened and I or someone else here will help you sort it out.