Game Development Software

Through the years as computers and computer games have become more common and accessible, software for making games has also been bound up in nicer and neater packages. I've seen lots of programs that say they allow users to make games without any programming knowledge. That's handy; removing limitations for creative and artsy people who don't know how to program can only result in a greater diversity of games.

Today, I saw an advertisement for game-making software that said (in paraphrase) "Make games without needing any programming, art, or music skills!" That sounds almost too good to be true, and there's an obvious question resulting: what other skills do you need to make a game?

As I understand things, there are three major parts of making a game: design (deciding what happens and how things work), coding (making things happen and work), and aesthetics (all the writing, art, and music). Software that makes programming and art more accessible is probably best for designers, people with an idea for a game but without the skills previously necessary to make it a reality. It's similar in this way to architecture; there would be fewer architects around if a person who designed a building had to construct it by hand.