📦 Lesson 8.2: Building Your Game (WebGL & Desktop)

Everything so far runs inside the Editor. A build turns your project into a standalone game — a Windows/Mac app, or a WebGL version that runs in a browser. This is how you finally share what you made.

🎯 Learning Objectives

Open Build Profiles (formerly Build Settings) and add your scene
Make a Windows/Mac desktop build
Make a WebGL build for the browser
Know why a WebGL build must be served, not double-clicked

Estimated Time: 35 minutes

In This Lesson

What "Building" Means

A build packages your scenes, assets, and code into a program that runs on its own — no Unity Editor required. You choose a platform (Windows, Mac, WebGL, Android…) and Unity produces the files for it.

graph LR A[Your project
in the Editor] --> B[Choose platform] --> C[Build] --> D[Standalone game
.exe / .app / web page]

💡 WebGL is the easiest to share — it runs in any modern browser, so anyone can play via a link. That's why we installed WebGL Build Support back in Lesson 1.2.

Build Profiles

Open File ▸ Build Profiles (in older versions this was called Build Settings). Here you pick a platform and manage which scenes go in the build:

Figure 1: Build Profiles (recreated), with WebGL selected. Add your scene to the Scene List, then Build.

⚠️ Add your scene first

If the Scene List is empty, click Add Open Scenes — otherwise Unity builds an empty game. Your gameplay scene must be in the list (and usually first).

A Desktop Build (Windows/Mac)

Select Windows (or macOS) in the platform list; Switch Platform if it isn't active.
Click Build, choose an empty folder, and wait.
Unity produces an .exe (plus a data folder) on Windows, or an .app on Mac. Double-click to play!

✅ Pro Tip

Always build into a fresh, empty folder (e.g. Builds/Windows). Builds contain many files; keeping each in its own folder avoids a mess.

A WebGL Build (Browser)

Select Web (WebGL) and Switch Platform (this can take a while the first time).
Click Build and choose an empty folder. WebGL builds take longer — be patient.
Unity outputs an index.html and a Build folder — a small website that is your game.

⚠️ Don't just double-click index.html

Opening the WebGL index.html directly from your file system usually shows errors — browsers block it for security. You must serve it over HTTP. Easiest options: use Build And Run (Unity serves it for you), or upload the folder to a host like itch.io or Netlify.

💡 Sharing online: itch.io is the friendliest place to publish a WebGL game for free — zip the build folder, upload, and you have a shareable link in minutes.

Hands-on Exercise

🏋️ Exercise: Ship it

Open Build Profiles and Add Open Scenes so your game scene is listed.
Make a Windows/Mac build into an empty folder and run the resulting app.
Switch to WebGL and use Build And Run to play it in your browser.
Celebrate — that's a real, standalone game you made!

💡 WebGL build shows a blank page or errors

You likely opened index.html directly. Use Build And Run, or serve the folder over HTTP. Also confirm your scene was added to the Scene List.

🎯 Quick Quiz

Question 1: Your build runs but is empty / black. What's the most common cause?

Question 2: Why can't you just double-click a WebGL index.html?

Summary

🎉 Key Takeaways

A build packages your game to run without the Editor.
Use File ▸ Build Profiles; Add Open Scenes so your scene is included.
Desktop builds produce an .exe/.app; WebGL produces a small website.
WebGL must be served over HTTP — use Build And Run or a host like itch.io.

🚀 What's Next?

You've built and shipped a game — a huge milestone. In the final lesson, Lesson 8.3, we look at where to take your new skills next.