Tutorials
To learn more about the creation of particular types of games a number of tutorials are available on this page. I plan to add some more in the future. All tutorials have been completely rewritten for version 6 of Game Maker. They all contain a text document in pdf format, a number of example games, and often additional sprites and sounds.

Tutorial: What is a Good Game? (zip file, 190 KB)
This tutorial describes some of key ingredients in creating good games. The tutorial is general, that is, not restricted to Game Maker.
Beginner
Tutorial: Your First Game (zip file, 850 KB)
This tutorial is meant for people that have problems getting started with Game Maker. In very precise steps it helps you create your first game.
Beginner
Tutorial: Creating a Scrolling Shooter (zip file, 1.8 MB)
This extensive tutorial shows you how to create a scrolling shooter. It also treats a number of aspects of Game Maker like the use of variables, views, and time lines.
Beginner
Tutorial: Maze Games (zip file, 1.4 MB)
This tutorial shows you how to create a simple maze game. It treats such aspects as how to make a character move from cell to cell, how to display the score and the lives, how to create monsters, and how to add all sorts of special features like movable blocks.
Beginner
Tutorial: Platform Games (zip file, 1.6 MB)
This tutorial shows you how to create a simple platform game. It treats such aspects as how to make a character jump and land, how to crush monsters when the character jumps on top of them, and how to use tiled backgrounds for creating appealing graphics.
Intermediate
Tutorial: 3-Dimensional Games (zip file, 1.1 MB)
This tutorial shows you how to create games with a 3-dimensional look. It discusses parallax scrolling, the use of depth and image scaling and how to create isometric games. It shows that Game Maker is more powerful than you might think and is not really limited to 2-dimensional games.
Intermediate
Tutorial: Multiplayer Games (zip file, 210 KB)
This tutorial shows you how to create a multiplayer game. It shows how to set up a connection, how to create game sessions and how to communicate between the games. Two examples are given: a two-player pong game and a simple chat program. This is an advanced tutorial and requires coding experience in GML. It also requires a registered version of the program.
Advanced
Tutorial: A First Person Shooter (zip file, 2.4 MB)
Version 6 of Game Maker contains functions for creating 3-dimensional graphics. This tutorial shows you how to use these functions to create a simple first person shooter in which you can walk through a number of rooms, shooting barrels and monsters that try to attack you. This is an advanced tutorial and requires coding experience in GML. It also requires a registered version of the program.
Advanced

Book on Game Graphics
In 2000, Ari Feldman wrote a book called Designing Arcade Computer Game Graphics. Unfortunately, it was taken out of print (although copies still exist in the retail channel). Ari Feldman has been so kind to give me the right to distribute the book electronically. In this way all of you can learn about how to create graphics for your games. You can download the book here.

PDF reader
Some of the files above are in PDF format. To view and print them you need the free Adobe Reader. You can download it by clicking on the image below.