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Unity + NoSQL DynamoDB Player Management Leaderboards + More by Austin Patkos
Hook Unity up to a real NoSQL backend and ship sign-in, player data, and global leaderboards.
Want your Unity game to remember players, save their stuff, and rank them worldwide? This course shows you how to wire it all up with a real backend.
🎯 What you’ll learn
Build player sign-up, login, logout, and auto-login in Unity
Store and query player data with DynamoDB NoSQL tables
Write and deploy AWS Lambda functions with Node.js
Expose backend logic through API Gateway with API keys
Send and receive JSON with UnityWebRequest
Hash passwords and handle front-end error codes securely
Save customization, inventory, and scores per player
Build a global leaderboard with details panel and player search
Support guest accounts with PlayerPrefs + database sync
✅ Requirements
Skills: Basic understanding of Unity, familiarity with C# and Unity UI
Tools: Unity installed, free AWS account, code editor for Node.js
Hardware: PC or Mac capable of running Unity, stable internet connection for AWS services
📝 Description
This isn’t theory. You build a real, connected game from scratch. Frontend in Unity, backend on AWS, data in DynamoDB. Every click in the UI triggers an actual web request, hits a Lambda function, and reads or writes to the database.
You’ll start simple: AWS account, regions, your first table, your first Lambda function. Then you deploy it to API Gateway and call it straight from Unity. Once that pipe is working, you add JSON back and forth and suddenly a lot of game backend stuff clicks.
Then comes the fun part — player management. Sign-up screens, duplicate email and username checks with GSI indexes, password hashing, login, logout, auto-login for new users, and clean error messages on the frontend. You also lock it down with API keys so random folks can’t spam your endpoints.
After auth, you make it feel like a game. Score updates, ninja color customization saved per account, an inventory system with its own Lambda logic, plus a guest mode that mixes PlayerPrefs with database storage. Finally you build the showpiece: a global leaderboard with runtime-spawned prefabs, a player details panel, and search. Same stack studios use for live games, just stripped down so you can actually follow it.
🧑🎓 Who this course is for
Unity developers who want login, save data, and leaderboards without paying for a backend service
Game devs and hobbyists with basic Unity skills who want real multiplayer-style player management
🧑🏫 About the Author
Austin Patkos (eJPT, CCP, SAA, DVA, SOA, BCCe) has taught over 30,000 students on Udemy. He works across game development, AWS cloud, and security, and holds multiple AWS and security certs.
His thing is practical teaching — enough theory to get why it works, then straight into building with Unity and Node.js. If you learn by doing and want backend skills you can reuse on your next game, you’re in the right place.
🏁 Final Result
A fully working Unity app with sign-up/login, hashed passwords, customizable ninja, inventory, guest mode, live score updates, and a searchable global leaderboard powered by DynamoDB + Lambda.
Curriculum
📋 Course content
Module 1:Getting Started
Introduction and About this Course4:28
Meet Your Instructor / My Teaching Methodology3:04
Is this Course Right for You? More Course Details2:02
Video Speed0:40
Module 2:AWS and DynamoDB Fundamentals
Intro To AWS3:03
Case Studies0:05
Making an AWS Account + Basic Security4:31
AWS Regions1:48
Making Our First DynamoDB Table6:55
DynamoDB Table Settings1:34
Inserting Information Into Our Table4:33
Module 3:Lambda Functions and API Gateway
Lambda Introduction2:56
Building Our First Lambda Function9:09
Taking In Information to Use in Our Lambda Function3:13
Basic If Statements for Lambda Functions5:26
Deploying Our Lambda Function to an API Gateway7:58
Module 4:Unity Networking and JSON
Unity Networking Basics6:05
Interacting with Our Lambda Function From Unity11:44
JSON Overview2:53
Sending JSON Information to Our Lambda Function From Unity8:17
Module 5:Create New User System
App Welcome Scene Set Up11:45
Create New User Scene UI Set Up8:38
Create New User Front End Scripting10:04
Create New User Lambda Script Creation13:18
Check If Email Already Exists15:55
GSI Set Up For Username7:49
Check If Username Already Exists Lambda Script8:37
Username Hook Up In Create New User Lambda Functionality5:30
Adding Password Element to Our Create New User Script4:25
Hashing User Passwords6:59
Front End Create User Hook Up11:23
Front Error Codes Create User6:18
API Key Set Up4:18
Module 6:Login, Auto-Login and Logout
Log In Scene UI Set Up9:05
Lambda Login Function13:03
Removing Info From Response2:04
Deploying Login Lambda Function to API Gateway2:20
Front End Login Hook Up Part 14:34
Front End Login Hook Up Part 29:32
Front End Login Hook Up Part 34:12
New User Sign Up + Auto Login3:59
Player Log Out4:37
Module 7:Game Scene and Player Updates
User Welcome Scene Set Up13:49
Game Scene Set Up9:19
Game Scene Button Set Up5:04
Building Update Lambda Function13:05
Front End Update Scripting9:38
Module 8:Customization and Inventory
Customize Scene Set Up8:59
Front End Ninja Color Scripting Part 110:20
Front End Ninja Color Scripting Part 29:39
Ninja Color Save to Database4:23
Assigning Ninja Color from Database to the Player At Runtime6:01
Inventory UI Set Up Part 13:05
Inventory UI Set Up Part 22:46
Inventory Front End Scripting9:23
Lambda Script for Adding to Players Inventory17:03
Front End Inventory Hook Up Part 118:58
Front End Inventory Hook Up Part 210:20
Module 9:Guests, Leaderboard, Details and Search
Guest Feature Scene Set Up9:56
Guest Feature Storing Info In Database7:53
Guest Feature Saving Info In PlayerPrefs12:31
Leaderboard Scene Set Up12:38
Leaderboard Player Prefab6:03
Leaderboard Front End Scripting7:17
Leaderboard Player Prefab Script4:10
Lambda Leaderboard Script11:48
Instantiating Leaderboard Player Prefabs at Runtime7:46
Details Panel Set Up9:34
Lambda Script for Getting Details About Player8:14
Front End Details Hook Up16:01
Search Function Lambda Script7:21
Search Function Hook Up12:55
Module 10:Wrap-Up
Conclusion and Where to Go From Here3:32
Thank you!0:16
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Unity + NoSQL DynamoDB Player Management Leaderboards + More by Austin Patkos
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