Give your game its own icon

Step 1: make your icon file

Every tool below needs the same thing: a square picture saved as an .ico file (the Windows icon format).

1. Make a square picture, at least 512 × 512 pixels, saved as a .png. A simple shape or your game's main character works best, because icons are often shown tiny. Avoid small writing.
2. Go to a free converter such as ICO Convert or RedKetchup Icon Converter, upload your .png and download the .ico. If it asks for sizes, tick 16, 32, 48 and 256.
3. Save the .ico somewhere easy to find, for example next to your game project, and name it icon.ico.

Then pick the tool you made your game with:

Unity

Unity can use your .png directly, so you can skip the .ico step.

1. Open your project and go to Edit›Project Settings›Player.
2. Near the top you'll see an empty square called Default Icon. Drag your square .png from the Project window onto it.
3. Build your game again as usual (File›Build Settings›Build, called Build Profiles in Unity 6).
4. Open the new build folder. The .exe should now show your icon. Zip the whole folder and upload it.

Godot 4

1. Copy your icon.ico into your project folder so Godot can see it.
2. Go to Project›Export and click your Windows Desktop preset (add one with Add… if you don't have it yet).
3. On the Options tab, find the Application section. Make sure Modify Resources is ticked, then click the folder next to Icon and choose your icon.ico.
4. Click Export Project and save the .exe. It should now show your icon.

GameMaker

1. Open Game Options (the cog button at the top of the window), then choose Windows on the left.
2. Find the Icon box on the General page, click Change, and choose your icon.ico. Click OK.
3. Build your game again (Create Executable, then choose the zip or folder option). The .exe now shows your icon.

AI tools and everything else

If an AI tool, a website builder or a code helper gave you a finished .exe, you can still add an icon afterwards with a free program.

If that doesn't work, use Resource Hacker, a free Windows program:

1. Download and install it from angusj.com/resourcehacker (choose the EXE install).
2. Make a copy of your game folder first, just in case.
3. Open Resource Hacker, then File›Open and choose your game's .exe.
4. Go to Action›Replace Icon…, click Open file with new icon, choose your icon.ico, then click Replace.
5. File›Save. Then double-click the .exe to check the game still starts.

The first time someone opens a new game from a small developer, Windows may show a blue box saying “Windows protected your PC”. This is Windows' SmartScreen filter. It appears for almost every new indie game, because the .exe hasn't been digitally signed and Windows hasn't seen it many times yet. It does not mean your game has a virus. Every game on KodaCade is virus-scanned and checked by a person.

Players can click More info, then Run anyway. Our Help page tells players this too. Adding an icon won't remove the message, but a game that looks official makes players much more comfortable clicking Run anyway. The message fades on its own as more people play your game; removing it fully needs a paid code-signing certificate, which you don't need to get started.