IROG'S PROFILE

A few slimes
Several slimes
A pack of slimes
Lots of slimes
A horde of slimes
A throng of slimes
A swarm of slimes
Zounds... slimes
A legion of slimes

Interesting tool. <Subscribed>

... and still this game's score is higher that the sum of all my game scores. I should probably build a pong game.

If you have some time to try both switch spell modes, your feedback on it is most welcome.

It depends on what you want to do with your programming skill. You asked your question on RMN, so it's safe to assume you don't want to code spacecraft control software but aim at game making! But still, you have a wide range of uses.
You want to improve your resume and apply as game designer at a studio? Knowing a programming language is indeed a big plus (or a must) to interact efficiently with the programmers.
You want to build games for a living?
You want to build games as a hobby?

To build small games as a hobby, all you need is to cover the basis of the language and then learn to use a library of functions designed for game development. I learned the basis of C reading a book, doing the exercises, stopped half way trough to make small utilities of my own. I made a first game then learned to work with the SDL2 library to handle graphics, sounds and the mouse.

So to learn the skills necessary to code a small game like Red Balloon of Happiness (I know this example speaks to you), you need:
* 2 weeks to learn the basis of C
* 1 week to learn the use of SDL2 main functions

To build games for a living, you'll work on bigger projects. So you'll also need to learn how to well organize your code and much more...