Google Cloud can look huge when you are starting out. This roadmap breaks it into small steps you can follow for free, one at a time.
Step 1: Create your Google Skills account
Google Skills is where the hands-on labs, courses and skill badges live. Sign up on skills.google and set up your public profile so your badges are recorded.
Step 2: Play the monthly Arcade games
Each month the Google Skills Arcade releases new hands-on games. Every game is worth one Arcade point, and the access code for each game is on the official Arcade page. Games are short, so they are a friendly way to get used to the console.
Step 3: Earn skill badges
Skill badges go deeper than games. Each badge is worth half an Arcade point, and together they build proof of your skills. Pick a theme and stay with it for a while, for example storage and data, or AI and agents, rather than jumping between topics.
Step 4: Use the free trial for your own projects
Google offers a 90-day trial with $300 in credits, and says it will not charge your card automatically when the trial ends. Use it for small projects that are not part of a lab.
Step 5: Build tiny projects
After each topic, build something small on your own:
- store files in Cloud Storage
- deploy a simple app to Cloud Run
- query a sample dataset in BigQuery
- try a Vertex AI example
Step 6: Take notes and repeat
Write down commands, mistakes and useful links after every lab. Try repeating a lab from memory a few days later. Thirty to sixty minutes a day beats one huge weekend.
Step 7: Join the community
The Google Developer forums are full of learners sharing tips and asking questions.
Track your progress
Keep count of your games and badges with the [Arcade Points Calculator](../arcade-calculator.html). It has a checklist that remembers your progress and shows which prize tier you are heading for.
Want to see these steps done live? Watch the walkthroughs on the B Tecky YouTube channel.