SubConSurfer,
There are lots of free and free trial game making programs on the net.
I prefer to program in DarkBASIC which is a version of BASIC that has commands for sprites, 3D object, etc. for game making. You can get a 30 day trial at
http://darkbasic.com/download.php but I recommend DarkBasicPro because it has a better interface.
"The Game Factory" is also popular and doesn't require programming to make simple games although the interface is a little hard to learn. I think it is now free without a time limit. MultiMediaFusion (MMF) is also available from
http://clickteam.com for a 30 day trial. It is a sort of upgrade of the discontinued GameFactory.
"Game Maker" is a similiar program that is available free on the web at
http://www.cs.uu.nl/~markov/gmaker/You might also want to check out the free "Scrolling Game Development Kit" (GameDev for short) at
http://gamedev.sourceforge.net/If you don't want to program or design your own games, you might want to hack a rom. My favorite program for beginners is "Lunar Magic" It allows you to move, copy, and change the size of objects in "Super Mario World" and then play it in a emulator. You can get it at
http://uct2.net/~fusoya/lm/ but you will need to download the rom from somewhere else if you don't have it already.
If you are really serious about making a game I suggest you learn C++.
"First we had commands, now we have arguments." - dbheaven.com