Learning how to make a shop GUI in Roblox Studio is one of those essential skills that transforms a basic project into a real, playable game. Whether you're looking to sell gravity coils, speed boosts, or just some fancy hats, having a clean and functional interface is how you keep players engaged and, honestly, how you start monetizing your hard work. It might seem a bit intimidating if you're new to Luau scripting or the UI editor, but once you break it down into smaller pieces, it's actually a pretty straightforward process.
In this guide, we're going to walk through the whole thing—from dragging in your first frame to writing the server-side logic that makes sure players actually have enough money to buy what you're selling.
Setting Up the Visuals
Before we touch a single line of code, we need something to look at. In the Explorer window, find the StarterGui folder. This is where all your 2D elements live. Right-click it, insert a ScreenGui, and maybe name it "ShopGui" so you don't get confused later when your project grows.
Inside that ScreenGui, you'll want to add a Frame. This is going to be the main window of your shop. You can resize it, change the color, and round the corners using a UICorner object if you want that modern, sleek look. A good shop usually has a title at the top—use a TextLabel for that—and a "Close" button. The close button is super important because there's nothing more annoying than a GUI you can't get rid of. Use a TextButton for the close option and put a big "X" on it.
Making the Shop Open and Close
Now that you have a frame, you probably noticed it's just sitting there in the middle of your screen. We want it to be invisible until the player clicks a button to open it. First, go to the properties of your main Frame and toggle the Visible property to off.
Next, add another TextButton directly into the ScreenGui (not inside the frame). This will be your "Open Shop" button. Stick it somewhere on the side of the screen.
To make it work, we need a LocalScript. Since this is just a visual change on the player's screen, we handle it locally. Inside your Open button, add a script that looks something like this:
```lua local button = script.Parent local shopFrame = button.Parent.Frame -- Make sure this matches your frame's name
button.MouseButton1Click:Connect(function() shopFrame.Visible = not shopFrame.Visible end) ```
This simple toggle logic is great because it handles both opening and closing if you use the same button. You can copy a similar script into your "X" button inside the frame, but just set Visible to false.
Designing Your Item Slots
A shop isn't much of a shop if it's empty. Inside your main frame, you should add a ScrollingFrame. This is a lifesaver when you have more items than can fit on the screen. To keep everything organized without manually positioning every single button, use a UIGridLayout or UIListLayout.
When you add a new TextButton or ImageButton for an item inside the ScrollingFrame, the layout constraint will automatically snap it into place. Pro tip: Create one "Template" button that looks exactly how you want your items to look, and then you can just duplicate it for every item you want to sell.
Each item button should have a price tag and the name of the item. This is where players will spend their "Gold" or "Cash," which brings us to the most important part: the backend.
The Secret Ingredient: RemoteEvents
If there is one thing you take away from learning how to make a shop GUI in Roblox Studio, let it be this: never trust the client.
If you write a script inside the button that just gives the player an item, a hacker could easily fire that script and give themselves everything for free. To keep things secure, we use RemoteEvents. These act as a bridge between the player (the Client) and the game's brain (the Server).
- Go to
ReplicatedStorage. - Create a new folder called "Remotes".
- Inside that, add a
RemoteEventand name it "PurchaseItem".
Now, when a player clicks a "Buy" button, the local script will send a message through this event saying, "Hey, this player wants to buy a Speed Coil."
Handling the Transaction on the Server
Over in ServerScriptService, you'll need a regular Script to handle the actual logic. This script will listen for the RemoteEvent we just created. It needs to check two things: does the item exist, and does the player have enough money?
Assuming you have a leaderstats system set up with a "Cash" value, your server script might look like this:
```lua local ReplicatedStorage = game:GetService("ReplicatedStorage") local purchaseEvent = ReplicatedStorage.Remotes.PurchaseItem
purchaseEvent.OnServerEvent:Connect(function(player, itemName) local cash = player.leaderstats.Cash local price = 100 -- You'd usually look this up in a table
if cash.Value >= price then cash.Value = cash.Value - price -- This is where you give them the item print(player.Name .. " bought " .. itemName) -- Logic to clone the item into the player's Backpack else print("Not enough cash!") end end) ```
By doing the math on the server, you ensure that players can't cheat their way to infinite items. It's the difference between a buggy game and a professional one.
Making It Look Professional
Once the basic logic is working, you'll probably feel like the UI is a bit stiff. Roblox offers some cool tools to make things feel more "juicy." You can use the TweenService to make the shop frame slide onto the screen instead of just appearing instantly.
Another big thing is UI scaling. If you design your shop on a big desktop monitor, it might look tiny or totally broken on a phone. To fix this, always try to use Scale instead of Offset in your Size and Position properties. Scale is a percentage (like 0.5 for half the screen), while Offset is pixels. Using a UIAspectRatioConstraint is also a lifesaver for making sure your square buttons stay square regardless of the device.
Testing and Troubleshooting
The final step is always testing. Use the "Play" button in Studio and keep your Output window open (View -> Output). If something doesn't work, the Output window will tell you exactly which line of code is throwing a fit.
Common issues include naming mismatches—like calling your event "PurchaseItem" in the script but "BuyEvent" in the Explorer—or forgetting to enable the Visible property during testing. Don't get discouraged if it doesn't work on the first try; debugging is literally 90% of game development.
Wrapping Up
Figuring out how to make a shop GUI in Roblox Studio really opens up the possibilities for your game. It's the foundation for progression systems and can turn a simple hobby project into something much more complex. Once you get the hang of the Client-Server relationship through RemoteEvents, you can use that same logic for almost anything—leveling up, trading, or even daily rewards.
Just remember to keep your UI clean, your scripts secure on the server, and always double-check your scaling so mobile players can enjoy your game too. Happy developing!