Learning through Making Video Games

Testimonials

"I had a lot of fun in making my game because the tutorials made it easy. The tutorials had some great demonstrations and were easy to follow. The software was also very fun to use. People that played the game that I created were impressed and they wanted to design a game themselves."

- Mihir M., 6th Grade Student

Why Learn Game Design?

Designing a computer game is a great introduction to computer science. During the process of creating an engaging video game to play, students are exposed to computer programming concepts, graphic design, artificial intelligence, and software engineering.

Learn with the best software!

Our courses use Game Maker software from YoYoGames which is, in our opinion, the best program for beginning and intermediate video game designers. Game Maker is unique because its drag and drop, event-based system allows younger users a chance to design intricate video games without writing a line of code.

How does a student take a course?

Taking a Game Design Course is as easy as 1-2-3.

Subscribe and create an account.
Install Game Maker on your computer.
Login and begin anytime!

Courses are self-paced. A student can begin at any time, and access the courses online 24/7.
Each course contains approximately 20 video lessons, and generally takes between 6 and 14 hours to complete.

Each lesson demonstrates the steps to build a video game. A student can pause the lesson at any time, and switch to Game Maker to build their video game. When they complete a step in their game, they can switch back to the tutorial and continue viewing. At the conclusion of all the lessons, the student will have a complete working video game!

What is included in a course?

Each course contains seven sections which teach game design and computer science skills. Look through each section for more details. There is a sample video lesson under the first section, Build Your Game.

Build Your Game

Step-by-step video instructions to guide students as they make a working video game. The instructions teach game design and computer science skills.

Show Lessons & View Sample / Hide

1. Making the Main Character
2. Making the Walls and a Chaser
3. Making the First Level
4. Adding Movement to the Main Character (Watch Sample)
5. Making the Main Character Face Left and Right
6. Colliding with the Walls
7. Making the Chasers Move
8. Adding a Prize
9. Adding Lives
10. Colliding with the Chaser
11. Adding Music
12. Adding the Game Information
13. Adding a Goal
14. Adding a Second Chaser
15. Making the Main Character Throw an Object
16. Making a Second Level
17. Making the Boss
18. Making the Final Goal
19. Adding the Victory Screen
Extra: Adding Cheat Codes

Resources

Students receive a set of professionally created graphics, music, backgrounds, and sound effects to incorporate into each video game.

Customize Your Game

Students are given ideas to customize and add new features to their video games. In the process, students solidify the skills that they have learned.

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The course contains challenges which give ideas for customizing your game.

Extend Your Learning

Students learn programming by writing simple code that adds to their video game. Plus, questions & research topics to stimulate thinking about game design.

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We show you how to write code to add more features into your game. You'll gain experience with GML - Game Maker Language - which introduces you to the world of programming. GML provides a foundation for learning other programming languages, like C# or Java.

Assess Your Game Design Skills

Students can review what they've learned and test their game design knowledge with an optional quiz – either online or in print form!

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Take an online quiz or print out a PDF version.
View and print out your score, as well as a certificate.

GameSpark