Category: Games

3D Game Design and VR for children

Posted on by Gicela

Why does teaching children how games are made matter?

Many children today have access to devices that allow them to play games – often becoming engrossed until they have accomplished their goals. However, understanding the process behind creating these games offers a whole new level of engagement and learning.

3D Game Design

Playing 3D games alone or with friends is both interactive and immersive, but the thrill of making games can take young aspiring coders to the next level when equipped with the right tools.

The skills that children acquire through the game development process are problem solving, critical thinking and creativity. They also grasp concepts that relate to scale, perspective and spatial relationships that extend beyond game design.

Additionally, collaborating with others is integral to the game development process, fostering teamwork and communication skills in children as they code and design together with their peers.

By offering children the right tools and guidance, we empower them to unleash their creativity and imagination. The workshops not only teach game design but also cultivate important skills that will serve them well in the future.

Register your child to the next 3D Game Design Workshop.

Game Design

Posted on by Gicela

Children love playing games but in our Game Design workshops they get an opportunity to make them.

In our recent workshop, the children delved into the world of game creation using a simple yet powerful 2D engine. The experience of building a game from scratch proved to be immensely rewarding for them. They dived into storytelling, character development, design, and gained valuable insights into the process of game development.

As the workshop progressed, it was immensely gratifying to witness the children’s enthusiasm and dedication. I couldn’t have been more proud of their creations. Here are just a few examples of their games, which I hope will serve as inspiration for others who wish to embark on their own game design journey.

October half term coding workshops

Posted on by Gicela

Over the summer we delivered many coding clubs and workshops at some of the libraries in North Somerset. After a short break, we are pleased to be able to offer a couple of workshops in the forthcoming October half term.

Coding in Minecraft

The Coding in Minecraft workshop will be held at Portishead library on Tuesday 25th October 2022.

This workshop will start your child on their coding journey. We will be introducing your child to coding using one of the most popular gaming platforms for young people. It enables children to be creative, learn problem solving skills and learn to code while playing in a safe environment.

This is not a course to teach how to play Minecraft but rather how to modify a Minecraft world with code, create small games and interact with one another. Along the way, children also develop problem solving skills by solving coding puzzles.

The workshop is suitable for beginners and all coding abilities. More information and how to book.

Game Pixel Design

The Game Pixel Design workshop will be held at Yatton Library on Thursday 27th October 2022.

If your child loves playing computer games, why not let them create them too! This course will show the children how to design and make a game. They will draw their own characters and create a story for their game.

Everyone is welcome. Older students (Year 6, 7 and 8’s) will create a more complex game which they will be able to publish.

For more information and how to book.

Online coding clubs

Posted on by Gicela

Since March 2020 we have been offering learning opportuities online tailored to suit different ages and abilities.

Primary


Our Coding in Scratch courses are suitable for children in Years 3 – 6. Every week, they create new projects carefully designed to help them grasp the key principles of computer programming. Each term, the children are challenged with puzzles that nurture and build their computational thinking skills. Our Scratch courses are ideal for any child starting their coding journey or for the more advanced coder who needs to be challenged a little more.

This acedemic year we’ve added a new course to our offer – Coding in Minecraft – in which the children learn to code inside the Minecraft environment. This course does not teach Minecraft, but rather how to use code to automate builds and make modifications to a Minecraft World and change game play. The children use block programming to achieve this, making it ideal for beginners.

Secondary

Our courses for secondary school students are designed to provide opportunities to learn to program in different coding environments, and to expand their knowledge using Python and JavaScript – two of the most popular computer programming languages. The students develop an understanding of the language as well write lots of code to make games and small applications. They get to collaborate with each other and develop their problem-solving skills. A new Creative Coding course starts in January 2022.

We also offer block programming for secondary school students as part of our Make Arcade Games or Make Web Apps courses. These courses are suitable for students in Years 7 – 9 and designed to help them learn more about the principles of computer programming and how to design and prototype a game or App.

With all our courses our aim to help students develop their coding skills… and have an enjoyable time while learning.

Playing games with the Meowbit

Posted on by Gicela

This term, some of our students learned how to program the Meowbit and created their first Arcade games.

The Meowbit is a small handheld console for playing games. It can be programmed using graphical programming with the Microsoft Arcade platform.

The course teaches principles of computer programming and game design, which is a step up from programming in Scratch. The students learn about the physics of the game, creating animations and interactions with their characters. As always, there is plenty of problem solving challenges and a great sense of satisfaction when the game is completed.

Being able to test the game the students have created is part of the fun. This creates the perfect opportunity for feedback; is the game too easy or difficult? What can it be changed to make it better? Making changes, fixing bugs and finally publishing the game for the world to see is incredibly rewarding.

Our Make Arcade Games course is now open for registration for the November/December term.

Scottie Go!

Posted on by Gicela

Over the summer holiday I had the chance to code with Scottie Go! – a coding educational game for primary school children.

Scottie Go! comes with a board and a series of cardboard coding blocks which can be snapped together to create an algorithm. The sequence of instructions can be scanned via a mobile App. The App has a series of screen challenging puzzles that can be solved using the coding cards. If the set of instructions are correct and your character arrives to its correct destination, you can then advanced to the next puzzle.

A child with some knowledge of Scratch can easily understand the instructions and make their own algorithms to solve the puzzles on the App. A younger child might need a little bit of help from an adult to set up and get coding.

I think Scottie Go! is an excellent idea for any child who needs the next coding challenge. I like the idea of combining offline and online learning in one game.

Using games to code not only keeps children entertained but also provides a fun learning environment.

Learn more about Scottie Go! If purchasing use the code CODINGBUG to claim a 10% discount.

Learning game design

Posted on by Gicela

Year 5 & Year 6 students who signed up to the Game Design course learned how to make pixel games with Bitsy. It was a great opportunity to learn to draw on a 8X8 pixel grid and create a story board for their games. Here is a taster of what they created.

Coding a platformer game

Posted on by Gicela

We have just completed four weeks of coding a platformer game using the Microsoft MakeCode platform. The students who participated are in Years 7 to 9. Over four weeks the students designed and created a game which they can play on a game device, such as the KittenBot.

KittenBot – sonic style platformer game created by a Year 7 student.

Microsoft MakeCode allows you to create arcade games using blocks, Python or JavaScript.

Creating a Mario style platformer game allowed the students to develop a deeper understanding of the process of creating a game – planning the story; creating the main character (and their enemies); scene changing; and designing platforms to the physics of the game (gravity, velocity, and acceleration). One important part of the process is the ability to solve the inevitable technical challenges that they come across along the way.

It was wonderful to witness the students sharing and playing their games with their peers. I told them all they should be very proud of the effort and dedication they put into creating their games in just four lessons.

Here is a snapshot of what they created:

  • Game created by Year 8 student
  • Game created by Year 7 student
  • Game created by Year 8 student
  • Game created by Year 9 student
  • Game created by Year 7 student
  • Game created by a Year 8 student