
My 7 year old wants to make a video game. Where do we start? - bramm
Like many others, my kid loves playing video games. But my kid also has a lot of ideas for how to make the games better, or different versions of those games.<p>Before thinking about what I was getting into, I said, &quot;why don&#x27;t we make our own?&quot;<p>Now he asks me every day!<p>I&#x27;m a designer, with some front-end knowledge, but I know nothing about creating apps or games.<p>As far as platforms, iOS is probably our easiest route, but let me know. Should we go with Unity?<p>If you have other tips outside of just making the thing, I&#x27;d lover to hear those as well.
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logfromblammo
First, make the game. Then, make your game playable on a computer platform.

Do not make the technical decisions until you first understand the reasons why
they need to be made.

Is the goal of this exercise to have a completed video game as the end result,
or to have a child motivated to learn how to make such games? If the latter,
it may be prudent to build up to the final product, by starting with "Hello
World", implementing command-line interface "Tic-Tac-Toe" or "Hunt the
Wumpus", moving on to a 2-D falling tetromino game, doing a simple 3-D demo,
and so on.

But either way, the initial focus should be on making a fun game, and the
details of the execution subordinate at all times to the question "Does this
make it more fun to play?"

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bramm
Yes, this is definitely a combination of learning, bonding, discerning
interest level.

We've already began the planning and sketching stages, but we want to get our
hands dirty soon.

No matter what the end result is, this will be a great learning experience.

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dangerboysteve
[https://scratch.mit.edu](https://scratch.mit.edu) for an introduction to
programming your young people.

For simple cross platform maybe gamesalad.com

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bramm
Thanks. I have a young relative that uses Scratch.

My kid has played a few different iOS games that are made to teach programming
basics to kids (Hopscotch, Light Bot, etc).

I've also created some simple CSS animation stuff on CodePen for them to mess
with colors, speed, etc.

I haven't heard of Gamesalad, I'll check that out.

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avinassh
I taught my nephew (8 year old) about making games and he is doing really
well. I suggest Scratch[0] as well. I also enrolled him in the edx Scratch
course and so far he is doing great solving assignments and quizzes. Usually
he gets stuck when he is not able to understand the question (English is third
language to us) and he skips those and continues the course. And every
alternate days I sit with him for 2-3 hours and explain him the questions. I
also got a PDF of the book Super Scratch Programming Adventure [2] (dead tree
version isn't available in my country) and he loves it so far. He has made
many games, as part of course and also on his own. He is proud of his
accomplishments and I think thats great.

[0] - [https://scratch.mit.edu](https://scratch.mit.edu)

[1] - [https://www.edx.org/course/programming-scratch-
harveymuddx-c...](https://www.edx.org/course/programming-scratch-harveymuddx-
cs002x-0)

[2] -
[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1593275315](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1593275315)

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tugberkk
It would be awesome if we could also see those games, any available online?

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avinassh
sure, some of them are available here:
[https://scratch.mit.edu/users/sanjupokemon/](https://scratch.mit.edu/users/sanjupokemon/)

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Impossible
You might want to check out the current Humble Bundle, which includes a bunch
of game making tools including Stencyl, RPG Maker VX, Play Canvas and App Game
Kit, as well as ProMotion, Sprite Lamp and other art tools. You'll have to act
fast as it ends in less than a day.

Unity3D is great but it will likely be overwhelming for a 7 year old and for
you as well given your background.

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bramm
Awesome thanks! I was looking at Stencyl.

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kleer001
Paper and pencil as an adjunct? Games exist in analog too. Maybe a Hoyle card
game book, read it together, mark it up, come up with your own rules. All of
this not an end unto its self, but a stepping stone to computer games. Maybe
thinking of it as an ABC's of "games".

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brudgers
Building something like hangman in Racket would be straightforward for father
son time. If your son enjoys the making it will be enough, if anything short
of Xbox quality won't do, then you'll exceed his interest quickly and he can
start on his next project.

Good luck.

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err4nt
Wow, that's so cool that you and your child can share this hobby and interest
together. I'm a front-end dev who has dabbled with open-source game
development before, so my advice is going to be a little different than the
'start small and build bigger' and more like 'start with one thing and expand
your skill set'.

I got interested in graphic design as a teenager, and had tons of UI ideas
about the desktop, software interfaces, etc. I also loved video games, so it
wasn't long before I was trying to find ways to get my designs into the games
I was playing.

The first time I ever realized a game could be modded was playing the DOS game
Scorched Earth. You control little tanks that shoot each other (like Worms)
and when you die they say a quote. Our computer teacher at school had modified
the text file to include school-specific quotes and I knew that not every
version of the game was like that.

Many PC games have active modding communities. I was a young teenager as
Quake3 mods were popular, and so I got a really good glimpse at how add-on
content can enhance a game. It wasn't long before I got involved with an open-
source FPS project (Nexuiz released 2005, now forked and developed as
Xonotic). As a 2D artist, I mostly worked on loading screens, the menu UI, the
in-game UI, but I met a team of global volunteers from all around the world
that became friends. I learned about programming, I got to 'shadow' and
understand every role inside a game development team, and I got to have the
thrill of shipping a product and playing against strangers inside the game I
helped to create! All this before I was finished high school.

My advice to you and your son would be to start small with Minecraft mods, or
something where you can immediately put the skills you have to use and see
changes. This keeps you interested as you learn about and develop skills
related to game design you don't currently have (3d modelling, game engine
programming, audio engineering, etc).

I would also encourage you to contribute or join some open source game
projects that are looking for contributors or volunteers. For me this was a
social life-saver as a teenager, as well as an amazing educational experience.

Best of luck to you and your child, you have a wonderful adventure ahead of
you!

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mrfusion
I wonder if you both could go through some pygame tutorials? They're very
approachable.

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detaro
modded Minecraft might be a nice platform, people do all sort of things in it

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bramm
That's definitely something to look into in the future.

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segmondy
Introduce them to Logo, and then BASIC. After that python.

