
Game Developer Gives 7-Year-Old Best Birthday Present Ever - mrtnkl
http://martinkool.com/post/17611582440/game-developer-gives-7yr-old-best-birthday-present-ever
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snorkel
I'm embarking on a similar hands-on exercise with my own 5 year old son called
"let's make an iPhone game". I'm letting him completely define the plot, the
characters, the actions, and overall requirements no matter how nonsensical it
all seems, I don't debate his choices, I just take requirements as is. I have
him involved with every step from designing the artwork, the music, the
sounds, the actions, and he is quite obsessed with working on this project
continuaously. I don't expect he'll know all the details of how the game works
but I want to demonstrate that he can create fun things using a computer.

The refreshing part of getting software requirements from a child is there's
no tedious debate about implementation details, timelines, and business value.
"The cowboy is only on level 2 and level 4 because his friend is the
mosquitto." OK, whatever, nonsense but perhaps no more ridiculous than Pac
Man.

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yassim
Thankyou. I cant read the article from work as we block anything with the word
games in the meta tags. But your post gave me most of the gist as well as
making me smile with what you are doing. My hats off to you.

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SquareWheel
I'm not sure if you need to be logged in to Instapaper to see this, but here
is a text summary that has all the content:
[http://www.instapaper.com/text?u=http%3A%2F%2Fmartinkool.com...](http://www.instapaper.com/text?u=http%3A%2F%2Fmartinkool.com%2Fpost%2F17611582440%2Fgame-
developer-gives-7yr-old-best-birthday-present-ever&article=251584168)

~~~
yassim
Thanks. Work fine without logging in.

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skystorm
Incidentally, the game in question (Edge) is part of the current Humble
Bundle, including a version for Android devices. I've already had quite a bit
of fun with it on my way to work. :)

Edit: Kinda obvious, but here's the link <http://www.humblebundle.com/> (only
4 hours to go!)

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albertzeyer
In the beginning when I saw the pictures, I thought that you could build
levels for a 2D platform game with Lego and the game automatically reads them
in via Webcam or so and you could play them.

That would be fun! :)

~~~
vyrotek
I thought the same thing! The next generation of toys gets me really excited.
I hope things like that become a reality. I can't wait to play.... err get
them for my kids. ;)

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techMAC
We can also enjoy those toys, not just our kids. LOL

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ThomPete
Why can't the world be much more like that?

Such a fantastic present. And it makes you wonder if there is some untapped
potential in there.

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hobin
There's not much here to say except: this is the awesomest thing I've ever
seen game developers do.

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tete
Isn't that what indie game development is all about? That the developers
actually care.

At least that's a lot of why I like indie games. They often do awesome things.
They usually don't just develop games to make money, but to make people happy.
I think that's a lot about why they are more creative and not just another
implementation of the same boring game with better graphics.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc&](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc&);

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hieronymusN
Such a great story. Such a great ad for a game. Downloading now.

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6ren
Unfortunately, they need to license his level; and if it is sold with the
official game, they arguably should pay him.

This issue wouldn't occur if they coded his map for him as an independent
modder's map - but a big part of the coolness of this gift is that it's part
of the _official_ game. (I mean, when I was 7, such a gift would be like
becoming a god - legal issues, even money, would only diminish that).

/sick of negotiating licenses for my code

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gtrak
Yes, for that kid this will be something to look back on in pride. That's
amazing.

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erikpukinskis
This is a lovely story, great parenting, and a lovely gesture.

But I could not stop thinking about how many extraordinary coincidences would
be required for this to happen to a little girl.

Would her parents have encouraged her relationship with video games?

Would her friends support it?

Is it even physically possible to make an "Edge" level with the new "girl"
Legos?

These are the tiny little experiences that turn little boys from future
Biologists into future Computer Scientists.

~~~
kylemaxwell
My daughter plays the same games (e.g. Minecraft) as the boys. She plays with
the same Lego bricks as the boys. It's not that she doesn't see the
differences, especially at school - it's that we don't make the differences
seem like anything to worry about at this point.

By the time those differences matter more, I hope to have her self-confidence
to the point where she'll kick those boys' butts.

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cicloid
Maybe, the only sad part is that creativity toys like Lego have somehow
stopped being gender neutral. Have you seen the latest sets?

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lbotos
While I don't argue that the majority of lego sets are geared towards boys
they still run the Lego City line as well as the Harry Potter line which does
seem to be relatively popular with girls. (My Ex-gf played with legos and
loved the Harry Potter Stuff.)

~~~
jacquesm
Lego sets may be geared towards boys for the most part but plain lego bricks
are about the most gender neutral toy you could possibly find. And it seems
that kids of either gender (and any age!) appreciate them equally.

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richardlblair
This is a really touching story.

Above that, it will really spark this young man's creative mind. For his
eighth birthday get him a laptop, and get him programming.

Sounds like a really awesome kid. You are one lucky Dad.

~~~
ralphael
yep, couldn't agree more! The laptop could be the best present you ever buy
him! ..second to Lego :-)

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reinhardt
Apologies for the meta comment but this is the thread with the highest
points/comments ratio I've seen in HN. Almost six hundred readers upvoted it
but less than 10% posted a comment, which is pretty unusual. I'm guessing it's
the overwhelming "this is amazingly cool/touching/lovely but other than I
don't really have anything to add to the discussion" feeling.

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slewis
And the developer gets positive karma from the press for doing this, which
leads to more sales. Sweet!

(disclaimer: I'm not at all insinuating that they did it for the press. I just
like that a good action is being rewarded.)

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damian2000
Well done to the game devs to support their fans/players like this ... they
deserve all the exposure they will no doubt get for their game because of this
story ...

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SkippyZA
Lovely story. If I were a kid and that happened to me, I would be ecstatic!

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idan
Am I the only one who is curious to see gameplay video of this 7-year-old?

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mathattack
They're awesome and you're SuperDad!

