Learn Coding in Scratch with a Cool Game Idea

A few years ago, the creation of programs and applications was aimed at only a few people with specialized knowledge. Lately, though, programming for beginners has been possible, thanks to software that has been developed, such as Scratch. In this article, you will see how to create your own game in an easy and fun way.

Why start Scratch Coding?

The rate at which jobs in the IT sector are growing is almost twice as high as in other industries, and this is only an indication of work in future new technologies. Researchers estimate that “the digital economy is worth $11.5 trillion globally, equivalent to 15.5 percent of global GDP and has grown two and a half times faster than global GDP over the past 15 years.”

In a few years, programming knowledge will be fully integrated into educational programs for every age. Using coding concepts, it’s possible to design projects that utilize very similar guidelines and rubrics for a digital project, thereby giving students the opportunity to learn about their topic and sharpen their coding skills at the same time. Future human resources, generations Y and Z, will have at their core the digital skills needed to program.

Following are some of the top reasons to begin learning how to program:

1. You will speak the “language” of the future, and you will have more options for access to the labor market. With programming knowledge, you will have a competitive advantage over other candidates for the same jobs.

2. Programming does exactly what Steve Jobs was saying — it helps you think — so it allows you to further develop skills like critical thinking and the ability to solve complex problems.

3. It helps you develop your creativity and deal with innovative projects by having access to technologically advanced tools and methods when working for any employer in the global market.

4. You will be able to deal in almost any industry or even combine different areas of work applications. Sectors such as economics, medicine, content creation, etc., will have an elementary knowledge of code and programming as a prerequisite.

5. It will help you make everyone’s life and work easier! Programming finds infinite applications in our everyday life because everything is based on code (e.g., GPS while driving, smartphones, weather applications, shopping, etc.)

Let’s start coding by creating a video game in Scratch 3.0! But, first…

Hey, what is Scratch 3.0?

Scratch is a programming language created in 2007 by the Lifelong Kindergarten Group department of the University of Massachusetts MIT. It is mainly used in education so children can learn programming concepts and start creating with block based coding and get used to designing algorithms and real coding.

Scratch’s environment makes programming for beginners very easy, especially for children. They can create games and animations by moving (drag & drop) commands, which appear as detachable blocks, actually it is block based coding .

A vital element is the large community that supports Scratch, as well as the fact that everyone has the ability to share their own projects on the official website. So the programming for beginners becomes even easier since there is mutual user support.

So far, over 14 million games, animations and music creations have been uploaded to Scratch’s platform.

Let’s start creating the great game Arkanoid!

Step 1: Create a scenery – insert characters

1. Open the scratch (File ⇒ New).

2. By right-clicking on the kitty form at the bottom, select delete.

3. Select from the right bottom button Choose a Backdrop ⇒ Paint.

4. Select the Fill tool and the black color, then click on the scene.

So now we have the black sky. Don’t forget to click “Convert to Bitmap.”

5. As an option, select the Brush tool, the smallest brush size with white color, and make several clicks on the scene to create the stars.

6. Then create the pad that will hit the ball. So, choose Sprite ⇒ Paint, and design the yellow paddle. Name it, Paddle.

7. Create two graphic messages — one for “Game Over,” and the other “Congratulations! You Won!” Don’t worry, we will hide them later with code.

8. Repeating step 5, draw the ball, the breaks and the dead_line. Be careful with the dead_line. It should be a black line exactly below the yellow paddle so that if the ball touches this line, the “Game Over” message will be shown, and everything will stop.

Step 2: Start Coding the Sprites

1. Place the sprites in their original position. For example, the dead_line must be placed at the lower end of the stage.
2. Initialize the place for the bricks. When the ball touches a brick, it should disappear from the scene. A message (impact or whatever else you want) will be transmitted so that the other objects in the game can perceive the event and respond appropriately.

In this version of the game, all the bricks behave the same way, so this code is copied to the green, purple, and yellow bricks.

1. To create the rest of the bricks, right-click and choose duplicate. Depending on the size of the bricks, make a suitable number of bricks and place them in the scenery. Keep the bricks of the same color constant with the y coordinate so that they are in the same horizontal line. Change the distance as much as necessary, so they remain equidistant.  Repeat the process for all the bricks.
2. The ball will bounce when it hits the lateral boundaries of the stage. So click the ball and drag and drop the right commands to create the following scenario: if the ball touches the trampoline, it will bounce mirage, and if it touches the dead_line, the game will end.

3. When the ball hits a brick, it will receive the strike message for the event and change direction reflexively. Click to the script, then click Ctrl+c to copy, and go to the other bricks and paste this whole script with Ctrl+v.

4. Go back to the ball, and now add the two commands as shown below so that when the ball receives the message “hit” from the bricks, it will change direction.

5. The mouse will control the paddle. The commands we need to put on the paddle are as follows:

The game is complete! Congratulations!

Finally, there are some nonessential additions that’ll make your game even cooler!

Try to implement these on your own:

• Add a sound effect when you hit a break
• Add in music while you play the game

To learn more about Scratch 3.0, block based coding, algorithms and real coding or to create more games like the famous “Snake Game,” “Pac-Man,” racing car games, or a quiz game with princess Elsa, check out Dr. Chris Mall’s course: Scratch Programming – Build 14 Games in Scratch 3.0 Bootcamp on Udemy. 

To start creating your own 3D Games with this simple drag-and-drop style, check out Kodu Game Lab: Learn to Code by Creating 3D Games with Kodu.

Not sure what programming language is best to teach your kids? Check out this blog, where we’ll go through the top x coding languages for kids to learn, here on Udemy.

Thanks for reading and keep on coding!