Scratch from MIT labs! This is what all the kids at hacking time use to learn coding in SV.
Ask HN: Platform for 11 year old to create video games?
181–190 of 264 posts
Re: Ask HN: Platform for 11 year old to create video games?
#182Scratch from MIT labs is what all the 9-12 yo kids at Hackingtons use to learn game dev in Silicon Valley. Have fun!
Re: Ask HN: Platform for 11 year old to create video games?
#183[deleted]
Re: Ask HN: Platform for 11 year old to create video games?
#184lindyFrame
Not limited to games, and also setup to share with others. Already repository for various plugins to the platform. TicTacToe, etc.
http://dandymadeproductions.com/projects/lindyFrame/lindyFra...
Re: Ask HN: Platform for 11 year old to create video games?
#185Game maker studio might fit the bill: https://gamemaker.io/en
+1 here. I've been facilitating a video game maker club for kids aged 11-15. I have ~7 kids who come. Most kids are 11-13 but 2 are 15.
Since they're all new to programming in general the club has mostly been me teaching them. The kids are having a ton of fun. It's slow moving. But they love it.
They also have the GUI scripting instead of the javascript. I haven't actually tried it.
Re: Ask HN: Platform for 11 year old to create video games?
#186I suggest Unreal Engine, 11 years is old enough to follow tutorials on YouTube. I think I was at around this age when I played with Game Maker on Commodore 64. There's not much coding required in UE, but there's some learning curve that's for sure. Having an instant feedback however is really good for learning. I would also suggest https://www.rpgmakerweb.com/ which is a good for 2D RPG games, there are quite a few v…
RPG Maker brings me so many good memories... highly recommend!
Re: Ask HN: Platform for 11 year old to create video games?
#187My son started with Scratch and did that for a few years. Then he tried Pico-8 when he was about 10 years old and got really interested on it. About a year ago, he tried Godot, and has been using it since. He is mostly a self-learner so he was able to pick up each of these on his own. I only gave him suggestions on what to try.
I would recommend starting with Scratch as many have suggested. It is easier to pick up than other options, and kids can always move onto something more complex later on.
There is also Arcade MakeCode (https://arcade.makecode.com) which is similar to Scratch.
Some of my son's projects:
- Godot: https://arandompsi.itch.io
- Scratch (rather old): https://scratch.mit.edu/users/codewithliam/projects/
Re: Ask HN: Platform for 11 year old to create video games?
#188Just for giggles I collected some links here to some of the less known projects and engines (outside Unity, UE and Godot)
The market is well saturated indeed!
Re: Ask HN: Platform for 11 year old to create video games?
#189As several people has pointed out here, don't focus on programming. That can kill the urge to make games pretty quick. And an important thing often overlooked, is prototyping. Whatever kind of game you are making, find a way to make a fast mockup using paper or whatever - and test it.
That being said, you should take a look at simple game engines like; Twine, GDevelop, TyranoBuilder and PICO-8. Just remember; the easier they make it to do simple stuff, the harder is it to do difficult stuff :)
To see what kind of games normal people make, check out https://itch.io
Re: Ask HN: Platform for 11 year old to create video games?
#190Been a pro gamedev for 20+ years. You have a born game designer on your hands. It is important to not assume this means they are super interested in programming. They may be, but game design is its own thing. HN will skew you towards programming first, naturally. Check these out: - Adventure Game Studio ( https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/ ) - Twine ( https://twinery.org/ ) And these have more visual ways of prog…
One more suggestion are games that have powerful editors or modding tools. Starcraft, Age of Empires, Skyrim, Minecraft