Teach
Twelve classes, one per power.
Each is 45 minutes you read aloud: the sentence for the board, when to open the projector, the power, and what to look for walking the room.
1. Numbers. Change how fast.
On the board: "a rocket that dodges comets and goes really fast". Your game keeps its speed in a box called speed. Change the number in the box and the whole game changes.
2. Words. Name things.
On the board: "a game with a name you made up". Words in code live between quotes. gameTitle is a word box, and the game shows whatever you put in it.
3. Looks. Pick who is in it.
On the board: "an alien that catches gems in space". enemyLook and playerLook choose the pictures. The game knows these names: hero, ship, alien, pink, skyguy, blob, rock, bomb, sun, coin, gem, carrot, star.
4. Lives. Decide how many chances.
On the board: "a cat that dodges bombs with one life". startLives is how many hearts you start with. Every hit takes one. At zero the game ends.
5. Score. Count points.
On the board: "a bunny that catches carrots worth 5 points". Every catch adds pointsPer to the score. That plus sign is the whole idea of a score: a number that grows.
6. Winning. Say when you win.
On the board: "a ship that wins at 10 stars". winAt is the score that wins. The game checks it after every point: if the score is big enough, you win.
7. If, then. React to things.
On the board: "a runner that gets faster the more you score". An if asks a question. If twist is 'faster', then the speed grows with the score. Otherwise nothing changes.
8. Loops. Make waves.
On the board: "a ship that shoots asteroids that come in waves". A loop does the same thing again and again. The game spawns one bad thing with a loop that runs waveSize times. Change the number, change the wave.
9. Timers. Change things over time.
On the board: "a game that speeds up every 5 seconds". The game counts ticks, sixty a second. speedUpEvery turns that count into a timer: every that-many seconds, a bit faster.
10. Sound. Make a noise.
On the board: "a game that beeps when you catch something". soundOn is true or false. True and every catch blips. The blip is made from numbers, no file, no download.
11. Levels. Go up a level.
On the board: "a dodge game with levels". levelEvery is points per level. The game divides your score by it and that is your level. Each level is a little faster.
12. Boss. Bring the boss.
On the board: "a shooter where a boss comes at 10 points". bossAt is the score where the boss comes: a big one that takes three hits. Zero means never.
How the plans fit together
Each plan teaches one power, and each power changes one line in the game a child just made from a sentence. Children join a class with a code and a first name. Classes are free.