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Since taking Games and Learning, I have found that game design projects are one of the most exciting and engaging avenues for students to share what they’re learning. Last year I began with Scratch-based games, and I was amazed at the variety of games students were able to develop, however, this always involved a degree of “suspended disbelief”; the cartoon sprites and backgrounds betray that this is but a child’s plaything, and not a “real game”. Makecode Arcade just might be the thing to change that, while not involving a prohibitively steep learning curve for a middle school context like other applications such as the Unity engine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Makecode Arcade still involves coding with blocks, however, the output is a simulated gameboy-like virtual console complete with an appropriately pixelated screen. What’s more, the editor has been appropriately optimized for mobile devices, and while it can get congested with the block categories, workspace, instructions and output screen all sharing the space of a phone screen, I was able to navigate them successfully to create several simple games from the built in guide for newbies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The great thing about game design is that in this day and age all students are gamers to some degree, and all students get excited at the prospect of emulating or creating a version of their own favorite game, and the cross-curricular applications are endless (math in movement\/scoring, backstory telling, historical context, etc.). This is a platform that helps make the child’s version of game design a little more authentic while keeping teacher investment low given the step-by-step guides, and that makes it so much more worthwhile!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Check it out at the link below and remake your favourite classic game today!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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https:\/\/arcade.makecode.com\/#<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Since taking Games and Learning, I have found that game design projects are one of the most exciting and engaging avenues for students to share…<\/p>\n