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Make Your First Video Game

Success Zone / Neill -
2026 Spring

Our classic game design camp reimagined to include even more of what you love! Make your first video game in this one-of-a-kind class that gives you the keys to designing your first 2D platformer game. Conceptualization, level design, graphics, sounds, and simple coding are just some of the concepts that we’ll explore. No prior experience is necessary, just a desire to have fun! Student projects will be available on a password-protected Black Rocket website to share with friends and family. Students will work in pairs or teams for most of the program.

Week Lesson/Activity
1 Introduction, GDevelop interface, and game design document creation. Focus on defining the game's core principles and mechanics.
2 Platformer toolkit usage and an introduction to choosing artwork for sprites. Students understand the modern platformer configuration and gather initial visual resources.
3 Setting up GDevelop accounts & template copying. Utilize the sprite splitter web tool to create & organize sprites from collected resources.
4 Creating the 2D walking animation. Assigning sprites to objects in GDevelop to display unique animations for character actions.
5 Introduction to scene / stage editing. Students modify the existing scene to create the first unique level of their game.
6 Working with layers/backgrounds, cloning & editing objects, and adjusting player behavior parameters to customize the character's feel.
7 Utilize additional behaviors to create enhanced player interactions, specifically focusing on adding functioning buttons to stage select.
8 Focus entirely on more advanced coding techniques required for modifying the boss stage, creating a unique and complex combat encounter.
9 Design title and character select scenes using Pixlr.com. Integrate working with audio by adding sound effects and background music.
10 Finalizing the project, exporting projects to a playable version, final project upload, and parent showcase.
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Map/Locations
Locations
Neill Elementary
3830 Harvest Corner Dr
Richmond, TX 77406
SZ-JNE-1

  Black Rocket

Neill Elementary
Mondays, Feb 23 - May 4
3:45 - 5:15 PM

  No Class Mar 16

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Grades   2nd - 5th
$ 285.00
for 10 weeks