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Growth Paths / Code Your First Game
BeginnerFREEGrades 6-12Skills

Code Your First Game

For grades 6–12: go from player to game maker

Pick up the skills to make games people can actually play. Start with Scratch to learn how games work, move to Python for real text-based code, ship something in a game jam, then build a portfolio site for your work. Every step builds on the last — this is one of the few K12 paths where the order genuinely matters.

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2 required outcomes24 weeksCredential on completion

Path outcomes

Skills

Create Your First Program with Scratch

Required. Build an interactive game, animation, or story on Scratch (scratch.mit.edu). This is where you learn how game loops, events, and collision detection work — before writing a single line of text code.

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3 milestones

  1. 1Complete 3 Scratch tutorials — share your favourite project URL
  2. 2Build an original interactive project — share the public Scratch URL as proof
  3. 3Share your project in the Scratch community — remix another creator's project
Skills

Build Your First Game in Python

Required. Write a real game in Python using Pygame Zero (free) or the CS50 Games course (free from Harvard). Proof is a video of the game running — it must actually play, not just compile.

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3 milestones

  1. 1Design your game and build a moving character on screen
  2. 2Add a win condition, lose condition, and score or timer
  3. 3Share the finished game and get 3 people to play it
SkillsOptional

Complete a Game Jam

Elective. Enter a 48–72 hour game jam on itch.io/jams — any engine, any genre. The clock pressure is the point: you ship something imperfect and real. Proof is your public itch.io submission page.

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3 milestones

  1. 1Game jam registered and concept chosen
  2. 2Core gameplay loop complete
  3. 3Game submitted on time
SkillsOptional

Build Your First Website

Elective. Build a portfolio site to host your games and show your work. Use GitHub Pages (free) — a live URL is proof. The best game makers know how to share what they've built.

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3 milestones

  1. 1Learn the basics: write an HTML file that shows text, an image, and a link
  2. 2Style the page with CSS — colours, fonts, and a layout you designed
  3. 3Publish to a live URL and submit the link as proof

Free resources for this path

Every resource listed here is free. No affiliate links. No sponsored placements.

Scratch ↗Platform

Free, browser-based visual coding environment from MIT. Build games, animations, and stories with drag-and-drop blocks before writing text code. Start here.

Free course from Harvard covering game development in Lua, Python, and JavaScript. Lecture videos, problem sets, and a final project — all free, no sign-up required.

Free Python game library designed for beginners. No boilerplate — just write a draw() and update() function and you have a game loop. Easier than full Pygame for a first game.

Free platform for finding and entering game jams. Hundreds of jams run every month for every skill level — search 'beginner' or 'first game jam' to find one that fits.

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