Unity, PyGame, GamePress

By Tim Slavin / Notebook / October 2014 Issue

Three game creation software tools you can use to create games. Includes a brief description and lots of links to these and other game creation tools.

Today there are many game creation tools for many platforms. Here are three options teachers, parents, and kids might find interesting to try. Which works best will depend on your skills. GamePress, for example, is a free iPad application using drag and drop instead of coding.

Unity

Probably the most used software to create games for all platforms, Unity is a free download with a paid Pro version available. The Unity site includes lots of tutorials, documentation, and community support. The software includes the ability to code games and then generate code for iOS, Android, Playstation, X-Box, and other platforms. As a professional tool, there is a learning curve. However, like Blendr for 3D animators and Photoshop for designers, learning Unity can position you for jobs as a game programmer.

PyGame

This Python module is bundled into a Python application to provide game functionality, for example, drawing and redrawing the computer screen. If you know Python, then PyGame makes it fairly easy to create at least simple games. It makes a great place to start learning the common problems involved in game design and programming. Unlike more robust game software tools, PyGame is lightweight. The module also works on practically every computer operating system imaginable, including oddities such as BeOS and Atari. The Pygame site includes documentation, as well as tutorials in various languages. Creating a game with PyGame is a matter of setting up your Python environment to include the module, then using tutorials and references to code the functions, objects, and other parts of your game code.

GamePress

A free iPad application, GamePress makes it easy to create games with drag and drop instead of touching code. The software works in various languages, for example, Dutch, Portuguese, and Spanish. GamePress works a lot like Scratch, Hopscotch, and Tynker: you define the background environment, pick characters, assign actions to characters, and gradually build your game. The startup tutorial is very simple and easy to understand. For parents and teachers, GamePress makes it easy to create games for kids to play with, as well as teach them the basics of creating a simple game. Kids can dive in and quickly figure out the interface. If the app becomes too simple, you might try Codea, another iPad application that lets you code with lots of documentation and support.

Learn More

Tynker

Also a block (or bubble) language, includes an app for iPhone/iPad and Android, as well as online lessons.
http://www.tynker.com/

Hopscotch

Also a block (or bubble) language, Hopscotch is an iPhone/iPad app.
http://www.gethopscotch.com/

Codea (iTunes)

http://itunes.apple.com/app/id439571171?mt=8

Codea Resources

http://codea.io
https://bitbucket.org/TwoLivesLeft/core/wiki/Home
https://bitbucket.org/TwoLivesLeft/core/wiki/Codea%20Programming%20FAQ
http://codea.io/talk/categories/code-sharing
https://bitbucket.org/TwoLivesLeft/core/wiki/CopyingCode
https://bitbucket.org/TwoLivesLeft/core/wiki/HintsAndTips
http://codea.io/talk
https://www.kidscodecs.com/codea-tutorials/

Tim Slavin

Tim is an award-winning writer and technologist who enjoys teaching tech to non-technical people. He has many years experience with web sites and applications in business, technical, and creative roles. He and his wife have two kids, now teenagers, who are mad about video games.

View all posts

Also In The October 2014 Issue

People

Andrew Mills Talks about Bits & Bytes and How to Design Games

Andrew created Bits & Bytes, a fun card game to teach kids computing skills: logic, problem solving, and critical thinking.

People

Tim Kropp Talks About Creating Games for Kids

Tim describes how he created his game company, Glide Games, and with his young son created two video games, Elevator Adventures and Subway Adventures.

Projects and Puzzles

Lo Shu Magic Squares Puzzle

A 4,000 year old Chinese magic squares puzzle is both fun and a way to learn basic problem solving skills. Plus turtles.

History

History of Video Games

Can you name the first video game? The first game likely was Tennis for Two in 1958 but it could be Space Wars! in 1962 or other games. It's complicated.

Projects and Puzzles

Playing Harvest Moon in Japanese

The story of an English-speaking person learning a little Japanese by playing the latest Harvest Moon game, Connect to a New World, in original Japanese.

People

Wendy Norman and Skype in the classroom

Wendy Norman, the Director of Social Good at Microsoft, talks about the history and features of the Skype in the classroom service for teachers.

Concepts

Game Play

You can use the concepts of game play to turn almost any task or information into a game. Assuming you can define game play.

Events

Maker Faire NY 2014

The Greatest Show and Tell on Earth turned out to be tons of fun for kids and parents, plus a place to wander and find new technology. Links and video.

We need storytelling. Otherwise, life just goes on and on like the number Pi.

Learn More Links

October 2014 Learn More Links

Links from the bottom of all the October 2014 articles, collected in one place for you to print, share, or bookmark.

Language of the Month

Papyrus

This language lets you modify the Skyrim game to learn game coding plus have fun adding objects and functionality to the game.

News Wire

October 2014 News Wire

Interesting stories about computer science, software programming, and technology for the month of September 2014.

Notebook