Design Your Own Video Game: Making games is even more fun than playing them! Ever dreamed of creating your own video game? Now you can! Step into the world of game design and programming, where creativity meets technology. In this hands-on, one-week course, middle school students will use Scratch and Construct 3 to build interactive games inspired by classics like Flappy Bird, Pac-Man, and Geometry Dash. Along the way, they’ll learn real programming skills while developing problem-solving, logic, and design creativity. Students will explore how games work—learning how loops, variables, and conditions create challenges, movement, and scoring systems. Each day introduces new tools and techniques that build toward their final project: a fully playable game they can proudly share. Through teamwork, creativity, and daily presentations, students will strengthen their communication and leadership skills while learning to think like real game developers. The next great game idea might just be yours! By the end of the week, each student will have:
- A playable custom video game they designed and coded themselves.
- Knowledge of coding, logic, and digital design.
- Enhanced problem-solving, collaboration, and presentation skills.
This course is taught at the iCode Columbia facility. The Summer Enrichment Academy at UMBC and iCode Columbia have partnered in the development and delivery of courses and programs to serve pre college students in the fields of computer science, robotics, programming and AI. iCode is a workforce development pipeline partner for SEA at UMBC graduate students. All UMBC courses taught at iCode Columbia are UMBC CIRTL trained graduate students.
