Code This Game!: Make Your Game Using Python, Then Break Your Game to Create a New One!

by Meg Ray, Keith Zoo (Illustrator), Odd Dot

Overview

Make it! Code it! Break it! Mod it!

Meg Ray's CODE THIS GAME! is a nonfiction visual guide, illustrated by Keith Zoo, that teaches young readers, 10-14, how to program and create their very own video game. Each chapter introduces key coding concepts as kids build an action strategy game in Python, an open-source programming language. The book features an innovative stand-up format that allows kids to read, program, and play their game simultaneously.

With easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions, CODE THIS GAME! teaches kids to build a strategy action game called “Attack of the Vampire Pizzas!” The book also teaches how to modify the game and follow one's imagination by incorporating downloadable art assets. By the time kids finish the book, they'll have mastered basic coding concepts and created a personalized game.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250306692
Publisher:	Odd Dot
Publication date:	09/03/2019
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	211,701
Product dimensions:	7.99(w) x 9.38(h) x 1.82(d)
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Meg Ray is the Teacher in Residence at Cornell Tech. She is responsible for the implementation and design of the Teacher in Residence program, a coaching program for K-8 teachers in New York City schools. An experienced middle and high school computer science teacher and special educator, Meg directed the design of the Codesters Python curricula for middle school students and served as a writer for the Computer Science Teachers’ Association K-12 CS Standards and as a special advisor to the K12 CS Framework. She lives in New York.

Keith Zoo is an illustrator living near Boston, MA. For the past decade, he's been the Lead Artist at FableVision Studios, working on a full range of things, from character design to animation layout, interactives and design. When he's not there, he loves spending his time drawing monsters, goblins and other silly things. To check out more of Keith's work, head on over to his website.

Editorial Reviews

2019-08-12
A coding guide that builds a Plants vs. Zombies-style game in Python.

In the resultant game, Attack of the Vampire Pizzas, the player's new pizza restaurant suffers from an infestation of sauce-drinking vampire pizzas; the player must keep the vampire pizzas out of the delivery boxes in order to prevent bad customer reviews (which will cause a "pizza shop closing" game-over message). As this complicated game is written in raw Python code, the book's introduction is a beefy crash course containing detailed installation instructions as well as exercises to familiarize readers with the basics of using text code. Along with thorough instructions, a color-coded design (with a well-spelled-out key) allows readers to easily track the changes in the code and keep all of the nuts and bolts straight throughout (the text demands revisions and computational thinking). The largest segment of the book (which builds the game) has chapters that end with the code being worked on as well as a "Level Up!" sidebar, effectively a combination recap and progress bar that breaks the code-dense material into manageable chunks. The care in design extends to the physical form of the book—the spiral binding allows it to lie flat, and the covers contain a pop-out built-in bookstand for those who prefer to use it while it's propped up. The final section gives ideas for readers to customize the game or try making one of their own design.

An innovative, accessible way to turn anyone into a serious coder. (further resources, asset gallery, index) (Nonfiction. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews