Ninja Instructions | Mentor Notes

How can you extend and re-imagine games in scratch?

Games have a LOT of places where you can add small features that make them better. Get into game design by adding extended features within one of you Scratch projects. Choose at least one (or more!) of the following extensions and add it to your previously started made, pong, scrolling, or fish chomp games.

30-45 minutes each

1. Go to the Extensions studio:
   http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/475619
2. Choose one or more of the following extensions to explore.
3. Incorporate your choice into your previously started game projects.

Extension projects:

1. Score http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1940443
   Demonstrates how to set and change a score. Receive 10 points every time the scratch cat is clicked.
   
   
2. Levels http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1940453
   Demonstrates how to change levels. Score increases by 1 every time the space bar is pressed. Level increases by 1 for every 10 points.
   
   
3. Timer http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1940445
   Demonstrates how to use a timer. Use the mouse to navigate Scratch cat to Gobo.
   
   
4. Enemies http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1940450
   Demonstrates how to add an enemy. Avoid the tennis ball by using the up and down arrow keys.
   
   
5. Rewards http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1940456
   Demonstrates how to collect items. Use the arrow keys to move the Scratch cat around to collect quest items.
   
   
6. Mouse http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/25192659
   Demonstrates how to program the mouse to control game play. Move the mouse to move the paddle.
   
   
7. Restart http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/25192935
   Demonstrates how to make a button to restart the game. Click on the RESTART button to restart.
   
   
8. Menu http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/25192991
   Demonstrates how to display a menu screen at the beginning of the game. Click START or DIRECTIONS on the menu screen.
   
   
9. Multiplayer http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/25192711
   Demonstrates how to add another player to the game. Player 1 uses the arrow keys to navigate Pico through the maze, and player 2 uses the W, A, S, D keys to navigate Nano through the maze.
   
   

Note: The backpack is an extremely helpful tool while programming in Scratch. It can store everything from lines of code, to music files, to sprites, and more. Try using it to incorporate extensions into your game projects.

• What are the different ways of increasing difficulty in a game?
• Which extensions did you add to your game project?
• Describe your process for including the extensions in your game?

The studio for this activity is located at:

• http://scratch.mit.edu/studios/1126762

This project is based on materials from the the Creative Computing curriculum by Brennan, Balch, and Chung.