Imagine kids building instead of playing video games! and they can earn prizes doing it!

We have two great reasons for younger students aged 9-18 to explore building video games and the resources to help them learn how!  

• Step 1 – Just try it and earn rewards through Developer Movement
• Step 2 – are they hooked? Keep going and enter Imagine Cup Break into code
• Tips and resources to help

Step 1 – Just try it and earn rewards through Developer Movement

Canadian students 13-18 can earn guaranteed rewards by exploring different elements of how to build a video game. You don’t have to complete an entire game (unless you want to!)

Pick a tool and pick a task such as painting a cool landscape, changing the artwork in an existing game, or teaching a character to jump.

Kodu	Touch Develop	Project Spark

Developer Movement is a program that encourages coders, and future coders to try new things and explore new technologies. Complete a challenge and you earn points. Cash in your points to get rewards. It really is that simple!

You can try Kodu to quickly build fun 3D games, Touch Develop to create new worlds with nothing more than a browser, Project Spark to create incredible 3D worlds that will capture their imagination, or you can just draw pictures with Touch Develop turtle, or the perennial favorite Hello World using Python in Visual Studio. We have lots of options, try one or try them all for more points and rewards. You can see a complete list of the challenges and register here

Step 2 – are they hooked? Keep going and enter Imagine Cup Break into code

Students 9-18 around the world can add their own personal flair to a completed game and enter Imagine Cup Break Into Code

Touch Develop allows you to build complex games with just a browser! This makes it an ideal learn to code environment. You can use Touch Develop for more than just games, but since games are a world kids already know it’s a great place to start exploring code. You can do it on your laptop, tablet, iPad, or even on your phone!

The Imagine Cup team has created a guided tutorial that will help any student build the classic game of breakout. It takes between 30 to 60 minutes to complete the tutorial.

That’s when the fun begins!

You can change the graphics, the background, the gameplay and have fun making the game your own! Submit the completed game and you could win $3000 USD for first place, $2000 USD for second place, $1000 USD for third place. The deadline isn’t far away: June 7, 2015 23:59 GMT (and make sure you convert GMT to your local time zone!). But don’t panic at the looming deadline, you really can create your game in a single day. There are separate competitions fro 9-13 and 14-18 years olds. If the deadline has passed, don’t despair, check the website for new challenges at www.imaginecup.com

How do I enter? Follow the instructions at www.imaginecup.com/breakintocode

Tips and resources to help!

We have a couple of great Touch Develop courses that can help you out with Developer Movement or Imagine Cup Break into Code 

You can learn the basics of building a game in Touch Develop by exploring “The birth of bot” a course which introduces a number of coding concepts as you build a game from scratch. You can take what you learn to change the graphics, add sounds, modify scoring, or maybe change the speed of the game.

You can learn specific tips on how to modify game elements by exploring “Bot levels up” a series of standalone suggestions on how you can change different elements of a game, including power ups, splash screens, and if you are really ambitious: animation.

Playing video games can be fun, but it’s time to bring your own game ideas to life! Register today, and share this with a student you think would enjoy building their own video game!

As some extra help, here’s a link to some fun graphics just go to the bottom of the page at that link and you will find free space, steam punk, zombie, fantasy artwork you can use in your games

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So what are you waiting for? Do you know a student who lives in front of the screen playing games, or watching videos of others playing video games? Engage their creativity! It’s time to start bringing your own game ideas to life! Pass this on to a parent, teacher or student who might be interested and let their imaginations run wild!