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SD Times
February 2022
www.sdtimes.com
For the love of codeSpark Academy launches game builder BY KATIE DEE hroughout childhood, a kid’s main goal is one simple thing: to have fun. Children seek out ways of playing that allow them to utilize their imagination and expand their own world into something bigger. Often, they achieve this through interactive video games such as “The Sims” or “Animal Crossing.” Imagine, though, that there was a video game that allowed children to build their own adventures, and learn in the process. This has become possible with codeSpark Academy’s newest release, “Adventure Game.” This update allows children to stretch their imagination and capacity for creativity even further with added customization
Photos by codeSpark Academy
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A child works on creating a new adventure game.
features and new methods of coding that turn learning exercises into a non-stop, interactive adventure. According to Joe Shochet, codeSpark co-founder and head of product, “The most popular part of codeSpark Academy since the beginning has been our creative tools, we aim to give kids a fun place to create using code.” This latest release strengthens that effort by adding even more ways for kid coders to express themselves while they learn. With “Adventure Game” kids can now use code in order to create open-ended role-playing games that are inspired by well-known and loved games such as “Animal Crossing” and “The Legend of Zelda”. This
feature also requires a lower amount of hand-eye coordination, making it more accessible for younger kids. So far, the response from kid coders has been incredibly positive, according to Shochet, “Right now we’re getting about 20,000 ‘Adventure Games’ per day created, and that's right after launching… We’ve had 360,000 created and we just launched it a couple of weeks ago so it has really taken off.” Shochet explained that when introducing children to a topic as complex as coding, it is essential to give them a personal connection to that material in order to keep them engaged long term. He said, “By allowing kids to create the same kind of popular games they are already playing, we can encourage them to stick with the learning longer by turning game time into learning time. Building early confidence and positive attitudes towards coding will build persistence through their coding education.” According to Shochet, “Adventure Game” is codeSpark Academy’s biggest update since its inception back in 2014. He said that the goal of this update is to double down on and enhance what has already been shown to get a positive response from kids. “The create area is where kids are spending about ⅔ of all of their time on codeSpark. We released ‘Platformer Game Creator’ first and then followed that a couple years later with a ‘Story Creator’ and then this year with ‘Adventure Game,’” Shochet explained. Additionally, “Adventure Game” enables players to bring more life into the story with the option to add fun and engaging animation features such as speech bubbles for every character. This helps to add a new depth to the storytelling element of the game as well as fuel children’s creativity as they code. This game-based method of learning allows kids to absorb important knowledge that will give them a leg up later on in life, all while not really realizing they’re being taught because it is structured like play. Shochet says that this is the ultimate goal with every aspect of codeSpark. He hopes that the addition of “Adventure Game” will help to further kid coders' education without making the learning feel like work. “Adventure Game” enables kids to create their own unique avatar to represent them in the game, offering a variety of colors, outfits, and hairstyles.
