ZX SpectrumBASIC · Z80 assemblyPhotograph supplied by the project.
You can make these.
Build real games. Learn what makes them work.
Explore different ideas, genres and ways to program across machines and languages.
Dash · NES · 6502 assembly.
Different games.
Different possibilities.
Safe Cracker · Commodore 64 · BASIC.
Dodge meteors, crack a code, guide sheep home or time a jump. Each game explores different ideas and the character of its machine.
Never programmed before?
Start with The Basics: give instructions, remember a value and ask for input. No machine or language to choose yet.
Different Machines.
Different Ways In.
Choose the machine or language that interests you. The Spectrum is one starting point; the C64, Amiga and NES have their own routes.
ZX SpectrumBASIC · Z80 assembly
Commodore 64BASIC · 6502 assemblyPhoto: Evan-Amos · public domain.
Commodore AmigaAMOS · Blitz BASIC · 68000 assemblyAmiga 500 Plus · Photo: Sernot / Ubcule · public domain.
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Nintendo Entertainment System6502 assemblyPhoto: Evan-Amos · public domain.
Build Things.
Understand More.
Lessons guide the work. Shared subjects help you open the ideas behind it, and follow them beyond one game, language or machine. Start with the question you have.
Foundations
Explore how programs work: decisions, repetition, structure, numbers and bits. Pseudocode, diagrams and experiments keep the idea separate from a language’s syntax.
How can bits represent a number?The same bits. Two ways to read them.
- Binary
- 00001010
- Decimal
- 10
Representation is an idea you can take to every system.
Maths for Games
Explore chance, direction and movement through experiments you can change. Build a dice experiment, compare sample sizes, or turn coordinates into an aimed shot.
Explore chance and aimingHold right. Let go.
ResponsiveStopped
MarkerSlipperyStill moving
MarkerHeavyStopped
MarkerThe Craft
Make deliberate choices about how a game plays. Explore controls, movement and feedback, then test what changing one rule does to the experience.
Try the Game Feel playgroundWhy do the colours clash?
A tiny sprite meets an eight-pixel colour cell. Follow the trade-off from the screen into the hardware that makes it happen.
Explore colour clash in the Vault
Pattern LibraryFind techniques you can adapt, with their assumptions and trade-offs.The VaultExplore the machines, people and circumstances behind the software.TimelinePlace the machines and their ideas in computing history.
Shared subjects are useful places to enter or return to. They are not a compulsory course to finish before making a game.
Same Curiosity.
Different Possibilities.
See how the lessons use each machine’s character. These are captures from the current courses, rather than a promise that every route has the same coverage.
Safe Cracker
Commodore 64 · BASIC
Can you crack the code? Make a guess, read the clues and narrow the search.
Learn variables, decisions and repetition.
Explore Safe CrackerDash
NES · 6502 assembly
Can you time the jump? Read the controller, avoid the hazard and gather coins.
Learn controller input, movement and collisions.
Explore DashFlock
Commodore Amiga · 68000 assembly
Can you get the flock home? Dodge the traffic, cross the stream and fill the fold.
Learn hardware sprites, collisions and game states.
Explore Flock
One Game.
One Small First Step.
Meteor Storm’s first lesson moves pixels across a byte boundary. A bit that leaves one byte must arrive in the next. That small idea is the beginning of the ship’s movement.
Start Meteor StormCarry a pixel into the next byte
Before 10000001 00000000 After 01000000 10000000
The rightmost bit crosses the boundary. Nothing gets lost.
New to assembly? Begin with Meet AssemblyWhat Will
You Make?
New to programming? Begin with The Basics. Have a machine in mind? Choose its route and find something you want to make.