THE FLOOR IS LAVA! It's Game Jam time...

By The Code Zone team 2 min read

Last week we had our first of this Summer's Game Jams, a free event for all members where the children were given a theme (The Floor is Lava) and had to come up with their own game or animation, and wow did they come up with some amazing ideas!  We've selected a few (below) and our mentors have done a round up.  Have a watch below!

 The Floor Is Lava Game Jam

Last week we had our first of this Summer's Game Jams, a free event for all members where the children were given a theme (The Floor is Lava) and had to come up with their own game or animation, and wow did they come up with some amazing ideas!  We've selected a few (below) and our mentors have done a round up.  Have a watch below!
 
All children who took part have also earnt this cool badge for their profile!  A super well done to all of them, there was such enthusiasm and enjoyment (although apologies to the parents who's children were still up in the evening working on their games...we heard stories!)
 
Do encourage your children to share their projects so everyone can have a play (message us if you're unsure how).  All children now have a profile online to show-off their badges and their projects so anyone can have a play!  Check their dashboard for their own unique link to share.
 
So now the children are all warmed up, we're back at it next week for the second Summer Game Jam!  We'll announce the theme on Monday but I can promise one thing... it's going to take some creativity!  Watch this space :)
 
 

Play some of the games that have been shared from this Game Jam...

 

 

 

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How a game jam works

  1. Six to eight weeks of club

    An hour a week, the same mentor, a group of no more than six. Over a term the pieces stack up: events, loops, variables, functions, and whatever else the thing they are building turns out to need.

  2. Then the holidays, and a theme

    We announce a theme and stop there. No brief, no worksheet, and no deadline you can fail. It is the one stretch of the year with an unbroken run at a single idea, which is why most of the building happens here rather than in the term.

  3. Then somebody else plays it

    Finished games go up on our own platform and on this page, where sharing between members is moderated by mentors. Other children play them and award XP. Having a stranger pick up the thing you made is the part that keeps children coming back.

The games our members made

11 games 11 makers 439 XP awarded by other members Built in Scratch

Every one of these is playable in the browser, no account needed. Have a go at a few.

Scratch 77 XP (coding experience points)

the floor is lava maker!

by Olliecroney

This is floor is lava... MAKER where you can make your own levels by clicking and dragging items of furniture to create…

Scratch 63 XP (coding experience points)

The floor is soup!

by MiraGlew

Jump: Space Left and right key arrows : Move Up arrow: Climb ladder Thats all! :D

About our game jams

A game jam is a themed build: we announce a theme, and children across the Academy spend a few weeks making something from it. There is no brief beyond the theme and nothing to finish by a deadline you can fail. Children share what they made on our own platform, where chat and sharing between members is moderated by mentors.

Jams are included in Academy membership. They are the part of the Academy where everybody is working on the same thing at once, which for a self-paced course is worth having.

More like this

The blog is in two halves. Guides are the evergreen explainers written by the mentors who teach the clubs, covering the questions parents actually ask: what comes after Scratch, how to support a coding-mad child when you cannot code yourself, and what works for autistic and ADHD children.

Club news is the other half, and it is where posts like this one live: game jams, Minecraft builds and weekly roundups, written up by whoever ran the session. Neither is marketing. If you want to know what the work actually looks like before you sign up to anything, club news is the more honest read of the two.

Creating an account is free and we do not ask for card details. Create a free account, see what it costs, or read about support for neurodivergent children.

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