Level Up Makers
"Learn to make games" can mean almost anything. So here's exactly what a student does, level by level, in Level Up: Make Your First Game with AI.
Each level is a short session with a clear goal. By the end, your child has one original platform game that friends and family can play.
Level 1: Spark!
Your child invents an original game idea, draws their own hero and builds a tiny game they can actually play. The first rule of game makers comes up right away: borrow the feeling of a game you love, not the character.
Level 2: Rules of the Game
Before building more, students look at how games are put together. They learn the "core loop," the simple cycle of actions that makes a game fun to play again and again.
Level 3: Hero & World Builder
Time to become a pixel artist. Your child learns some pixel art basics, sketches on paper first, then brings the hero and the game world to life in MakeCode.
Level 4: Make It Move
This is where it starts to feel like a real platformer. Students add gravity, jumping and a world that scrolls as the hero moves. They also learn a good habit early: back up your game before big changes.
Level 5: Danger Zone
Enemies and obstacles arrive. Before adding them, students think about what makes a challenge fair or unfair, and they draw a difficulty curve to plan it.
Level 6: Level Designer
One level becomes three, from easy to hard, connected like a real adventure. Students use a simple pattern for each level: teach a skill, test it, then add a twist.
Level 7: Juice It Up
Sounds, effects, a title screen and the small touches that make a game feel good to play. Game designers call this "game feel," and students love this part.
Level 8: Playtest Party
Your child watches other people play the game, takes notes and fixes the bugs they find. It's a lesson in patience and in listening, and the game gets better every round.
Level 9: Choose Your Next World
With one game done, students try a second tool and rebuild their first game in it. It shows them that the skills they learned carry over.
Level 10: Ship It (Safely)
The finish line. Your child works through a short checklist with you covering privacy and more, and then, only with your OK, shares the finished game.
Extras along the way
The guide also includes:
- A Parent Guide and clearly marked grown-up steps
- Optional "AI Sidekick" prompts for your own AI account, with you typing
- An optional poster side quest using Canva
- Printable sheets: hero card, game idea sheet, pixel grid, world map, level planner, playtest scorecard, sharing checklist and level badges
No coding experience is needed. The steps start at the very beginning.
See Level 1 for yourself
The best way to know if this is a fit is to try it. Download the free Level 1 sample and spend an afternoon with it. When your child is ready for the rest, the full PDF is here, and the paperback is $34.99 on Amazon.
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