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Scratch Programming Playground: Learn to Program by Making Cool Games
Scratch, the colorful drag-and-drop programming language, is used by millions of first-time learners, and in Scratch Programming Playground , you’ll learn to program by making cool games. Get ready to destroy asteroids, shoot hoops, and slice and dice fruit!
Each game includes easy-to-follow instructions, review questions, and creative coding challenges to make the game your own. Want to add more levels or a cheat code? No problem, just write some code.
You’ll learn to make games
–Maze escape the maze!
– gobble apples and avoid your own tail
–Asteroid smash space rocks
–Fruit a Fruit Ninja clone
–Brick a remake of Breakout, the brick-breaking classic
– a game inspired by Super Mario Bros.
Learning how to program shouldn’t be dry and dreary. With Scratch Programming Playground , you’ll make a game of it!
Uses Scratch 2
Each game includes easy-to-follow instructions, review questions, and creative coding challenges to make the game your own. Want to add more levels or a cheat code? No problem, just write some code.
You’ll learn to make games
–Maze escape the maze!
– gobble apples and avoid your own tail
–Asteroid smash space rocks
–Fruit a Fruit Ninja clone
–Brick a remake of Breakout, the brick-breaking classic
– a game inspired by Super Mario Bros.
Learning how to program shouldn’t be dry and dreary. With Scratch Programming Playground , you’ll make a game of it!
Uses Scratch 2
288 pages, Paperback
Published October 8, 2016
52 people are currently reading
102 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 29, 2016
Let me preface this review by stating that I am not a coder, at all. Although I have an extensive background in Linux, servers, hardware and hosting, coding is something I have steered away from, mostly due to never finding a project that was fun or a method/language that made it engaging and easy to learn.
Then came Al Sweigart and his newest offering Scratch Programming Playground: Learn to Program by Making Cool Games. In this finely written and clearly illustrated tome, the author takes the reader through and introduction Scratch (an interactive online programming interface found at http://scratch.mit.edu), becoming familiar with the interface, learning about the structure of building Scratch code and then with little fanfare, gets the reader going with actual coding.
Once I had learned how to download the offline Scratch editor, I was off to the races with the very first game to code, a basic graphic game displaying rainbow lines in the code window. This simply whetted my appetite and was simple enough to encourage me to play more with the code to make other things happen. Keep in mind, this is is coming from an adult with NO coding experience and the positive feedback from the tinkering got me to feeling that even I could make something fun all on my own!
The further you get into the book, the more concepts the author brings to the table, and shows you in practical means how to implement these concepts in the next few games. Each chapter also shows enhancements to the basic simple game you create, and includes challenges and questions for you to test out your skills gained in the chapter — the simple joy I got from successfully creating a game tweak offered as a challenge was rewarding and encouraging, something a budding programmer of any age will embrace.
The later chapters cover concepts that one wouldn’t expect to see in an interface and language like Scratch, yet, there they are; true math functions, Boolean functions that apply to anything (pretty much), multiple variables and implementing controls (keyboard, mouse clicks).
By the time I had finished the last game example in the book (a really slick version of a platform game ala Super Mario Bros.), I felt comfortable enough and was brimming with confidence to the point I decided to re-write a flash game a friend wrote some years ago. While I’ve not gotten incredibly far with it yet, my little character walks around, looks as great as he did in flash, and most importantly, I’m having genuine fun developing a game!
The author’s presentation is clear, concise, engaging and most of all, makes learning Scratch fun. I honestly would have no problems taking this book and giving to a 8-16 year old and watching them blossom, although a younger child would likely need more basic tools to get started. I have a dear friend whose child is just starting in Scratch (there’s a local club!) - I’ll be getting them a copy so they both can enjoy this book as much as I have!
~Zombo
Then came Al Sweigart and his newest offering Scratch Programming Playground: Learn to Program by Making Cool Games. In this finely written and clearly illustrated tome, the author takes the reader through and introduction Scratch (an interactive online programming interface found at http://scratch.mit.edu), becoming familiar with the interface, learning about the structure of building Scratch code and then with little fanfare, gets the reader going with actual coding.
Once I had learned how to download the offline Scratch editor, I was off to the races with the very first game to code, a basic graphic game displaying rainbow lines in the code window. This simply whetted my appetite and was simple enough to encourage me to play more with the code to make other things happen. Keep in mind, this is is coming from an adult with NO coding experience and the positive feedback from the tinkering got me to feeling that even I could make something fun all on my own!
The further you get into the book, the more concepts the author brings to the table, and shows you in practical means how to implement these concepts in the next few games. Each chapter also shows enhancements to the basic simple game you create, and includes challenges and questions for you to test out your skills gained in the chapter — the simple joy I got from successfully creating a game tweak offered as a challenge was rewarding and encouraging, something a budding programmer of any age will embrace.
The later chapters cover concepts that one wouldn’t expect to see in an interface and language like Scratch, yet, there they are; true math functions, Boolean functions that apply to anything (pretty much), multiple variables and implementing controls (keyboard, mouse clicks).
By the time I had finished the last game example in the book (a really slick version of a platform game ala Super Mario Bros.), I felt comfortable enough and was brimming with confidence to the point I decided to re-write a flash game a friend wrote some years ago. While I’ve not gotten incredibly far with it yet, my little character walks around, looks as great as he did in flash, and most importantly, I’m having genuine fun developing a game!
The author’s presentation is clear, concise, engaging and most of all, makes learning Scratch fun. I honestly would have no problems taking this book and giving to a 8-16 year old and watching them blossom, although a younger child would likely need more basic tools to get started. I have a dear friend whose child is just starting in Scratch (there’s a local club!) - I’ll be getting them a copy so they both can enjoy this book as much as I have!
~Zombo
January 4, 2017
I love working with Scratch for young coders. It’s all about teaching kids how to computer code using interconnecting blocks of code, and the Scratch program, developed at MIT, is free and available online. Scratch Programming Playground walks kids (and grownups – I used this book extensively while putting together programs for this coming winter) through the process of learning Scratch by making cool games, like Fruit Slicer (a Fruit Ninja clone), Brick Breaker (where my ’80s friends at?), and Asteroid Breaker (Asteroids! Remember that one?). There are tons of full-color visuals and step-by-step breakdowns that will have kids programming in no time. I buy No Starch books for my libraries all the time – they’re great to have on hand.
November 4, 2016
This book is simply brilliant.
I've worked through this book as a professional software engineer, and with my 9 year old daughter, and found the pace of learning to be pitch perfect. Concepts are broken down into easily digestible chunks and, crucially, introduced in a manner that builds upon the previous learnings.
Obviously the language is aimed at children, but to be clear the tone is not patronizing at all; a grown up with no programming experience would enjoy and benefit from this!
Al Sweigart and Martin Tan have done a superb job in creating this title, and I thoroughly recommend this, even if you are an adult.
Two thumbs up.
I've worked through this book as a professional software engineer, and with my 9 year old daughter, and found the pace of learning to be pitch perfect. Concepts are broken down into easily digestible chunks and, crucially, introduced in a manner that builds upon the previous learnings.
Obviously the language is aimed at children, but to be clear the tone is not patronizing at all; a grown up with no programming experience would enjoy and benefit from this!
Al Sweigart and Martin Tan have done a superb job in creating this title, and I thoroughly recommend this, even if you are an adult.
Two thumbs up.
July 24, 2021
This book contains a tutorial on how to build a scratch application with easy to follow explanations.
Started with an easy app to build and a more complex app until the final chapter.
Started with an easy app to build and a more complex app until the final chapter.
March 19, 2019
I freaking love this book. It introduced me to simplistic models of game programming via Scratch tutorials (of which, I had gotten to follow along!! :D) and it blew me away from the start.
This edition in particular, HOWEVER, is a little disfunctional, since the program's/website's infrastruture has changed since publication.
I would NOT recommend this book for hands-on experience, you will end up stuck half-way and be disappointed, but happy (like me), but it really is awesome in the examples. Easy to follow through, great concepts. I would love to show my friends and future children this someday - it is impactful.
Thank you Al!!
This edition in particular, HOWEVER, is a little disfunctional, since the program's/website's infrastruture has changed since publication.
I would NOT recommend this book for hands-on experience, you will end up stuck half-way and be disappointed, but happy (like me), but it really is awesome in the examples. Easy to follow through, great concepts. I would love to show my friends and future children this someday - it is impactful.
Thank you Al!!
September 3, 2022
Record Scratch
I truly enjoyed this book.
I had a lot of fun programming the examples in this book, and made a few pretty silly applications using the Scratch editor.
I look forward to teaching programming on my spare time.
4.8/5
I truly enjoyed this book.
I had a lot of fun programming the examples in this book, and made a few pretty silly applications using the Scratch editor.
I look forward to teaching programming on my spare time.
4.8/5
October 17, 2020
probably not necessary for older creators but probably intended for the younger oens
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews