Mother’s Day is all about spending quality time with your kids. If your kids are into video games, why not embrace it and try coding and playing a game together? It promises to be as educational as it is fun-filled! Let’s look at some easy games you can build together this Mother’s Day. 

1. Pong

While Pong might not be the first-ever computer game to be created, it sure is the first most popular one. Created in 1972 (that’s exactly 50 years ago!), Pong continues to be a favourite even today. The game includes a left and a right part of the screen, just like a ping pong table. There are 2 paddles off which a single ball bounces. Players score when they bounce the ball off the paddles instead of letting it drop. 

Pong is beneficial for young coders because it teaches some important coding concepts such as making the paddles move, making the ball hit the paddle, tracking the scores of players, and more. 

Learn how to code Pong.

2. Jet Fighter

Jet Fighter is a simple yet fun game created in 1975. The game basically consists of a black jet and a white jet. While the black jet shoots black bullets, the white jet shoots white bullets. Players score a point when they shoot the other jet. 

It might be a simple game to play, but Jet Fighter teaches some key concepts in coding such as screen wrapping of bullets and jets when they return to the screen from the other side and the mathematical aspects of projecting a bullet from a certain angle. 

Learn how to code Jet Fighter. 

3. Space Invaders

Space Invaders is a much-loved game and also from the 70s. Created in 1978, it grossed over 3.8 billion in profits and can be found being played by millions of kids and adults around the world even today. 

The concepts that Space Invaders teaches include removal of the aliens when shot at, making sure that only the bottom line of aliens are the ones shooting, and difficulty levels where the attacks get faster as you keep playing for longer. So buckle up and get ready to take turns shooting some aliens with your kids. One with the highest score wins!

Here’s a step-by-step guide to coding Space Invaders yourself! 

4. TurtleMove

TurtleMove game is a luck-based game where two players (Red and Blue), use their own object, known as their Turtle, to play the game. Players flip a coin every time they move a certain distance and the turtle moving out of the grid first loses the game. It is an unpredictable and exciting game that requires Turtle Python. 

The concepts it teaches include the creation of the turtles, making them move a unit distance every time, randomly generating the result of the flip, and making sure a turtle wins when the other is detected as moving out of the grid boundaries. 

Learn how to code TurtleMove.

5. Canyon Bomber

Canyon Bomber is an old yet fun game where 2 helicopters “bomb” a canyon with coloured layers. Every time the bomb hits a layer of the canyon, it disappears. However, new layers keep emerging and the player that bombs the most number of blocks wins. 

While it may or may not sound exciting, it does include some fun coding aspects such as blocks falling when a block underneath has been hit and then making the blocks change their colours to match the level they’re now at.

Here’s how you can code Canyon Bomber. 

So this Mother’s Day, do something different and surprise your kids with these games. Maybe if you’re lucky they will let you win!