Break 'build a game'

In a few weeks you'll build a real game. Right now "build a game" sits in your head as one enormous impossible lump.

Let's take it apart before you ever open a computer.

By the end of this lesson you'll have a task list you could genuinely hand to someone — and the game will have stopped feeling impossible.

Almost any simple game breaks into the same four parts:

1. Things on screen — the player, enemies, coins, background
2. Movement — how things move, and what makes them move
3. Rules — what happens when things touch, what scores, what ends the game
4. Feedback — the score display, sounds, the "You win!" message

Use these four as your first split, every time. They work for catch-the-ball and they work for a racing game.