We made a game!
My team — Josie (12), Tommy (9), and me — have been working on our very first video game, and we’re excited to share it with you. It’s called Rat Jump! and it’s a side-scrolling platformer where you play as a brave little rat hopping across green pipes, collecting cheese, and avoiding the dangerous water below.
How to Play
- Press SPACE or tap the screen to jump
- Land on the green pipes to stay safe
- Collect the cheese 🧀 floating above some pipes — each piece is worth 5 points!
- Avoid the water! 💧 If you fall in, it’s game over
- The game gets faster as you collect more cheese, so stay sharp!
Tips for High Scores
- You can walk on the ground between pipes — just watch out for water puddles
- Time your jumps carefully; you can only jump when you’re standing on something
- Sometimes it’s safer to stay on the pipes, sometimes you can drop down — look ahead!
- The cheese makes a happy sound when you grab it 🎵
The Story Behind the Game
We built this together with Claude (an AI assistant) over the course of a conversation. We started with a simple idea — “a moving game with green tubes” — and kept adding features: first it was a capybara, then we switched to a rat, added music, cheese to collect, and water hazards to avoid.
It was a brilliant way to learn about game design. The kids came up with ideas like “there should be cheese on the pipes” and “you need a way to die” — all the important stuff!
Give it a play and let us know your high score in the comments!
