Score, Win and Share, Part 3

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1 Start: What We're Building
2 Introduction
3 Create a New Project
4 Add Your Player
5 Move Your Player
6 Create the Donuts
7 Random Places
8 Collect the Donuts
9 Get a Point
10 Play a Sound
11 Add a Countdown
12 Wrap up
13 Make Sense: What Worked, What Broke
14 Reflect
15 What You Covered

1 - Start: What We're Building ~4 mins

Illustration for Start: what we're building You can already move a sprite and build simple game behaviour in MakeCode Arcade.

Today you will finish Monkey Mayhem: a monkey collecting donuts for points against a 30-second countdown. You will run the game, fix problems as they show up, test it against the plan you wrote, and get ready to share it with classmates.

Open MakeCode Arcade and the project you saved earlier (or start a fresh Arcade project if you need to). We will build step by step: predict, run, investigate, modify, then make it your own.

Teacher Notes

Keep this opening tight. Devices on, MakeCode Arcade ready, earlier project open where students have one. Recap that they can already move a sprite and build simple behaviour. State today's goal: finish Monkey Mayhem with collecting, scoring and a 30-second win condition, then test against the plan and share. Optional predict: before anyone runs new blocks, ask what should happen when the monkey touches a donut, and park two ideas on the board to return to in make sense. Pair students for the build and circulate.

👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

+5 XP

2 - Introduction ~2 mins

Welcome to our exciting coding adventure, Monkey Mayhem! In this lesson, you will create a fun game using MakeCode Arcade. You will control a monkey character who loves to eat donuts. Your task is to help the monkey collect as many donuts as possible within 30 seconds. Are you ready to start coding? Let's go!

Teacher Notes

Read the welcome aloud only. Do not add extra instruction. Link it to finishing a full collecting game they can test against their plan. If energy is high, move straight on so build time is protected.

👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

+10 XP

3 - Create a New Project ~2 mins

Open the MakeCode Arcade website using the link below and create a new project. You can call the project whatever you want.

https://arcade.makecode.com

Teacher Notes

Ensure every student reaches the Arcade editor with a named project. If they already have a saved project from earlier work, they may open that instead of starting blank. Watch for lost logins or unnamed projects. Differentiation: support anyone still loading the editor before the class moves on.

+10 XP

4 - Add Your Player ~3 mins

Next, you will create your player sprite. This is the character that you will control in the game. Add the following code:

let mySprite = sprites.create(img`...`, SpriteKind.Player)

Then click on the grey box and choose a sprite character from the gallery. In our example we will choose the monkey character.

let mySprite = sprites.create(img`
    . . . . f f f f f . . . . . . . 
    . . . f e e e e e f . . . . . . 
    . . f d d d d e e e f . . . . . 
    . c d f d d f d e e f f . . . . 
    . c d f d d f d e e d d f . . . 
    c d e e d d d d e e b d c . . . 
    c d d d d c d d e e b d c . f f 
    c c c c c d d d e e f c . f e f 
    . f d d d d d e e f f . . f e f 
    . . f f f f f e e e e f . f e f 
    . . . . f e e e e e e e f f e f 
    . . . f e f f e f e e e e f f . 
    . . . f e f f e f e e e e f . . 
    . . . f d b f d b f f e f . . . 
    . . . f d d c d d b b d f . . . 
    . . . . f f f f f f f f f . . . 
    `, SpriteKind.Player)

Teacher Notes

Model creating the player sprite and picking the monkey from the gallery on the board. Key question: which sprite is the one the player will control? Common bug: forgetting to set SpriteKind.Player. Cue pairs to run once the sprite appears so they see it on screen before movement.

+10 XP

5 - Move Your Player ~3 mins

Now, let's make your sprite move using the joystick (or the arrow keys on your keyboard).

Add the following new code:

let mySprite = sprites.create(img`
    . . . . f f f f f . . . . . . . 
    . . . f e e e e e f . . . . . . 
    . . f d d d d e e e f . . . . . 
    . c d f d d f d e e f f . . . . 
    . c d f d d f d e e d d f . . . 
    c d e e d d d d e e b d c . . . 
    c d d d d c d d e e b d c . f f 
    c c c c c d d d e e f c . f e f 
    . f d d d d d e e f f . . f e f 
    . . f f f f f e e e e f . f e f 
    . . . . f e e e e e e e f f e f 
    . . . f e f f e f e e e e f f . 
    . . . f e f f e f e e e e f . . 
    . . . f d b f d b f f e f . . . 
    . . . f d d c d d b b d f . . . 
    . . . . f f f f f f f f f . . . 
    `, SpriteKind.Player)
controller.moveSprite(mySprite)

Once you've added the new code, test that you can move your player sprite with the joystick or your keyboard arrow keys.

Teacher Notes

Model the movement blocks briefly. Key question: which keys or joystick directions should move the monkey? Common bug: movement blocks attached to the wrong sprite, or not run after adding. Watch for students who skip a quick test here; a stuck monkey is harder to spot later. Support: confirm movement works before donuts are added.

+10 XP

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Copyright Notice
This lesson is copyright of Coding Ireland 2017 - 2025. Unauthorised use, copying or distribution is not allowed.

Teacher Class Feed

1 - Start: What We're Building ~4 mins

2 - Introduction ~2 mins

3 - Create a New Project ~2 mins

4 - Add Your Player ~3 mins

5 - Move Your Player ~3 mins

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XP