World 1 / Quest 01

Catch!

Things fall. You catch them. You make it yours.

Power-up: The Full PictureBadge: Find the Fun

You’ll learn

• Power-Up 1: The Full Picture
• What a game loop is (things happen over and over, really fast)
• How to change a game and test the change

Briefing

Start prompt

Steps

1. 1

   Get your own copy

   Paste the Start Prompt. Coach makes a new folder called catch inside ArcadeLab and puts the game in it. Open index.html and play it once. Count how many apples you catch in 30 seconds. Write the number down — that's your "before" score.

2. 2

   Change ONE number with the Full Picture

   Let's make it harder. Look at the two prompts below. The first-try one is what most people type. The better one is what you'll type. Say the better one (fill in your own numbers if you want).

   First try: make it faster

   Better: In my Catch! game, the apples fall at speed 200. Make them fall at speed 350 so it feels harder. I'll know it worked if I miss more apples.

   Say this to Coach

   In my Catch! game, the apples fall at speed 200. Make them fall at speed 350 so it feels harder. I'll know it worked if I miss more apples when I play.

   Copy
3. 3

   Test it, then report back

   Refresh the browser: click the reload button (or press Cmd+R on a Mac, F5 on Windows). Play again. Did you miss more apples? Tell Coach what happened either way. Coach needs to hear the result — that's how Coach knows if the job is done.

   Say this to Coach

   I tested it. Here's what happened: I caught way fewer apples and it felt harder. It worked.

   Copy
4. 4

   Make it look like YOURS

   Now the colors. Give Coach the full picture again: what's there now, what you want. Try something like: "Right now the basket is brown and the background is cream. Make the basket blue and the background a dark night sky. Keep the apples red so I can see them."

   Say this to Coach

   Right now the basket is brown and the background is cream. Make the basket blue and the background a dark night sky. Keep the apples easy to see.

   Copy
5. 5

   Change the rules of scoring

   Scoring is where games get interesting. Pick ONE:

   • (a) golden apples worth 5 points that show up rarely
   • (b) lose a point when an apple hits the ground
   • (c) a combo bonus for catching 3 in a row

   Pick yours, then change the line below to match. Tell Coach which one, and how you'll test it.

   Say this to Coach

   I want to change the scoring. Add golden apples worth 5 points that show up rarely. I'll know it worked when I see a gold one and my score jumps by 5.

   Copy
6. 6

   Find the fun

   Play your game for one minute. Then answer Coach's question honestly: What's the ONE thing you do over and over in this game, and is it fun yet? If it isn't fun yet, that's normal. Tell Coach what feels boring and ask for one idea to fix it.

   Say this to Coach

   The thing I do over and over is slide the basket left and right. It feels okay but a bit boring. Give me one idea to make that part more fun.

   Copy

Side quests +10 XP each

Stuck?

• Nothing changed after Coach said it's done? Refresh the page. Browsers remember the old version until you do.
• Game went blank or white? Say what you see: "I expected apples, but the screen is blank after the last change." Coach can undo it.
• Coach did something different from what you meant? Say the full picture again with more details. That's not a mistake — that's the skill.
• Had an idea Coach saved for later? Say: "Show my ideas." Coach reads back your whole parking lot and says which quest unlocks each one.
• Want something Coach said is for later? Ask: "Can we build a shapes-only version of that today?"

More ways to get unstuck