World 1 / Quest 02

Dodge!

Things fall. This time you get OUT of the way.

Power-up: One Thing at a TimeBadge: Write the Rules

You’ll learn

• Power-Up 2: One Thing at a Time
• How to write the rules of a game before it's built
• Lives, game over, and restart — the bones of almost every game

Briefing

Start prompt

Steps

1. 1

   Flip it: catching becomes dodging

   One prompt, and it's a different game. Right now, touching an apple gives a point. Make touching a rock take away a life. That's it. Nothing else yet.

   Then refresh and play it. You just turned Catch! into Dodge! with one sentence.

   Say this to Coach

   First job, and only this job: change the falling apples into rocks. When a rock touches the player, the player loses 1 life instead of getting a point. Don't add a game over yet. I'll test it.

   Copy
2. 2

   Now write the rules

   You've felt the game. Now decide what it is, before Coach builds another thing. Tell Coach the rules of Dodge! in your own words. Decide these three first:

   • Lose: "You lose when ______" (example: when a rock hits you 3 times)
   • Score: "You get points for ______" (example: every second you survive)
   • Win: "There's no winning — you try to beat your best score" — or pick something else!

   Game makers decide this. Not the computer. Pick yours, then change the line below to match.

   Say this to Coach

   Here are the rules for Dodge! You lose when a rock hits you 3 times. You get points for every second you survive. The goal is to beat your best score. Please write these rules down at the top of the code as a comment.

   Copy
3. 3

   Show the lives

   Tell Coach how the flip went, then ask for the next single thing: show the lives on screen as hearts. Look at the two prompts:

   First try: add lives and a game over screen and a restart button and make the rocks bounce and add a score

   Better: Next job: show the player's lives in the top-left corner as 3 red hearts. When a life is lost, one heart goes gray. Only that.

   Say this to Coach

   I tested it: rocks take a life now and it works. Next job: show the player's lives in the top-left corner as 3 red hearts. When a life is lost, one heart goes gray. Only that for now.

   Copy
4. 4

   Game over (one thing)

   Now the game-over screen. Say what it should look like: what words show up, what color, and whether the rocks keep falling behind it or freeze.

   Say this to Coach

   Next job: when lives hit 0, freeze everything and show a big GAME OVER in the middle with my score under it. Don't add a restart yet.

   Copy
5. 5

   Restart (one thing)

   Last piece: a way to play again. Pick one — press SPACE, or click a button — and say exactly which.

   Say this to Coach

   Last job: on the game over screen, show 'Press SPACE to play again.' When I press SPACE, everything resets: 3 lives, score 0, rocks start over.

   Copy
6. 6

   Score the way YOU decided

   Go back to your rules from step 2. Does the score work the way you wrote it? If not, that's the next single job. Give Coach the full picture: what it does now, what your rule says, and how you'll test it.

   Say this to Coach

   My score rule says I get a point every second I survive. Right now the score never changes. Make it match my rule. I'll know it worked when the number climbs while I dodge.

   Copy

Side quests +10 XP each

Stuck?

• Broke after a change? Tell Coach: "That last change broke it — please undo just that one." One thing at a time works backwards too.
• Hearts not showing up? Say what you see: "I expected 3 hearts top-left, but I see nothing there."
• The game restarts but the hearts stay gray? That's a real bug lots of games have. Say exactly that to Coach.

More ways to get unstuck