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Comment by pryelluw | Hacker News Reader

Ive done something similar before. Went with a videogame and showed them how it editing the code changed the game. They started requesting silly changes and went from there. Super fun.

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I think this is one of the key things -- so many things in technology are just given to you as-is with no way to change them. The realization that all of this is mutable -- that the computer is just going along doing exactly what it was told, and that you can be the one to tell it what to do -- is a real eye-opener for a lot of people (children or not).

> I think this is one of the key things -- so many things in technology are just given to you as-is with no way to change them

This is the main reason RMS went from being a developer to an activist. He was (and is) trying to prevent this from happening.

Someone at my company recently showed us blueprints in Unreal engine, and everyone there (mostly web developers) had a blast having them mess with different things. The presenter started with the FPS template I believe, and then we were throwing out ideas of things to do, i.e. create a launch pad that throws the player into the air when they walk over it, etc. You would probably score huge bonus points for relating it to things in Fortnite etc. I would have eaten that stuff up as a kid if someone showed me that stuff.

I once went in with something way too ambitious, but this is a fantastic idea and something I'll try next time!

Yeah, the key is to go with something simple. I used a JS game (Phaser.js demo game) and just ran it in the classroom computer browser. Used up 45 minutes of time that went way too fast.

may I ask which videogame did you use?

One from phaser.js demos

Not OP, but I did the same thing.

Javascript Pacman.

I have a first grader who now knows how to edit the javascript file in Atom, increase the number of lives parameter, make edits to the map etc...

We also swapped out the pac man with my face, which is a source of continued amusement, especially the death animation.

Perhaps Minecraft would be the ideal game, assuming the children haven't already played it.

I would do something like this too!

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