Game Remix

Hook 5 min

1. "You build a LEGO castle from a friend's design, then add a dragon and a moat. Whose castle is it?" (Both. The idea started with your friend.)
2. "You post a photo of it. What would be fair to write under it?" (Something like "based on Maya's castle.")
3. "Coders do this all the time. It's called a remix. Today you'll remix a game and find out why the credit never comes off."

Model 13 min

1. Pick Fetch! by Maya and press Play. Click the stage (or use the arrow pad) and chase the ball. Press Stop.
2. Press Slow-mo, then Play. "Watch the code, not the puppy. What runs when the puppy touches the ball?" (Change score by 1, play sound bark, jump ball to a random spot.)
3. Press Remix this. Point to the locked line: "Remix of Fetch! by Maya." "Why can't we delete this?" (Maya made the game. Her credit stays.)
4. Class vote on one change, or use this one: click the 1 in "change score by 1" under "when puppy touches ball" and pick 3. Point out the changed tag and the new row in What changed.
5. Play it, then press Original and play that. "Same start, same luck. Is our remix different the way we wanted?" Press My remix to switch back.
6. Back in Arcade, pick Upside Fetch by Kai: "Help! My puppy can't go up." Ask: "This program has about 25 lines. Where would you start looking?" (In the changes Kai made. That's where it stopped working.)
7. Press Remix this. Under Changes Kai made, tap the row. Tap down, pick up, and test the up arrow. Name the strategy: "Compare with a working original. The bug hides in what changed."

Make 18 min

1. Pairs open Pumpkin Rush by Jay ("Faster pumpkins! But my score is stuck."), press Remix this, and fix it.
2. Before they touch anything: "Jay made two changes. Which one did he mean, and which is the bug?" (Pumpkins jumping every 1 second was on purpose. Change score by 0 is the bug.) The fix keeps the faster pumpkins.
3. Then pairs make their own remix: pick Fetch!, Pumpkin Pop or Snow Bounce, press Remix this, and say a goal out loud ("harder" or "sillier").
4. Make two to four changes, pressing Play after each. Stuck? Open Challenges and press Try it on one.
5. Type a Title and a first name or nickname in Remixer.
6. Walk around and ask: "What did you change, and how do you know it worked?" "Who gets credit for your game?"

Share 5 min

1. Pairs press Save, then swap laptops with the next pair.
2. Visitors play the remix and guess what changed, then check the What changed list.
3. Ask two or three pairs: "Read the credit lines. Whose work is in this game?" (The remixers and the original maker. A borrowed sprite adds a name.)

Exit check 4 min

Uncover the board. Each child answers on a sticky note:

Lee remixed Snow Bounce by Ana: "My snowball never falls now!" What changed shows: - In when game starts: set snowball speed to 4 → 0 - backdrop: snowy hill → park

1. Which row is the bug? 2. Write the credit line Lee's remix needs.

(1. The speed: at 0 the snowball can't move. 2. "Remix of Snow Bounce by Ana.") Anyone who picked the backdrop needs the compare strategy again.