Game Development for Kids in Australia

In short

Game development for kids is the practice of designing and programming a playable game: its rules, its moving objects, its scoring and what happens when things collide. In Australia the Digital Technologies curriculum moves from visual programs in Years 3 to 6 to a general-purpose language such as Python in Years 7 and 8, so a strong path is Scratch first, then Python with Pygame, then an engine such as Unity or Godot. Modern Age Coders teaches that path live online, in small groups or one to one, and the first class is free.

Start here

Three ways into making games

Pick by age and by how much your child already knows. Each card opens the full syllabus.

GDAU / 01

Game Development for Kids

Ages 8 to 12. Real games in Scratch first, then Roblox and Minecraft worlds, over six to eight months.

Open the syllabus →

GDAU / 02

Python and AI for Kids

Ages 9 to 12. From first lines of Python to Pygame games and small, kid-safe AI projects.

Open the syllabus →

GDAU / 03

Game Development for Teens

Ages 13 to 18. Unity and C#, 2D and 3D games, and the habits of shipping something finished.

Open the syllabus →

The path

From a Scratch game to a real engine, by year level

Children learn game development fastest when each stage removes one kind of friction at a time. Scratch removes typing errors, Python removes the blocks, and an engine removes the plumbing so a teenager can think about design.

A typical progression for Australian students
Year level	Tool	What a finished game looks like
Foundation to Year 2	Scratch Junior style activities, then Scratch	A character that moves when a key is pressed and makes a sound when it reaches a goal
Years 3 and 4	Scratch	A catch-the-falling-objects game with a score that goes up and a timer that runs out
Years 5 and 6	Scratch, with variables and clones	A platformer with gravity, two levels and a high score the player can beat
Years 7 and 8	Python with Pygame	A top-down maze game written as text, with a game loop the student wrote themselves
Years 9 and 10	Unity with C#, or Godot	A small 2D or 3D game split into scripts and scenes, with enemies that each have their own behaviour
Years 11 and 12, and adults	Unity, Godot or Unreal	A finished project with menus, saving and a build that someone else can install

Why blocks come first

In Scratch a child cannot make a spelling mistake, because every instruction is a block that snaps into place. That leaves all of their attention for the actual logic: when should the score increase, what should happen when time runs out, why does the cat walk through the wall?

Younger children who start in a text language often spend their first month fighting brackets. Children who start in Scratch spend it making games, and they arrive at Python already knowing what a loop and a variable are for.

Why blocks are not the end

Scratch has a ceiling. Large projects become hard to read, there is no real way to split a game into files, and the skills do not carry straight into the jobs that use code.

Moving to Python, and later to an engine, is not about leaving childish things behind. It is about being able to build something bigger than one screen can hold, and to read code that somebody else wrote.

Ages are a guide, not a rule. A keen Year 4 student can start Python; a Year 9 student who has never coded usually still benefits from two or three weeks of Scratch first. The free first class is where that decision gets made, with the child at the keyboard rather than by guesswork. If you are weighing the two languages, our comparison of Scratch and Python for young learners goes into more detail.

The Australian Curriculum

How this lines up with Digital Technologies at school

Version 9 of the Australian Curriculum, published by ACARA, sets out what students should learn in Digital Technologies from Foundation to Year 10. The programming strand follows the same order as a good game development path.

Programming content descriptions in Digital Technologies, Australian Curriculum v9
Band	Code	Content description, as published
Years 3 and 4	AC9TDI4P04	"implement simple algorithms as visual programs involving control structures and input"
Years 5 and 6	AC9TDI6P05	"implement algorithms as visual programs involving control structures, variables and input"
Years 7 and 8	AC9TDI8P09	"implement, modify and debug programs involving control structures and functions in a general-purpose programming language"
Years 9 and 10	AC9TDI10P09	"implement, modify and debug modular programs, applying selected algorithms and data structures, including in an object-oriented programming language"

Games appear in the curriculum itself

The elaborations ACARA publishes alongside the content descriptions use games as examples more than once. For Years 3 and 4 (AC9TDI4P03) the example is "sketching different ideas for a computer game". For Years 5 and 6 (AC9TDI6P04) it is "modifying a game or game controller so that it can be used by a wider range of players".

For Years 9 and 10 (AC9TDI10P09) students might use "the codebase of an existing adventure game" and build new characters, levels or abilities, or store character details in "a role-playing game (RPG)" using a dictionary.

The language question

For Years 7 and 8, the elaboration names the kind of general-purpose language it means: "such as Python, JavaScript or C#". All three are taught in our game courses: Python with Pygame, JavaScript for browser games, and C# inside Unity.

We do not teach to any particular school's assessment task, and we never complete assessed work. What we can do is make sure the ideas a child meets in class are ones they have already used for real in a game of their own.

Source, read 7 October 2026: ACARA, Australian Curriculum Version 9.0, Technologies, Digital Technologies curriculum content F-6 and curriculum content 7-10 (Word downloads). States and territories implement the Australian Curriculum in their own ways; NSW, for example, publishes its own syllabuses.

A worked example

What a lesson looks like: the hitbox

Almost every game has to answer one question dozens of times a second: are these two things touching? Here is how we teach the answer, from a hand-drawn sketch to working code.

In Scratch, the question is a single block: touching coin? It works, and children love it. But it hides the idea. So once a student is comfortable, we take the block away and ask them to decide for themselves when two rectangles overlap. The rectangle drawn around a sprite for this purpose is called its hitbox, and the test is called an axis-aligned bounding box check, because the box edges run along the screen's x and y axes.

Our worked example: does the player collect the coin?
Object	Left edge (x)	Top edge (y)	Width	Height
Player	100	200	40	40
Coin	130	220	16	16

Check across

The player's left edge (100) is left of the coin's right edge (130 + 16 = 146), and the player's right edge (100 + 40 = 140) is right of the coin's left edge (130). So they overlap side to side.

Check down

The player's top (200) is above the coin's bottom (220 + 16 = 236), and the player's bottom (240) is below the coin's top (220). So they overlap up and down as well.

The verdict

Both checks pass, so the boxes overlap and the coin is collected. If either check fails, they are not touching, however close they look on screen.

In Python with Pygame, the same test becomes four comparisons joined by and, and a student who has worked it by hand can write it from memory. Pygame also has a built-in method for it, colliderect, but we only introduce it after the student has written their own version and tested it against the example above.

The catch, in numbers

Boxes are fast but not exact. Our coin is round: a circle 16 pixels across has an area of about 201.06 square pixels, but its 16 by 16 hitbox covers 256. By our arithmetic the box counts about 27.3% more area than the coin really has, all of it in the corners.

That is why a player can sometimes "collect" a coin they visibly missed. Spotting this, and deciding whether it matters, is real game design.

What students do with it

Older students go on to shrink hitboxes slightly so the game feels fair, to use circles for round objects, and to check only the objects that are nearby so a busy screen does not slow down.

Each of those is a trade-off between speed and accuracy, which is one of the most useful ideas in all of programming, not just games.

First games

Games children build in their first term

Every project is small enough to finish and share, and each one is chosen because it teaches one new idea properly.

Starter projects and the idea each one teaches
Game	Tool	The idea it teaches
Catch the falling fruit	Scratch	Random positions, a score variable and a game-over condition
Maze escape	Scratch	Detecting walls and resetting the player to a start point
Pong for two players	Scratch, then Python	Angles of reflection and a ball that speeds up
Space dodger	Python and Pygame	A game loop, keyboard input and the hitbox test above
Treasure hunt quiz	Python	Lists of questions, shuffling and keeping a high score in a file
Platformer level	Unity or Godot	Physics, jumping, and splitting a game into scenes and scripts

One idea at a time

A first game has one moving object and one rule. The second adds a score. By the fifth, the child is combining ideas without being told how.

Finished, then shared

Scratch projects can be shared to the Scratch website; Python games run on the family computer. Showing a sibling or a grandparent is part of the lesson.

Ideas when stuck

Children who run out of ideas between lessons can browse our list of Scratch project ideas, sorted from beginner to advanced.

Engines and platforms

Scratch, Pygame, Roblox, Unity and Godot, compared honestly

Parents often ask which tool is right. The honest answer is that each one is right at a different stage, and some children will use three of them in a single year.

What each tool is good for
Tool	Language	Cost to the family	Good for
Scratch	Blocks	Free to use	First games and first ideas, from about age 6
Pygame	Python	Free and open source (pygame 2.6.1 is published under the LGPL)	Learning how a game loop really works, in text
Roblox Studio	Luau	See Roblox's current terms	Building worlds other people can join, with a real scripting language
Unity	C#	See Unity's current licence terms	Teen and adult 2D and 3D games, with a large community of tutorials
Godot	GDScript or C#	Free and open source, released under the MIT licence	A lightweight engine that runs well on modest school laptops

We avoid recommending tools by brand loyalty. A child who learns why a game loop exists, how collision is detected and how a state such as "paused" or "game over" is stored can move between any of these in a few weeks. That transferable understanding is the point; the tool is the vehicle.

Sources, read 7 October 2026: Godot Engine licence page ("free and open source software released under the permissive MIT license"); the Python Package Index entry for pygame (version 2.6.1, licence LGPL). Licence terms for Unity and Roblox change; read the current terms on their own sites before relying on them.

Stages

Four stages from player to game maker

At one or two live lessons a week, most children reach the third stage within a school year. The fourth usually takes a second year.

From playing games to making them
Stage	What your child can do
1. Remix	Change an existing game's speed, sprites and score, and predict what each change will do
2. Build	Make a complete small game from a blank project, with a start, a goal and an ending
3. Explain	Write the same game in Python and explain each line, including the game loop and collisions
4. Design	Plan a larger game on paper, split it into parts, build it in an engine and test it with real players

Does my child need to be good at maths?

No, but game development is one of the friendliest ways to meet coordinates, negative numbers, angles and percentages. Children often understand x and y axes in a game months before they meet them in class.

For children who want more, our Maths Through Coding course uses Python to teach maths directly.

Around school terms

Australian schools run four terms a year. Billing is monthly, so families can pause over the long summer break or during exam weeks and restart when ready.

Lessons are after school or at the weekend; the hour is agreed in the free first class.

The catalogue

Nine courses for young game makers

Grouped by stage. The free first class settles where your child starts.

I

First games

Primary school

GDAU / FST / 01

Scratch Coding for Kids

From a first block to real games and animations.

Open the syllabus

GDAU / FST / 02

Coding for Kids

Scratch to games, apps and a first taste of Python.

Open the syllabus

GDAU / FST / 03

Game Development for Kids

Scratch, then Roblox and Minecraft worlds.

Open the syllabus

II

Worlds and text

Upper primary and Years 7 and 8

GDAU / WLD / 01

Roblox Game Coding for Kids

Roblox Studio and Luau, up to a published game.

Open the syllabus

GDAU / WLD / 02

Minecraft Coding for Kids

From blocks to real code inside a world they know.

Open the syllabus

GDAU / WLD / 03

Python and AI for Kids

Pygame games, turtle art and small AI projects.

Open the syllabus

III

Real engines

Years 9 to 12 and beyond

GDAU / ENG / 01

Game Development for Teens

Unity and C#, from a first scene to a shipped game.

Open the syllabus

GDAU / ENG / 02

JavaScript for Teens

Interactive websites and games that run in a browser.

Open the syllabus

GDAU / ENG / 03

Game Development Course

Unity, C# and Unreal for older teens and adults.

Open the syllabus

How lessons run

Live lessons that fit an Australian school week

Our teachers are in India. In winter, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and Hobart are four and a half hours ahead of India time, Adelaide and Darwin four hours ahead and Perth two and a half. After school in Australia falls in the Indian afternoon, so lessons sit comfortably in the school week.

Weekday, after school

The most common choice for primary students.

Saturday

A longer build session for older students.

Sunday

For families with busy Saturday sport.

Try before paying

The opening class costs nothing; it shows the teacher how far your child has already got.

Groups

Fifteen to twenty children of a similar level, playing and testing each other's games.

Private lessons

Suited to a quick learner, a quiet child or a teenager chasing one ambitious game.

Their own games

Every line is typed or snapped in by the child. Teachers explain and question; they do not build it for them.

Parents can watch

Lessons are live, so you can sit in, and finished games can be played at home.

No assessed work

We never complete school assessment tasks, though skills learned here help in class.

Student work

Projects built by our students

A few games and apps our students finished and published. More of them, from young beginners to adults, sit in our student labs.

AI and ML

NutriLife

An AI nutrition coach that reads what you eat and works you toward a target.

by Bhavya · Open it

AI and ML

Misti

A chatbot that answers mathematics and programming questions, built and deployed by a student.

by Harshit · Open it

AI and ML

GuardianX

An assistant that helps a young person recognise unsafe situations online.

by Vivaan · Open it

Web app

SkyCast

A weather forecasting site with live conditions for any location.

by Krish

Fees

Fees for game development

Families outside India pay a single monthly price in US dollars. Nothing is charged to enrol and nobody signs up for a whole term: stopping after any month is fine, the long summer break included.

Free first class

USD 0

no card required

A small game made during the class
Advice on the right starting course
No card or bank details

Book it

Group batch

USD 100

a month, billed in US dollars

Between five and ten children per class
One teacher who knows your child
Classmates play-test each game
Stop after any month

Start here

One to one

USD 150

a month, billed in US dollars

Every minute spent on your child
Timing worked around sport and homework
Space for one big game of their own

Enquire

What families say

Rated 4.9 across 547 Google reviews

Copied exactly as families and learners posted them on our Google profile.

★★★★★

"The one step solution for my son. Modern Age Coders make learning coding so simple that kids love it. The teachers explain complex concepts clearly with practical exercises and interactive content."

Ria Mukherjee

Parent

★★★★★

"Modern Age Coders has been a game-changer for me. I struggled to grasp IT concepts and coding before joining, but their classes transformed everything. I can now confidently write complex programs with ease."

Samriddha Mondal

Student

★★★★★

"One of the most wonderful education centres out there. Education is not limited to school syllabus but focuses on skill development."

Vansh Agarwal

Student

★★★★★

"My child Dhairya is really enjoying the Modern Age Coders classes. This is his first online class and he eagerly looks forward to it. I can already see his improvement, and the teachers are very cooperative."

Sonam Oswal

Parent of Dhairya

★★★★★

"Modern Age Coders have wonderful teachers who teach in a clear, easy and practical way. The teacher boosts students' confidence and inspires them to learn without hesitation."

Sonu Goyal

Parent

★★★★★

"I highly recommend this computer coding class! The teachers are incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about coding."

Ritu Kedia

Parent

Questions from parents

What Australian parents ask about game development

What is game development for kids?

It is designing and programming a playable game: deciding its rules, making things move, keeping score and detecting when objects touch. For children it usually starts in a visual language such as Scratch and moves to text languages such as Python later.

What is a hitbox in a game?

A hitbox is an invisible rectangle around an object that a game uses to decide whether two things are touching. It is fast to check, but slightly larger than a round object, which is why a near miss sometimes counts as a hit.

What age can my child start making games?

Many children start in Scratch at about six or seven, once they can read simple words. Python usually suits children from about nine or ten, and engines such as Unity suit teenagers.

Should my child learn Scratch or Python first?

For most children under about ten, Scratch first, because it removes typing errors and leaves all their attention for logic. Older beginners can often move to Python within weeks.

Does this match what my child does at school?

It follows the same order as the Australian Curriculum v9 Digital Technologies content: visual programs in Years 3 to 6, a general-purpose language such as Python in Years 7 and 8, and object-oriented programming by Year 10.

Is Roblox safe for my child to code in?

Roblox Studio is a development tool, and our lessons focus on building, not chatting with strangers. Parents should still review Roblox's own age guidance and parental controls before setting up an account.

Will my child just play games in the lessons?

No. They test games, but nearly all lesson time goes into building, fixing and explaining them. Playing each other's finished games is a short and useful part of the end of a project.

What computer does my child need?

A laptop or desktop with a keyboard and a modern browser is enough for Scratch and Python. Engines such as Unity need more memory, so we check your computer before recommending one.

When are lessons in Australian time?

After school or at the weekend in your own state's time, agreed in the free first class. Our teachers are in India, which is between two and a half and five and a half hours behind Australian clocks depending on state and season.

What does it cost?

The first class is free and needs no card. Monthly fees for group and one-to-one lessons are shown in the fees section of this page, with no enrolment charge and no term contract.

Elsewhere on this site

Related pages

For Australian families, for younger beginners and for choosing a first language.

Coding classes in Australia

All of our Australian pages in one place.

AI and machine learning in Australia

For teens ready to build with AI.

Scratch coding classes

The first stage of the path, in detail.

Roblox coding classes

Building worlds with Roblox Studio and Luau.

Coding games and platforms

Where children can practise between lessons.

The right age to start coding

What changes at six, nine and twelve.

Start here

Book a free first class

Send your details and we will ring when it suits you. During the free class your child makes a small game with a teacher, and afterwards you hear plainly which course would suit them and why.

Prefer to read more before calling? Our page on the way we teach explains a lesson minute by minute, and the full course list covers every age.

WhatsApp us · +91 91233 66161 · connect@modernagecoders.com

Messaging us on WhatsApp from an Australian phone is often quickest. Our team works from India, which is why the number starts with +91, and we have no office in Australia.

Want a class sooner? Book a priority demo

A priority demo is a full class of about 45 to 60 minutes. After the class the mentor sends a written skill report and a personal learning roadmap on WhatsApp. If you enrol, the demo fee is adjusted against your first month's fee. Share your demo Order ID with us on WhatsApp and we take it off.

Book a priority demo

Three ways into making games

Game Development for Kids

Python and AI for Kids

Game Development for Teens

From a Scratch game to a real engine, by year level

Why blocks come first

Why blocks are not the end

How this lines up with Digital Technologies at school

Games appear in the curriculum itself

The language question

What a lesson looks like: the hitbox

Check across

Check down

The verdict

The catch, in numbers

What students do with it

Games children build in their first term

One idea at a time

Finished, then shared

Ideas when stuck

Scratch, Pygame, Roblox, Unity and Godot, compared honestly

Four stages from player to game maker

Does my child need to be good at maths?

Around school terms

Nine courses for young game makers

First games

Scratch Coding for Kids

Coding for Kids

Game Development for Kids

Worlds and text

Roblox Game Coding for Kids

Minecraft Coding for Kids

Python and AI for Kids

Real engines

Game Development for Teens

JavaScript for Teens

Game Development Course

Live lessons that fit an Australian school week

Try before paying

Groups

Private lessons

Their own games

Parents can watch

No assessed work

Projects built by our students

NutriLife

Misti

GuardianX

SkyCast

Fees for game development

Rated 4.9 across 547 Google reviews

What Australian parents ask about game development

What is game development for kids?

What is a hitbox in a game?

What age can my child start making games?

Should my child learn Scratch or Python first?

Does this match what my child does at school?

Is Roblox safe for my child to code in?

Will my child just play games in the lessons?

What computer does my child need?

When are lessons in Australian time?

What does it cost?

Related pages

Coding classes in Australia

AI and machine learning in Australia

Scratch coding classes

Roblox coding classes

Coding games and platforms

The right age to start coding

Book a free first class

Want a class sooner? Book a priority demo

Keep exploring Modern Age Coders

Related courses and guides

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