Conner Codes to Design Games!

Conner Codes To Design Games!

Conner, who is 11 years old and from South Carolina, is our newest Featured Maker! He has aspirations of becoming a video game designer when he grows up. When Conner is in school, he loves studying science and is particularly interested in subjects like terraforming.

Outside of school, Conner plays with his friends on Xbox and loves spending time with his family. We were lucky enough to sit down with Conner and talk to him about his experience with Tynker!

How did you get introduced to Tynker and how long have you been coding? I’ve been coding for a year. I got introduced through school.

How did you learn how to use Tynker when you were first starting out? I went to this place called Code Ninjas and I learned there. But Tynker also helped me learn how to make variables.

How have your coding skills improved since you started using Tynker? They’ve improved a lot, actually! I’ve gotten better at fixing the problems that I couldn’t figure out, like how to debug.

How did you feel when you found out your project had been featured? I thought it was really cool! I told everyone.

What is your favorite project you’ve made so far? The one that got featured and then I’m working on one, still trying to debug everything. I like my featured project because it’s easy to understand, and it’s just fun to play other people’s projects. It’s super cool.

“High Five Clicker (1.0)”

Where did you get the idea for your favorite project? One of my technology teachers said to do anything that’s popular, because she said that it would get the most views. She was talking about how good it is to respond to all the famous, popular stuff. So, I saw on Tynker that there was this popular subject going around and I decided to do that.

How do you get inspiration for your projects? I just usually go into the community and just look at games. Whenever I think something is a really cool idea, I don’t copy it, I just make a new game about it–make it my own.

Why do you like to code? It’s fun! And it calms me down and I just like the idea of making my dream game.

What is your favorite way to use code? I really like the “make your own” function because it’s so much easier. If you make your own little function, it’s just one block, so it’s easy!

What do you do with a project when you’re done with it? I look over it, see the problem with it, see if I should add something else before I publish it, but if I know that it’s completely finished, I’ll just publish it right away.

What’s the best thing about Tynker? I like the idea that you can share your project with everybody and see how much they care about your coding skills. It doesn’t even matter if it’s amazing. You can just see how much work they put into it!

Do you think other kids should try coding? Yes, definitely! Because they have so many great ideas and they always have something new to share.

What advice would you give to kids starting out with Tynker? I would say, go ahead and make whatever you want to make and try to figure out the hard stuff whenever you feel like it!

Veronica, Conner’s mom, was with us as well and expressed her thoughts on Conner learning how to code. She said: “We’re always very proud of everything that he does, so him learning to code, we very much encouraged it and we believe that’s where the world is headed. We want him to be as prepared as possible for his future. We love seeing and hearing about his projects; we’re very proud of his accomplishments!”

Veronica is clearly excited for Conner and supports him as much as possible. “Well, by supporting him, we have entered him into additional activities after school, like Code Ninja, to help support what he wants to do,” said Veronica. “He had articulated to us that he wanted to become a game designer, so we felt like looking for additional hobbies that would encourage that. I think it’s helped him to be a little more confident in himself and his capabilities and willing to explore different ideas.”

When we asked about the benefits of coding in regards to Conner’s future, Veronica shared with us why she’s confident his skills will be helpful, whatever path he pursues: “You know when you’re 11 years old, saying he wants to be a game designer, but maybe that’s not what he wants to be in another 10 years, but I think coding is what’s going to prepare him for whatever career he wants to do.”

We want to thank Conner and Veronica for taking the time to speak with us about their experience with coding! We can’t wait to see the types of projects Conner will make in the future. Happy coding!