Video Games Inspire Eliot To Create His Own

Eliot is in 7th grade, is twelve years old, and lives in Orlando, Florida. His hobbies include coding and Minecraft! He coded an incredible game called Space Defense. We loved playing it, so we wanted to learn more about Eliot and what he likes about coding with Tynker!

What’s your favorite subject in school? That would be science.

What do you want to be when you grow up? I was thinking something like engineer or computer programmer related.

How long have you been using Tynker? I’d say maybe since 5th or 4th grade.

Do you look at the Tynker community projects? Yes, I like a lot of the projects I see there.

What’s your favorite feature in Tynker? That’s a really difficult one. For features, I think I’m going to say some of the platformer tools. They’re really cool.

What do you do with a project when you’re done with it? When I’m done with a project, I usually test it several times, then publish it to the public and hope people like it.

What is your favorite thing you’ve made? My favorite thing by far is Space Defense. I got inspiration from several different video games because I like space related things. I think some of the inspiration came from Angry Birds as well. I’m working on a few others as well.

Are you working on anything currently? I’m working on several things, actually. Right now I’m working on something that’s related to a game called Cookie Clicker. It’s called Chip Factory, and also another one called Gravity Cube.

Why do you like to code? The process of coding is very flexible. You can do whatever you want with it – basically, whatever comes out of your imagination, you can create it using the Tynker programming.

Do you think other kids should try coding? Definitely, because it’ll open them to a lot of new experiences, and it’s really fun.

What advice would you give for kids starting out with Tynker? I would say that it’s kind of hard at first – you have to get used to it. After a while it’s really easy, it’s really fun, and it’s not frustrating at all.

Eliot’s dad Gustavo is a graphic designer and has worked for some video game companies, so it makes him “really really proud that he is going that way.” Eliot’s mom Odeida is amazed that Eliot has “figured everything out by himself.” When asked how coding can benefit kids, Gustavo said, “I think it definitely helps developing their skills, and their imagination above all. When you know how to translate your imagination into a game, that’s really cool. Kids are not afraid of trying things.”

Imagination and fearlessness are things we love about coding, too. Thanks for speaking with us, Eliot, Odeida, and Gustavo! Eliot – we have loved your projects thus far and can’t wait to see all your new games!