What's the best coding game for kids to start with?

Less important than picking one small enough to finish. A one-screen catch or dodge game hits every core concept — movement, collision, score, win and lose — and can be done in a sitting, which matters more than the theme.

Do they need to know how to code first?

No. That's the older sequence. With block-based tools or an AI buddy, a child can start from the game they want and meet the concepts as they need them — which is both more motivating and, in practice, faster.

How long should a first game take?

One or two sittings for something playable. If it's dragging past that, the scope was too big — cut a feature rather than pushing through, and add it back to version two.

Is making games with AI still really learning?

It is if the child is deciding what to build, testing it, and fixing what's wrong. That's the thinking part. The risk isn't AI writing the code; it's the child never looking at what came back — which is a question of how the session is structured.

My child wants to make Minecraft. What do I say?

Say yes, then find the smallest piece of it. "A block you can place and remove" is a real first version of that dream, and it's achievable. Shrinking the goal without killing the ambition is the most useful thing a parent can do here.

给孩子的编程游戏：在做游戏中学会编程 | 路奇 Luchi

孩子在做一款自己想玩的游戏时学编程最快。7–12 岁以游戏为先开始编程的最佳方式——免费，屏幕上和屏幕外都可以。

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