Introduction

In this exciting tutorial, your child will learn how to build a thrilling game featuring the superhero Deadpool! The goal is simple but fun: guide Deadpool through the city, jumping over incoming tornadoes to reach safety. This tutorial introduces some fantastic advanced concepts, such as creating a “scrolling” background to simulate running and coding a complex jump motion. By the end of this session, they will have a fully playable ScratchJr project that includes a main game, a victory screen, and a hilarious game over scene. It is a perfect challenge for anyone looking to master ScratchJrand create something truly unique.

The Video Embed

What You Need

To build this game, you will need to prepare the following elements in your ScratchJr project:

• Characters:
  • Deadpool: You can edit the standard ScratchJr Cat character (paint it red and black) to look like Deadpool.
  • Tornado: Use the hurricane character from the library.
  • Background Elements: Buildings or apartments to create the city background.
  • Controls: Three separate characters to act as buttons (Left Arrow, Right Arrow, and a Jump Button).
• Backgrounds: You will need 3 pages in total:
  • Page 1: The Main Game (City street).
  • Page 2: Success Screen.
  • Page 3: Game Over Screen.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Setting the Scene (The Scrolling Background)

To make it look like Deadpool is running through the city, we don’t move him forward; we move the background backwards!

• Place your building/apartment characters in the background.
• Add the Start on Green Flag block.
• Add a Move Left block and set the speed to slow.
• Use a Repeat Forever loop so the buildings keep moving, creating a scrolling effect.
• [Insert screenshot of the building code here]

Step 2: Coding the Controls (Joystick)

We need to control Deadpool using on-screen buttons. Create three buttons (Left, Right, and Jump) and give them this code:

• Left Button: Start on Tap → Send Orange Message.
• Right Button: Start on Tap → Send Red Message.
• Jump (Yellow) Button: Start on Tap → Send Yellow Message.
• [Insert screenshot of the button code here]

Step 3: Deadpool’s Movement and Jump

Now, we program Deadpool to listen to those messages.

• Walking: Add a Start on Orange Message block connected to Move Left, and a Start on Red Message block connected to Move Right.
• The Jump: To make Deadpool jump over the tornado in an arc (a ‘U’ shape), we need two scripts running at the same time when the Yellow Message is received:
  1. Start on Yellow Message → Move Up → Move Down.
  2. Start on Yellow Message → Move Right.
• This combination makes him go up and across simultaneously!
• [Insert screenshot of Deadpool’s jump code here]

Step 4: The Tornado and Winning

The tornado is the enemy. It needs to move across the screen towards Deadpool.

• Movement: Use Start on Green Flag and Move Left (set a distance of around 14 grid squares).
• Winning: Add a Go to Page 2 (Success) block at the end of the movement script. This means if the tornado travels across the screen without hitting Deadpool, you win!
• [Insert screenshot of the Tornado movement code here]

Step 5: Detecting a Crash (Game Over)

We need to know if Deadpool gets hit.

• On the Tornado character, add a new script: Start on Bump (touching Deadpool).
• Connect this to a Go to Page 3 (Game Over) block.
• The Game Over Scene: On Page 3, you can animate Deadpool spinning around inside a tornado and falling onto the “Game Over” text for a funny ending effect.
• [Insert screenshot of the collision code here]

Troubleshooting/Tips

• The Jump Shape: If Deadpool moves up, stops, and then moves right, check that you are using two separate Start on Yellow Message blocks. They must trigger at the same time to create a smooth arc.
• Winning Too Early: Ensure the Tornado has to travel the full width of the screen (approx. 14 steps) before the Go to Page block triggers. If it switches pages too soon, increase the number on the Move Left block.
• If you are interested in doing more coding with your children and pupils, please check out the other ScratchJr tutorials I have created.