Scratch Game

Beginner

60 mins

Teacher/Student led

+105 XP

What you need:
Chromebook/Laptop/PC or iPad/Tablet

Maze Game

This lesson guides students through creating a Maze Game using Scratch. They'll learn to program a character to navigate a maze, modify sprite size and position, and code keyboard controls. The lesson also includes instructions on how to prevent the character from passing through maze walls.

Learning Goals Learning Outcomes Teacher Notes Lesson Files

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1 Introduction to Maze Game
2 Open the starter project
3 Add the Beetle sprite
4 Shrink the beetle
5 Program the arrow keys to move the beetle
6 Stop the beetle going through the walls
7 Wrap up and Play!
Challenge
Quiz

1 - Introduction to Maze Game

Welcome to our exciting Maze Game lesson! In this lesson, you will learn how to program a character to navigate through a maze using the arrow keys on your keyboard. You will be using Scratch, a fun and easy-to-use coding platform. By the end of this lesson, you will have created your very own maze game. Let's get started!

2 - Open the starter project

Open the following Scratch starter project that already has a maze sprite added to it.

Open Starter Project

👇 Mark your steps as done as you complete them.

+10 XP

3 - Add the Beetle sprite

Add the Beetle sprite from the sprite library.

The beetle will be the character that we will code to move through the maze.

Scratch: How to add a sprite from the library

To add a sprite from the sprite library follow these steps:

Put your mouse over the Choose a Sprite button
Click on the magnifying glass
Find the sprite you want in the library
Click on your chosen sprite

You can use search box or the filter links (Animals, People, Fantasy etc) to locate your sprite.

+10 XP

4 - Shrink the beetle

As the beetle sprite is too big to fit through the corridors of our maze, we'll need to shrink it down. We also want to position the beetle at the start of the maze when we start the game, so we'll use a go to x [] y [] block to do this.

Add the following code to the beetle:

when green flag clicked set size to (15) % go to x [-160] y [-75] // the start of the maze

Once you've added the code, click on the green flag and the beetle should shrink and go to the start of the maze.

Teacher Notes

+15 XP

5 - Program the arrow keys to move the beetle

Next we'll program the up, down, left and right arrow keys on your keyboard to move the beetle. Each of these keys will point the beetle in the appropriate direction and make it move 10 steps.

Arrow	Direction
up	0
down	180
left	-90
right	90


when [up arrow v] key pressed
point in direction (0)
move (10) steps

when [down arrow v] key pressed
point in direction (180)
move (10) steps

when [left arrow v] key pressed
point in direction (-90)
move (10) steps

when [right arrow v] key pressed
point in direction (90)
move (10) steps

Once you have all of the arrow keys programmed, click the green flag and then test each arrow key to see if it moves the beetle in the right direction. If any of them are not working, check the code for that arrow to make sure it's correct.

Scratch: Using a tablet or iPad? Tap here for different controls

If you're using a tablet or iPad without a physical keyboard, you won't be able to use keyboard keys like the arrow keys in your project. Instead, we'll add simple on-screen buttons (using sprites) that you can tap to do the same things. This keeps your project working great! Just follow these steps wherever the lesson talks about pressing a key.

First, add a new sprite for your button:

Click the "Choose a Sprite" button in the bottom right.
Pick a simple shape, like an arrow or a circle. Make it small and place it on the screen where it's easy to tap, like the bottom corner.

Now, program your button sprite to make things happen when you tap it. Here's how it works for different situations:

Example 1: If the lesson uses a key to trigger an action on a specific sprite (like making something move, turn, or jump)

Instead of code like this on your target sprite:

when [left arrow v] key pressed change x by (-10) // or any action

Or this:

if < key [left arrow v] pressed? > then change x by (-10) // or any action end

Add this code to your new button sprite:

when this sprite clicked broadcast [do action v]

Then, on your target sprite, add this to receive the message:

when I receive [do action v] change x by (-10) // or any action

Tap the button on the screen, and the action will happen, just like pressing the key! Use a unique broadcast name for each different action or key.

Example 2: If the lesson uses a key to change a variable (like adding to a score or setting a value)

Instead of code like this:

when [space v] key pressed change [score v] by (1)

Or this:

if < key [space v] pressed? > then change [score v] by (1) end

Add a new button sprite. Then, put this code on the button sprite:

when this sprite clicked change [score v] by (1)

(If the variable is "for this sprite only," make sure it's set to "for all sprites" so the button can change it.)

Tap the button, and the variable changes, no message needed since it's something shared!

+30 XP

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Copyright Notice
This lesson is copyright of DigitalSkills.org 2017 - 2025. Unauthorised use, copying or distribution is not allowed.

Scratch is developed by the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab. It is available for free at https://scratch.mit.edu

Maze Game

Teacher Class Feed

1 - Introduction to Maze Game

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2 - Open the starter project

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3 - Add the Beetle sprite

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4 - Shrink the beetle

Send your work to your teacher

5 - Program the arrow keys to move the beetle

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