In free Level 1, about 60–90 minutes
A one-page game idea, a hero they drew, and a tiny “collect it” game: move, grab the item, score points, beat the clock. Then someone in the family playtests it.
For parents · Ages 9–14
Loot Drop Jr.
Level Up: Make Your First Game with AI
A path your kid can grow along, and you run. It starts with an original character and a tiny game in Microsoft MakeCode Arcade. Later steps move into real code and a full game engine. Any AI help happens on your account, with you at the keyboard.
What Level Up is
Level Up is the first Loot Drop Jr. manual. It is written for kids ages 9–13, and it is sold to and run by a parent or guardian. Each level is a quest with a goal, a hands-on activity, an AI prompt you type yourself, a boss challenge, and a parent note.
The main tool is Microsoft MakeCode Arcade. It is free, it runs in the browser, and a child does not need an account to start building. Blocks make a character move, pick up an item, and race a timer. Signing in is only for cloud saving. The manual tells you to download a backup, because clearing browser data can erase a project.
The rule of the book: AI is your sidekick, not your controller. You type. Your kid decides what to keep. Every prompt is written so it works in any chat AI.
What kids make
Original ideas and small games they can actually play. Famous characters stay out of anything they share.
Across the full manual
Paper rules, pixel heroes and a world, a mini platformer, fair enemies, three levels, sound and score, a family playtest, the same game in a second tool, and a cover screen with credits.
The Learning Path
Three manuals, in order. Kids start by making a first game, then learn the kind of tools behind the games they already play.
Growing toward real games. Godot is a full game engine that indie studios use to ship commercial games. It is free, it does not ask for an account, and the games your kid makes are theirs.
-
Step 1 · Available now
Level Up 1: Make Your First Game with AI
Pitch. Invent an original hero and build a small game you can actually play. A grown-up runs any AI help.
Ages. 9–13.
Tools. Microsoft MakeCode Arcade. Free, in the browser, and no account needed to start.
They finish with. A 3-level original platformer in MakeCode Arcade, shared privately with family.
Price. Level 1 is free now. The full manual is $19, and the parent-and-kid bundle is $29. Both are marked coming soon below. Read Level 1 · See pricing.
Show the 10 lessons in Level Up 1
- Spark
- Rules of the Game
- Hero and World Builder
- Make It Move
- Danger Zone
- Level Designer
- Juice It Up
- Playtest Party
- Choose Your Next World
- Ship It (Safely)
-
Step 2 · Coming soon
Level Up 2: Real Code Quest
Pitch. Peek behind the blocks, learn to type real code, and rebuild your hero in a free game engine the pros use.
Ages. About 10–14, after Level Up 1, or once they are comfortable in MakeCode Arcade. Steady typing helps.
Tools. MakeCode Arcade’s Python and JavaScript views, then the Godot game engine. Godot is free and open source, and your kid does not need an account. If typing still feels like a lot, GDevelop is a gentler desktop option that can run with no account. Any AI use stays on yours.
They finish with. The same hero, rebuilt in Godot as a 3-level platformer, plus one new move they design, such as a dash, a wall climb, a double jump, or a grappling vine.
Price. Coming soon.
Show the 10 lessons in Level Up 2
- Peek Behind the Blocks
- Type It Yourself
- New World: Godot Basics
- Hero in Motion
- Build the World
- Friends and Foes
- Score, Lives and Screens
- Save the Day
- Juice 2.0
- Export and Playtest
-
Step 3 · Coming soon
Level Up 3: Bring Your World to Life
Pitch. Give your characters voices, draw and animate your own art, write your own theme song, add a second player, and launch the game with a grown-up.
Ages. About 11–14, after Level Up 2, or once they can already build a small game in Godot.
Tools. Godot, plus voice, pixel art, music, sound effects, and two-player play. The launch is on itch.io through a parent’s account. The usual voices are the free ones built into Godot. An optional AI voice lesson stays on the parent’s account.
They finish with. A short original story adventure: talking characters, their own pixel art and theme song, a co-op mode, and a page on the parent’s itch.io account with comments off.
Price. Coming soon.
Show the 10 lessons in Level Up 3
- Story Forge
- Talk to Me
- Give Them a Voice
- Voice Lab (with a grown-up)
- Pixel Art Studio
- Sound Booth
- Player Two Has Entered
- Online, Safely
- Launch Prep
- Launch Day
Level Up 2 and Level Up 3 are coming soon. This page does not list a price for them, and there is nothing to buy. All three as a bundle when they launch.
Ten levels
These are the lessons inside Level Up 1. Level 1 is on the site now. Levels 2–10 are the plan for that manual. Each AI prompt is for you to type on your own account.
-
Level 1 Spark · free now
Goal. Invent an original game idea and make a tiny playable game.
Activity. Idea Forge, then a 30-second “collect it” game in MakeCode Arcade. Read the chapter.
AI prompt you type. Help brainstorm 10 original hero ideas that are not from any existing game.
-
Level 2 Rules of the Game
Goal. Understand goals, rules, win and lose, and the core loop.
Activity. A paper prototype played with dice or cards.
AI prompt you type. Explain a core loop to an 11-year-old using 3 games as examples, without spoilers.
-
Level 3 Hero & World Builder
Goal. Create original characters and a world.
Activity. Draw 16×16 pixel heroes and fill in a world map sheet.
AI prompt you type. Give feedback on this character idea. Is it too close to any famous character?
-
Level 4 Make It Move
Goal. Controls, speed, jumping, and gravity.
Activity. Build a mini platformer in MakeCode Arcade.
AI prompt you type. My character falls through the floor in MakeCode Arcade. What are 3 things to check?
-
Level 5 Danger Zone
Goal. Enemies, obstacles, and a fair difficulty curve.
Activity. Add 2 enemies and 3 difficulty steps.
AI prompt you type. Suggest 5 enemy behaviors for a kid’s game that are fun and not scary.
-
Level 6 Level Designer
Goal. Build maps with tilemaps, from easy to hard.
Activity. Design 3 levels on graph paper, then build them.
AI prompt you type. Review my level plan: is the jump from level 1 to 2 too hard?
-
Level 7 Juice It Up
Goal. Sound, effects, a score, and game feel.
Activity. Add sounds, a score, a title screen, and a game-over screen.
AI prompt you type. What small effects make collecting a coin feel satisfying?
-
Level 8 Playtest Party
Goal. Get feedback and squash bugs.
Activity. Run a family playtest with the Playtest Scorecard.
AI prompt you type. Turn these playtest notes into a top-5 fix list for a kid.
-
Level 9 Choose Your Next World
Goal. Try a second tool: Scratch or GDevelop.
Activity. Rebuild the Level 1 game in the new tool. You stay with them.
AI prompt you type. Compare how Scratch and MakeCode Arcade handle the same “collect it” game.
-
Level 10 Ship It (Safely)
Goal. Share a game safely and proudly.
Activity. The “Ready to Share?” checklist, credits, and a cover screen.
AI prompt you type. Help write a short, friendly game description with no personal info.
How this stays safe
You are in the loop the whole time. These pages do not ask your child for anything.
No kids’ personal info
Games, project titles, and AI chats use a made-up creator name. Real names, school, town, age, photos, and voice stay out.
AI on a parent’s account
Most chat AIs are not for under-13s to use on their own. You open the chat, you type, and you sit together. Your kid never makes their own AI account for this manual.
Original characters only
Kids name the action (jump, collect, race) and the feeling (fast, brave, silly), then invent someone new. Anything shared uses their own characters, names, art, and music.
Safe sharing
Level 1 stays on your computer. Public posting waits for Level 10, a parent, and the Ready to Share checklist. Family and friends come first. Comments and chat stay off or supervised.
Loot Drop Jr. pages have no signup form, no analytics, and no embedded players or ads. We do not collect children’s information here. When the rest of the manual is ready, a parent can hear about it by joining The Drop on the homepage. That list is for adults. Use your own email.
Pricing
Level 1 is free to read and print today. The paid editions of Level Up 1 are not on sale yet, so there is no checkout on this page. Level Up 2 and Level Up 3 are coming soon, with no price listed yet. All three as a bundle when they launch.
Free · Available now
Level 1: Spark
$0
The first quest, on the web, ready to print.
- Idea Forge and a hero card
- A tiny MakeCode Arcade game
- Three AI prompts for your account
- A parent note at the end
Epic · Manual
Level Up
$19 planned · not on sale yet
All 10 levels plus a short Parent Guide.
- Levels 2–10, still in progress
- Setup, AI safety, and screen time
- How to help without taking over
- Same pages, in a printable manual
Coming soon. No checkout until it is actually finished.
Legendary · Bundle
Parent + kid bundle
$29 planned · not on sale yet
The manual, plus printables you can put on the table.
- Everything in the $19 manual
- Printable workbook
- Badge sheets for finished levels
- Hero Card, idea sheet, and playtest scorecard
Coming soon. No checkout until it is actually finished.
Part of Loot Drop
Loot Drop Jr. is a bonus section of Loot Drop, beside The Drop, The Armory, and Respawn. The rest of the site is for adults who build with AI: tested tool rankings, templates, and fixes for broken apps. Rankings over there are never for sale. This manual is a family how-to, separate from those rankings, with no sponsor.
Join The Drop with a parent email if you want a note when the full manual is ready. There is no signup form on this page.