Examples of Game Development with Scratch: 3 Fun Examples for Students

Before talking about theories or definitions, it helps to see actual examples of game development with Scratch. Think of these as templates you can remix, expand, and claim as your own twist.

We’ll focus on three core game types that work very well for science fair projects:

• A maze escape game
• A reaction‑time clicker game
• A side‑scrolling platformer

These are some of the best examples because they’re simple enough for beginners, but rich enough that you can add advanced features if you want to impress judges or teachers.

Example 1: Maze Escape Game – Collision, Logic, and Level Design

A maze escape game is one of the best examples of game development with Scratch for beginners who still want a project that looks impressive.

Core idea

You control a character (a sprite) with the arrow keys or WASD. The goal is to move through a maze without touching the walls. Reach the goal area, and you win the level.

Key Scratch concepts you’ll use

Movement and controls
Use blocks like:

• when green flag clicked
• forever
• if key (right arrow) pressed then
• change x by 5

This teaches you how keyboard input becomes movement on screen—exactly how many commercial games work at a basic level.

Collision detection
To keep the player from walking through walls, color‑based collision is your friend:

• Draw maze walls in one color (for example, dark blue).
• Use a block like if touching color [#0000FF] then go to start position.

That single idea—checking if two things are touching—is at the heart of most games.

Levels and difficulty
You can create multiple backdrops, each with a different maze. When the player reaches the goal, you:

• Broadcast a message like next_level.
• Switch to the next backdrop.
• Move the player sprite to the new starting point.

You’ve just implemented a level system, which is a great talking point for a science fair board.

Science fair angle

Turn this into more than “just a game” by testing:

• Player performance: Do people solve Maze A faster than Maze B?
• Design questions: Are mazes with wider paths more fun or too easy?
• Human factors: Does adding a timer create stress and reduce accuracy?

You can record data in a simple table: player name, level, time to finish, number of wall collisions. Then analyze averages and patterns—perfect for the “Science & Mathematics” theme.

For background on human perception and reaction, you can reference research from places like the National Institutes of Health (NIH) or Harvard’s online resources on cognition, and connect your maze design to how quickly people can process visual information.

Example 2: Reaction‑Time Clicker Game – Speed, Variables, and Data

If you’d rather build something fast and addictive, a reaction‑time clicker game is another strong example of game development with Scratch.

Core idea

Sprites appear randomly on the screen. The player must click them as quickly as possible. The game tracks score, misses, and average reaction time.

Key Scratch concepts you’ll use

Randomness
To make the game unpredictable, use blocks like:

• go to x: (pick random -200 to 200) y: (pick random -150 to 150)
• wait (pick random 1 to 3) seconds

This randomness keeps the game from being boring and lets you study how surprise affects reaction time.

Variables and scoring
Create variables such as:

• Score
• Misses
• Reaction_Time
• Best_Time

Use set, change, and if blocks to update these values. This is one of the clearest examples of how math and logic show up in game development with Scratch.

Timing and measuring reaction
Measure reaction time by:

• Storing the current time (with the timer block) when the sprite appears.
• Subtracting that from the time when the player clicks.

In pseudocode:

when I receive [show_target]
set [start_time v] to (timer)
show

when this sprite clicked
set [Reaction_Time v] to ((timer) - (start_time))
change [Score v] by 1
hide

Now you’re not just making a game—you’re collecting data.

Science fair angle

This is where it gets interesting. You can compare:

• Reaction times before and after distractions (music, background noise, phone notifications)
• Reaction times at different times of day (morning vs. evening)
• Reaction times for different age groups (kids vs. adults)

You can link your findings to existing research on reaction time and attention from sources like the National Library of Medicine or psychology departments at universities such as Stanford.

This makes your clicker project one of the best examples of game development with Scratch that doubles as a real experiment.

Example 3: Platformer Game – Gravity, Physics, and Level Design

Platformers are the games where your character runs, jumps, and avoids obstacles—think Mario‑style. This is a slightly more advanced example of game development with Scratch, but it’s very rewarding.

Core idea

Your character moves left and right, jumps over gaps, and lands on platforms. You can add coins, enemies, and checkpoints.

Key Scratch concepts you’ll use

Gravity simulation
You can fake gravity with a variable, often called y_velocity or gravity:

forever
  change y by (y_velocity)
  change [y_velocity v] by -1 // pull down
  if <touching color [platform color]> then
    set [y_velocity v] to 0
  end
end

Now your character falls and lands, which feels like real physics even though it’s simple.

Jumping
When the player presses the space bar and the character is on the ground:

• Set y_velocity to a positive number (for example, 12).
• Gravity then pulls the character back down.

You’ve just built a basic physics engine, which is a powerful example of game development with Scratch for a science fair.

Scrolling levels
To make your world feel larger than the screen:

• Move the background objects (platforms, decorations) left/right instead of the player.
• Track a world_x variable to know where everything is.

This introduces the idea of coordinate systems and reference frames, which ties nicely into math and physics topics.

Science fair angle

You can explore questions like:

• How does jump height affect how easy or hard a level feels?
• Do players prefer many small jumps or a few big, risky jumps?
• Can you predict difficulty using simple math (platform width, gap size, enemy speed)?

You can also connect your project to physics concepts taught in school. For general physics explanations, the U.S. Department of Energy’s education resources or university sites like MIT OpenCourseWare offer accessible introductions you can reference.

More Scratch Game Ideas: 6+ Variations You Can Build

To strengthen your science fair project, it helps to show that your three main games are part of a bigger family. Some of the best examples of game development with Scratch include:

1. Quiz show game

A multiple‑choice quiz where players answer questions on science, history, or health.

• Use lists to store questions and answers.
• Use variables to track score and streaks.
• Add a timer to increase pressure.

You can even base your questions on information from reliable sites like CDC.gov or Mayo Clinic if you’re doing a health‑themed project.

2. Pong‑style paddle game

A ball bounces between paddles. The player controls one paddle, and the other is AI‑controlled.

• Practice reflection angles using point in direction and if on edge, bounce.
• Use variables to increase ball speed over time.

This gives you a neat way to talk about angles and geometry.

3. Top‑down racing game

A car moves on a track seen from above.

• Arrow keys rotate and move the car.
• Touching the grass slows the car or causes a penalty.

You can study how track layout affects lap times, or how friction (simulated with speed changes) affects control.

4. Whack‑a‑mole game

Moles pop up in random holes; the player has to click them fast.

• Very similar to the clicker example, but with multiple positions.
• Great for collecting data on accuracy vs. speed.

5. Memory card‑matching game

Cards flip over; players must remember and match pairs.

• Use lists to store card positions.
• Shuffle cards with random numbers.

This is a strong example of game development with Scratch that connects directly to memory and cognition research.

6. Two‑player competitive game

Any of the earlier ideas can be turned into a two‑player game using different keys.

• Compare reaction times or scores between players.
• Study competition vs. cooperation.

These variations show that your three main projects are part of a broader set of examples of game development with Scratch, giving your science fair report more depth.

Turning Scratch Games into a Science Fair Project

You’re not just making a game; you’re doing a computer science experiment. Here’s how to frame it.

1. Ask a clear question

Examples include:

• “How does maze complexity affect player completion time?”
• “Does background music change reaction time in a clicker game?”
• “How does jump strength affect player success in a platformer level?”

Each question ties directly to one of our three main examples of game development with Scratch: the maze, the clicker, and the platformer.

2. Plan your experiment

Decide:

• How many players you’ll test
• How many rounds each player will play
• What you’ll change (independent variable)
• What you’ll measure (dependent variable)

Use Scratch variables and lists to log data automatically. For instance, every time a player finishes a maze level, you can add (timer) to [Completion_Times v].

3. Collect and analyze data

Export your Scratch data or copy it into a spreadsheet. Calculate:

• Averages
• Minimum and maximum times
• Simple graphs (bar charts, line graphs)

This is where math meets programming—and where your project looks very organized to judges.

4. Present your findings

On your board or in your report:

• Describe your game briefly.
• Explain your experiment design.
• Show your data and graphs.
• Reflect on what you would improve in both the game and the experiment.

You can also mention how your results compare to what’s known in psychology or human‑computer interaction, citing sources from .gov or .edu sites you used for background.

Why Scratch Is Still Relevant in 2024–2025

You might wonder if Scratch is “too basic” now that there are so many advanced tools. In reality, for middle‑school and early high‑school students, Scratch is still one of the best places to see clear examples of game development.

Here’s why it still matters:

• Low barrier to entry: Drag‑and‑drop blocks mean you focus on logic, not syntax errors.
• Massive community: The Scratch website hosts millions of shared projects, including countless examples of game development with Scratch you can remix and learn from.
• Strong fit for classrooms: Teachers can easily see student code and give feedback.
• Real computer science ideas: Even though it’s visual, you still use variables, loops, conditionals, events, and simple data structures.

In 2024–2025, many schools still introduce coding with Scratch before moving to Python or JavaScript. That means your science fair project using Scratch is very much up‑to‑date.

FAQ: Examples of Game Development with Scratch

Q1: What are the best examples of game development with Scratch for beginners?
Some of the best examples include a maze escape game, a reaction‑time clicker, and a simple platformer. These cover movement, collision detection, scoring, and basic physics, giving you a solid foundation without overwhelming you.

Q2: Can you give an example of a Scratch game that works well for a science fair?
A reaction‑time clicker game is a strong example of game development with Scratch for a science fair. You can test how music, distractions, or time of day affect reaction time, collect data inside Scratch, and compare groups of players.

Q3: How can I find more examples of Scratch games to learn from?
Visit the official Scratch community, search for tags like “game,” “platformer,” or “maze,” and sort by popularity or recency. Studying and remixing these projects gives you more real examples of game development with Scratch than any single tutorial.

Q4: Do I need advanced math to build these 3 fun examples?
No. You’ll use basic arithmetic (addition, subtraction, maybe simple multiplication) and an understanding of coordinates (x, y). As you get more comfortable, you can add more math—for example, using angles in a pong‑style game or calculating averages for your experiment data.

Q5: How can I make my Scratch game stand out to judges or teachers?
Focus on two things: a clear research question and polish. Use one of the three fun examples of game development with Scratch as your base, design a real experiment around it, and then spend extra time on instructions, visuals, and bug‑fixing. A simple, well‑tested game with clear data often impresses more than a complicated but glitchy project.

If you start with these three core projects—the maze, the clicker, and the platformer—you’ll have strong, real examples of game development with Scratch: 3 fun examples that can grow into serious, science‑fair‑worthy work. From there, you can branch into quiz games, racing games, or memory challenges, building your own mini‑portfolio of Scratch creations.