Six Lessons from Scratching
Last summer, I took a trip back to Scratch, the beloved beginner coding site. From creating a 3D game and checking out other Scratch projects, I learned important lessons in project-making that don’t just apply to Scratch.
Read and use the lessons in this article to make your own projects more successful.
1. Make changes systematically
While coding my game, I often made changes all at once, updating the engine, adding visual effects, and editing enemies. I didn’t stop to check for new problems and I paid the price—bugs popped up everywhere.
Maybe you’ve also made lots of changes to a project only to find it vastly broken. It’s no fun.
Save yourself time and frustration: make changes bit by bit and ensure everything works along the way.
2. Make parts reusable
After my first game, I made another 3D project to congratulate my dad on his birthday. Thankfully, it only took a few hours—I could just use the 3D engine from my previous game with minor edits.
This was possible because the engine was reusable: similar to LEGO blocks, it could easily be used again in different projects without any large changes to it.
Make components reusable. It’s a small action you can take that’ll make future projects much easier.
3. Make the inner-workings self-explanatory
If you’ve ever returned to finish an old project, but forgot how it worked, you know what a setback it is.
I had to edit old code which rendered the player’s radar. I forgot how it worked, and the code didn’t clearly convey the reasons behind it, so I had to reinterpret the code all over again.
Forgetting is inevitable. Make getting back on track easy by making project parts self-explanatory.
4. Feedback opens our eyes
I pondered making my game harder since it seemed too easy, but when a friend played it, he could only survive for a few seconds! Without his feedback, I would’ve mistakenly made the game even harder.
Our projects often seem acceptable to us, yet flawed to others. We need to get feedback to make projects succeed—otherwise, we’ll be taken by surprise when we fail.
5. Polish is powerful
A major difference between unpopular Scratchers and popular Scratchers is their level of polish.
Polish is about the final touch-ups that make a project so much better.
In video games, it means perfectly timed player movements. In instrument-playing, it means mastery of the subtle changes in tempo and dynamics that add feeling to a piece.
Polish puts projects on whole new levels—and might be just what you need to get your projects to succeed.
6. Simplicity sells
Scratchers love simple games. This is because they’re easy to pick up—no one wants to spend hours figuring out how to play a mere Scratch game.
Sophistication can be good, but it often kills projects. It burdens both creators and audiences by increasing workload and making consumption harder.
I’m sure you’ve been on both sides. Maybe you’ve had to deal with a painfully complicated project in school or work. Maybe you’ve had trouble assembling a complex piece of furniture. Sophistication is costly. Simplicity sells.
Conclusion
These lessons can greatly improve your projects—and they were learned from just a single-summer endeavor in Scratch. This not only displays the effectiveness of Scratch for learning, but also shows that you can learn big things from small experiences. Just take the time to reflect.
