Animal Crossing Scratch Game | Easy Scratch Project

Project Overview

In this project, Juni Instructor Maya will be showing us how to build a project inspired by one of our favorite video games - Animal Crossing! In this game, the player helps Isabelle (or a character of your choice) find items hidden on the screen.

First read through the project instructions and steps, to try and figure out how to code this project on your own. If you get stuck or need help, watch Maya's video tutorial or view her solution code below!

Who is this for?

• Language: Scratch
• Juni Level: Scratch Level 1
• Ages: 8-11, with assistance if needed
• Coding Experience: Familiarity with Scratch or coding basics recommended. (review below)

Learning Outcomes

This project will help us learn how to use event listeners to make certain behaviors happen when a button is clicked or a key is pressed. It will also help us learn core concepts like loops and conditionals.

• Core concepts: Loops, Conditionals, Event Listeners
• Lines of Code: ~60 blocks
• Difficulty: Easy
• Est. Time: 3045 min, but this varies by student and how creative you get!

What should I know or review before doing this project?

Scratch Basics

Watch Maya's overview of the Scratch platform, if you need some help or quick review of how to use blocks. Maya also explains how to add your own backdrops and sprites to your project.

Using Coordinate Planes

Understanding the x and y-axes is key to building projects like this one in Scratch. Coordinate planes help us tell our sprites where to move, or tell the program where we want things to be on our screen.

Review or learn about coordinate planes in our Intro to Coordinate Planes lesson with Juni Instructor Genesis.

Game Demo

First watch Maya play her finished version of the game, to better understand what we are trying to create in this project.

Steps to Build the Game:

Here are the basic steps Maya took to build this game. Use these steps for guidance or hints! Feel free to use a sprite of your choice.

1. When the green flag is clicked, make Isabelle tell the player to help her collect some items.
2. Make Isabelle move around the screen using the arrow keys.
3. If Isabelle touches an item, have her tell the player what she found!
4. If an item touches Isabelle, it should disappear, go to a random location, wait two seconds, and then reappear.
5. Challenge yourself: Add even more items for Isabelle to find.

Try to do the project on your own first, and get creative with it! If you get stuck or want to check your code, check out Maya’s solution and tutorial video below.

Project Solution & Tutorial

Check your answers or get help by viewing Maya's solution and tutorial video:

Want to keep learning?

We hope you enjoyed Maya's Scratch project!

To keep practicing and learning, please check out all of our coding tutorials on our blog.

Need help?

Looking up your coding questions is one of the best ways to learn!

Another great way to learn is from an experienced coder or instructor. Juni CS instructors like Maya work closely with students ages 8-18, and are specially trained to adapt to each child's unique learning style, pace, and interests.

Juni Learning offers coding for for kids to teach computational thinking as well as analytical and problem solving skills. Take a look at our award-winning courses and curriculum, or speak with a Juni Advisor by calling (650) 263-4306 or emailing advisors@learnwithjuni.com. You can also read more about how we use Scratch to teach coding.