Pong

The gist: build a game you control a paddle and can hit a ball to bounce it back.

Pong! It goes back decades. It's basically simplified tennis. Pong has basics of most games: input, movement, collision detection.

Mock-Ups

I made a single-player game inspired by Pong called Lonely Paddle:

Screenshot of a game with pixel graphics of a paddle and ball bouncing around a field with smiley face collectibles

Specs

  • Move paddle (a rectangle) up and down with arrow keys
  • Draw walls on three sides of the screen
  • Start the game by launching the ball
  • When the ball hits a wall or paddle, change its direction, accounting for its angle
  • When the ball goes off screen behind the player, the game is over

Concepts

  • Input
  • Movement
  • Collision Detection

Extra Credit

  • Add a second paddle to have another person control to challenge the player
    • Keep track of score
  • Keep track of score in terms of time passed
  • Add collectibles
  • Juice it up with animations, sound effects, and music

References