01 · Where the idea came from
Every game started with something Sabina liked.
Someone gave us a physical falling-block game that kids can play together in person. It was simple, a little like Connect Four, and super fun. That tabletop game introduced Sabina to fitting falling shapes together.
She wanted a version on her iPad, but the kid-friendly choices in the App Store were terrible. They were filled with ads or required a monthly subscription. I did not want my kiddo exposed to all of that just to play a puzzle game.
So we decided to make our own. Sabina can play it on her iPad or a computer, and now we can change it in any way she wants instead of accepting someone else’s ads, prices, and rules.
Her first big change was the coin idea. Coins would sit in different squares inside the box. Landing a shape on a coin would earn one point, and saved coins could buy things that help the player win.
02 · Our first plan
We wrote down what the game needed.
Our first plan was short. It listed the characters, actions, rules, and goal. That gave the coding helper enough information to make a first version.
A ten-by-twenty box with seven familiar kinds of falling shapes.
Large touch buttons and directional swipes for phones, plus arrow keys and Space on computers.
Forty levels that get faster, ask for more cleared rows, and eventually begin with starter blocks.
Shiny coins placed inside the box, with every collected coin worth one point.
A power shop with a row-clearing rocket, a slow-time star, and a tiny one-square block.
03 · Parts of the game
Each part has a job.
Engineers often call these parts systems. When we name each system, it is easier to understand what it does and fix it when something goes wrong.
Shapes
What makes a shape stop?A shape keeps falling until moving down would hit the bottom or another settled block.
Coins
When is a coin collected?A coin is collected when a falling shape settles on its square. It adds one point and one spendable coin.
Levels
How do forty levels get harder?Later shapes fall faster, more rows must be cleared, and every eight levels add another row of starter blocks.
Power-ups
How can coins help?Saved coins buy a Row Rocket, Slow Star, or Tiny Block. The player chooses when to use each one.
04 · What we changed
We played the game and made it better.
- 1
Build the basic stack
We made falling, moving, turning, dropping, row clearing, next-shape previews, and fair wall kicks.
- 2
Put coins in the box
Each level places coins in open squares. The player must decide whether a coin is worth a tricky placement.
- 3
Make forty levels
One level formula changes speed, row goals, and starter blocks instead of making forty separate games.
- 4
Give coins a purpose
Collected coins stay in a bank. Three power-ups turn them into useful choices during difficult levels.
- 5
Make phone play feel natural
We added a pause button that stays easy to reach, plus swipes: left and right move, up rotates, and down drops the shape.
05 · What we learned
Thinking like an engineer
Making our own game means the experience can serve the child instead of the App Store. There are no ads or subscriptions, and every new idea can become something we build, test, and change together. Coins are one example: they are points, but also a choice to save or spend on help for a harder level.
Talk about it together
Questions you can ask while you play
- Where should coins appear so they feel tempting but fair?
- How fast should each new level become?
- Which power-up would help without solving the whole game for you?