GameJSAcademy

Skills checklist

Everything they can do after the twenty-six lessons — grouped by skill, printable, and honest about what comes next.

JavaScript fundamentals

variables · let & conststore and update values — a score, a position, a speed
stringsbuild text like "Score: 12" by joining values together
if / elsemake decisions: did the ball hit the paddle?
for & while loopsrepeat work without repeating code — a whole wall of bricks
functionswrite their own commands with names and parameters, and call them
arrayskeep lists of things: snake segments, bullets, enemies — and add, remove, filter them
objectsgroup related data in one value, like { x, y, alive }
Math.random · Math.floorgenerate randomness for spawns and levels

Game programming

coordinates & the canvasplace anything anywhere, knowing y grows downward
velocity & dtmove things at the same speed on every device
collision detectiontell when two rectangles overlap — the core of every game
the game loopunderstand update() running 60 times a second
keyboard & pointer inputread arrow keys, mouse and touch, including on a tablet
game statesswitch between playing, won and lost — and show the right screen
timers & spawningmake enemies, waves and effects appear on a schedule
sound & juicebeeps with Web Audio, particles and screen shake for feel

Finished projects they can show

Breakoutwalls, paddle, bouncing ball, score, win & lose states
Snakearray-driven body that grows with every apple
Flappy flightgravity, scrolling pipes, one-button controls
Maze escapewall collision and a level read from data
Space blastertwo arrays, bullets vs. enemies, waves of difficulty
their own original gamedesigned from a blank page in the final lesson
bonus: juice & a bossparticles, screen shake, endless waves with a boss fight

How they'll work after this

read an error messagefind the broken line from what the console says
debug by asking "what changed?"the habit that fixes most bugs, in code and out
iterate: change, run, lookimprove something in small steps instead of all at once
read real documentationthe course uses plain JavaScript — official docs become readable
explain their code aloudsay what each part is supposed to do — half of learning is talking

This checklist maps directly to the 26-lesson curriculum — each item is taught in a specific lesson before it appears here. Print it, tick items off as they land, and mark the finish with the completion certificate. Not sure where to start? Lessons 1–2 are free on the main page.