Bounce Lab: Build a Web Game

What you will make

Original Bounce Lab starter inspired by BOUNCR

• Explain input, state, rules, and drawing.
• Tune one rule using evidence.
• Implement checkpoint recovery.
• Show a complete game and test record.

Settle in together

Laptop or desktop with a modern browser for editing. Phones can read the guide and observe or try the preview. Start with fictional data.

Allow about 5 minutes to get ready. Six missions in order. Try one or two 5–12 minute activities, take a break, and resume at the next activity. Plan several short sittings per mission; the full 75–90 minute lesson remains the detailed reference. End each sitting with a saved copy and one sentence: next time we will… Times are estimates awaiting family pilots.

• For ages 9–12, work beside a parent on a computer with a keyboard. A phone can read the guide and watch; use a computer for editing. Older learners may try the full lesson's stretch task after the core checks.
• Open the first mission's browser workspace and press Run before installing anything. No payment, child account, or AI key is needed for that introduction. If the runtime reports unavailable, keep your files, read its error, and use the course-specific fallback below with adult help.
• Before ANY local trace, model test or build, use this course’s full reference handoff: Save and Export backup, retain the JSON backup, extract the matching ZIP into a new folder, copy every current source file with transfer-workspace.mjs, and run verify-workspace.mjs with your actual edited value from that extracted folder. JSON is a source backup, not an executable ZIP; Import backup does not update disk files. Keep results beside the exact source version tested. If you skip transfer, label downloaded checks baseline-only.
• The baseline has two jumps and three platforms. It recovers at start after falling and keeps stars; the middle checkpoint is a later feature, not already implemented.
• Download fallback: /lab-starters/arcade-games.zip. In its folder a parent runs python3 -m http.server 8080 --bind 127.0.0.1 and opens http://localhost:8080. Keep the server open; double-clicking a module page is unsupported. With Node prepared, npm test runs rule checks without npm install.
• model.js holds RULES, PLATFORMS and state; main.js handles controls and Canvas; index.html holds instructions. Full lesson code supplies the exact checkpoint landing and falling replacements.
• Keep the original starter unchanged as a reference. Export a working copy before a risky edit or reset. Work and the optional progress checklist stay on this device; an export is your portable backup. A checked box records your own report, not a verified assessment.
• Use invented names, notes and records. The parent handles accounts, optional AI and sharing. Predict together, let the child make one choice, change one thing, test it, then explain what happened. An assistant is optional; the supplied code and a partner work too.