10 Most Innovative Hopscotch Games of 2015
Welcome to the Best of Hopscotch 2015 — games and art programmed by kids on the iPad.
These projects broke barriers by introducing A.I., simulating 3D, and redefining what’s possible with the Hopscotch language. They paved the way for thousands of others to build off their ingenuity.
This list is a tribute to the creativity that emerges from and is bolstered by a constrained environment. It’s a testament to the depth of kids’ imaginations. And it’s an illustration of how innovation happens and spreads within a community. Enjoy!
10. Vaccinate Yo Kids, ADHDJ
Some people recreate their favorite games in Hopscotch. And others take a famous game, merge it with a pressing social issue, and leave you genuinely astounded.
Welcome to Vaccinate Yo Kids, a game that tells the story of a town where stingy adults argue about saving money in the midst of a polio outbreak. One adult, Sid, comes up with an unusual idea to stop the disease from spreading: slingshot syringes of the vaccine at children. It’s Angry Birds meets the World Health Organization. While this solution may be illegal in the real world, we couldn’t get over this hilarious storyline, brilliant adaptation, or serious takeaway. Not to mention that it’s just a really well-made game.
9. Cool! Please Try!, CutiesCuties
Everyone loves emoji (duh). CutiesCuties took this passion to a new level by creating a tool that lets you use emoji to draw words, shapes, pictures, or whatever you want. And by “draw,” we mean that a trail of spinning emoji follows your finger as you touch the screen. It’s weird, funny, and cool.
To accomplish this, CutiesCuties was a pioneer of a new language feature we released this spring, cloning. This project helped other people make cool art AND learn about using this powerful tool in their own projects.
And now drawing with emojis is a genre unto itself. BAM.
8. Dots Endless Mode, Game Coder
Sometimes the most impressive things are the least complicated (this is why you’re impressed by friends who manage to keep their houses beautiful). Game Coder’s Dots Endless mode is a perfect representation of this — a game that’s challenging, fun, and incredibly simple.
At first glance, the premise seems easy: combine two dots so when they merge, their hue matches the others. But make one wrong move and you’ll be challenging yourself to a rematch. We’ve been playing this for months and we still can’t get enough.
7. Lemonade Stand, -Madi-
Cash money, ya’ll. Madi inspires the entrepreneur in all of us with her addictive Lemonade Stand game. You pick the price, measure your traffic, and then later review how you fared. It’s simple enough, but it becomes more and more engrossing as you go (perhaps Madi meant this game as commentary on chasing money more broadly…).
Additionally, Madi’s thoroughness impressed us; we loved how she thought out and built each stage of the game. It’s clean, well-designed, and solidly built. Play it and see how much you bring in. Just make sure to clear your schedule in advance.
6. Beach Volleyball, SuperSwaggy88
With Beach Volleyball, SuperSwaggy88 brought us one step closer to the singularity by introducing A.I. into Hopscotch. That’s a big deal.
At first glance, this game looked like any other volleyball simulation. Until we realized that no second player was needed — the computer was our opponent. SuperSwaggy88 not only built the game but taught the computer how to win. The result is endlessly entertaining (if not a little scary!). This project paved the way for all kinds of A.I. in Hopscotch, and who knows what it will mean for the rest of the world.
5. Don’t Get 30, PurpleHawk
This game gets your feelings involved. The antagonist, an emoji-faced con artist, has single-handedly wrestled more emotion from us than all other emoji combined in his quest to outsmart us. Here’s how: you and he take turns counting to 30. Your goal is to force your opponent to land on 30. Make no mistakes; though it appears to be an easy win, it’s exceedingly difficult.
And when you open it up and look at the code, it’s impressive; the algorithm behind this game’s dynamic is a mind-bender and clearly required a ton of tweaking. Nice.
Also, we learned an important lesson with this one: if you don’t know who the sucker is in a room, it might be you.
4. Moon Quest 3, Etalix
Oh, Moon Quest 3. You’re a movie with games in it. You’re a game that looks like a movie. You’re interactive storytelling at its finest. It’s all in the details, people.
The characters of this game are adorable (and darn impressive!) pixel art in which each pixel is actually a tiny emoji. You follow their journey through beautiful and solidly built scenes (and the seamless transitions between these scenes aren’t easy). The story that this game tells is original and really good. We laughed, we cried, and we cheered. We couldn’t put this one down.
3. Helicopter Rescue, MagmaPOP
Helicopter Rescue is the first fully-realized 3D game in Hopscotch, and just one project on the long list of MagmaPOP’s contributions to Hopscotch.* This game is an amazing implementation of the 3D stacking technique, originally invented by Dalex, in a gripping narrative adventure. It’s amazing.
Our blood pressure rose as the timer wound down, and we were genuinely frustrated trying to save the shipwreck victims, knowing that unseen families were counting on us. It’s an impressive piece of work in every way — it’s original, it’s beautiful, it’s hard, and a roller-coaster from start to finish.
*By 3D we actually mean 2.5D, but we’ll get there soon…
2. 2048, t1
t1’s 2048 is truly an engineering feat. The codebase is massive, elegant, and incredibly well thought-out. The game is a replica of the crowd-pleasing 2048, rebuilt despite the fact that Hopscotch has yet to introduce arrays to our language. Where others may have seen this as a barrier, t1 powers through.
If only we could all get back the hours we’ve devoted to playing t1’s game; we probably could have built arrays in Hopscotch (don’t worry — it’s on the list!). Until then, we’re in awe of her persistence and ingenuity — this thing took time, effort, and a whole lot of brains.
1. Kaleidoscope Draw, Valgo⚡️⚡️⚡️
Valgo ⚡️⚡️⚡️’s Kaleidoscope Draw perfectly embodies the amazing creative power of building something that is both a work of art and a tool. It’s a simple and elegant interface for creating innumerable combinations of colors, patterns, sizes, and shapes.
You choose a color, line width and begin drawing with your finger. The project simultaneously draws 7 angled mirror images of your design, creating what feels like a personal kaleidoscope. This project was published months ago and even today we find ourselves playing it whenever we have a free moment.
In both its power and simplicity, Kaleidoscope Draw is the perfect metaphor for what we are trying to accomplish with Hopscotch.
















