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Indie Game Physics Studio

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Grades 6-890-120 minSource: Creative Dad Company

Aspiring game designers code a simple 2D character and tune gravity, friction, and bounce until the movement feels satisfying instead of floaty or stiff.

Budget levels

Amazon prices checked Oct 9-10, 2026 and may change

Materials links go to Amazon. Prices are estimates and may change. As an Amazon Associate, Creative Dad Company earns from qualifying purchases.

Quick Start

Digital downloads only.

$0 to buy. Printing noted separately.

Student time: one class period, one day.

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one class period on a single day.

Scale back: Fit it into a shorter period, use fewer effects, or run a demo instead of a build.

Scale up: Add one extra effect, or spread the share-out across another day.

Ambiance video

Ambiance video coming soon from Creative Dad Studio

  • kitchen scaleBorrow or school hasuse what you have
  • meter stickBorrow or school hasuse what you have
  • stopwatchBorrow or school hasuse what you have

Full Experience

Required materials for the class.

$96.27 per class (class of about 30, 6 groups). Exceeds $25 per class.

Classroom cardboard or boxes can lower the cost.

Student time: one day.

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one school day.

Scale back: Fit the build into one period with fewer effects.

Scale up: Spread the work across days, or add more effects.

  • Toy carsRequired1 x 28 cars28 cars$8.99Amazon
  • rubber bandsRequired1 x 0.5 lb assorted0.5 lb assorted$6.10Amazon
  • washersRequired1 x 270 pieces270 pieces$6.28Amazon
  • spring scaleRequired6 x 1 scale1 scale$9.99Amazon
  • carpet and tile samplesRequired1 x 8x8 in sample (count per pack not shown) + 1 x 8 samples8x8 in sample (count per pack not shown) + 8 samples$7.97 + $6.99AmazonAmazon

Total Transformation

The bigger kit, with every optional item included.

$96.27 per class (class of about 30, 6 groups).

Student time: one day (one session, one-day event).

Teacher prep / build-ahead: separate from student time.

Scale it

The default plan is one session, a one-day event.

Scale back: Shorten the event, or run a demo for a smaller audience.

Scale up: Spread the build and the event across days, or invite a bigger audience.

Choose your version

Every level teaches the same core idea — pick the one that fits your time, budget, and energy today.

Student time: 35 min, one class periodTeacher prep / build-ahead: 20 min$0 to buy. Printing noted separately.One table or a clear section of floorBeginner-friendly

Setup

Print or hand-copy the essential prompt for Indie Game Physics Studio, then set out only paper, pencils, and the common or recycled items needed for one test. Use a tabletop representation whenever the original version mentions a room, specialized device, or digital tool; the learning comes from the decisions and evidence, not elaborate scenery.

Activity

  1. Define the central success test in Indie Game Physics Studio and make a paper planning sheet for the inputs, actions, and expected result.
  2. Represent the system without electronics by using labeled cards, paper controls, tokens, a ruler, or a student acting as the device; follow the same cause-and-effect rules described in the project.
  3. Run at least three cases, including one difficult or unexpected case, and record input examples, operating rules, predicted outputs, and actual outputs.
  4. Revise one rule, layout, mechanism, or decision after the failed case, repeat it, and explain with the recorded evidence whether the change worked.

Ambiance video

Ambiance video coming soon from Creative Dad Studio

Done when: The group has completed Indie Game Physics Studio when it can demo the finished level to classmates and explain which variable made the biggest difference in how the game feels and point to the observation, measurement, comparison, or trial that supports its conclusion.

Materials

laptop or tablet, free block-based coding app, graph paper for level sketches, sticky notes; Toy cars; rubber bands; washers; spring scale; kitchen scale; meter stick; stopwatch; carpet and tile samples

Shown for the Quick Start version — switch tabs above to see what changes.

Materials links go to Amazon. Prices are estimates and may change.

As an Amazon Associate, Creative Dad Company earns from qualifying purchases.

Steps

  1. Play a few reference games and predict what values for gravity, jump force, and friction make a character feel right.
  2. Draw a force diagram of a toy car being launched by a rubber band: the band's push forward, friction backward, and gravity and the floor balancing. Explain that the sum of these forces decides how the car's motion changes.
  3. Plan the investigation as a team: write a testable question about how push force and mass change the car's motion; choose your own independent variable values (for example three stretch lengths, then three washer counts); name the dependent variable (time over the first 1 m or distance rolled); list what you keep the same; explain how only one variable changes at a time; set the number of trials; and write a step-by-step procedure with a data table. Plan to check each stretch with a spring scale and weigh the car each time. The teacher approves the plan.
  4. Run the force test (same car mass, different stretches) and the mass test (same stretch, different washer loads) following your plan, recording every trial.
  5. Change the sum of forces another way: use the same stretch and mass on carpet versus tile so the backward friction force changes, and record the results.
  6. Graph the motion result against launch force and against mass. Write an evidence claim explaining that the change in motion depends on the sum of the forces and the mass, citing your graphs.
  7. Build a simple platformer level and set the code variables (jump force, character mass, friction, gravity) to follow the measured patterns, such as a heavier character speeding up less with the same push.
  8. Playtest and compare in-game motion with the real graphs, then adjust any variable that breaks the real pattern.

Standards mapped

  • NGSS · MS-PS2-2

    Plan an investigation to provide evidence that the change in an object’s motion depends on the sum of the forces on the object and the mass of the object.