A Review of Tektoma Game Tutorials for Kids

"Tektoma is dedicated to providing children with high quality tutorials to teach game programming within a secure, monitored website. It is a perfect avenue for homeschooled children to learn advanced computer skills." Tektoma offers you:

• Engaging video tutorials for ages 7-17
• Tutorials of varying skill levels and topics
• Learn at your own pace in the comfort of your home
• Natural progression helps develop technical skills
• Customize your learning experience
• Low monthly membership fee gives access to all our resources
• New curriculums available monthly

Complete Game Tutorials include:

• How to Make a Racing Game walks you through all the steps to create your own racing car game with GameMaker. You will race against a computer (opponent) car, design a track, add a mini map and a car radio. This tutorial is appropriate for beginners and has no guns or shooting

• How to Make an Arcade Game will walk you through the steps needed to create a game where the player gains points by destroying enemies and picking up bonuses. You will learn how to warp to a new level, show health and lives, and keep score. This game involves cartoon shooting of objects.

• How to Make a Memory Game teaches how to make a fun memory game, where the player has to remember what the last object added was. You'll learn about using variables, keeping score, giving options for difficulty levels, and drawing shapes through programming.

• How to Make a Platform Game involves shooting, health, lives and score, but there is no violence and no blood. You will learn how to make a platform game similar to the older Mario Brothers games! You will learn how to track health, lives and score and display them on the screen. You will make player, enemy and boss attacks, track boss health, use paths, squish enemies and make a drawbridge.

• How to Make a Fantasy Adventure Game involves magic attacks and swords, but there is no violence and no blood. You will learn how to make a multi-level game that involves getting a quest, traveling through different areas and collecting a treasure.

You can try it out with a free 14-day trial. REQUIREMENTS:

• Windows XP or Vista only
• Broadband internet connection
• Any browser should work, but make sure it is a current version
• For GameMaker tutorials, you need a copy of GameMaker installed and the GameMaker resources folder.
• Instructions for downloading these files can be found on the GameMaker Tutorials page.
• GameMaker requires 128mb of RAM, DirectX 8 with at least 32mb of video memory, and a screen resolution of at least 800×600.

See a free preview to learn more. Price: $14.95 per month or $140/year My thoughts: I received this product to review for the Crew, and while the concept looks really neat, the requirements were a downfall that really limited our experience with Tektoma. It is not Mac compatible and requires sound for the tutorials. My boys were able to get on and play around with the tutorial and make their way through some of it, but my old PC does not have sound, so I feel that we missed a lot of what this program has to offer. From reading the descriptions, there is one game that I would not let my children create or play. We do not let any form of magic in our home, not even pretend. The other games looked neat though and I appreciate that they let you know up front what kind of violence is involved in the games. We do not even own a video game player, but if we were video game lovers and I wanted my boys to learn how to create them, this would be a great option. To get a better picture of all that Tektoma has to offer, please see my Crew mates reviews. You can also click on the banner below to visit the Crew blog.

I received a 3 month subscription for free in exchange for my review as a member of the Crew and I offer my honest opinion. See my Disclosure Policy for more information.