Students take part in video game design camp

These kids are spending their morning typing away at computers, building their own digital world.

They are taking part of the UT Martin Jackson campus build your own video game camp.

For Tate kee, he has already learned a lot this week.

“How to find the people you want. How to build levels”

To build a game, the campers start with a skeleton of a basic game and then its up to their imaginations what they do next.

“They get to add in their own graphics, they get to add in their own characters, they learn about how images are used in a video game and they learn to manipulate those images” according to program director Matthew Deck.

But while this camp is a lot of fun for these kids, they are learning a lot more than just how to make some pictures on a screen jump.

Deck says that through building their games, campers are learning computer logic and basic coding skills.

They are also learning soft skills like problem solving and teamwork.

“Having this knowledge up front just strengthens their foundation for whatever technology is going to come forward in the future.”

At the very least, these kids will leave this camp with a much greater appreciation for the work that goes into their favorite video games.

“It’s not really easy making a video game, I can tell you that.”

It was the first of three summer stem camps that the UTM Jackson campus is hosting this year.