When Ezra — whose parents asked that his last name not be used — was 7 years old, he attended a tech camp.
Inspired, he started developing his own game. He called it “One Line.”
Ezra worked steadily on it. Finally, when it was finished, he posted it on Scratch — an online community developed at MIT to help young kids learn the basics of coding.
It went unnoticed for 10 days. Then, Ezra’s mom says, it was highlighted in a section called “Featured Projects.”
Overnight, Ezra’s game got over 16,000 views — and more than 1000 comments. Nearly all were very positive.
A screen shot of “One Line.”
Within 2 days Ezra was asked to remake Pacman for Scratch, sell the rights for an app, make a sequel, and help design other games. He’s also been warned to copyright his project, which his mother says is a good idea.
“I don’t think any of the gamers know he’s 8 years old,” she adds. “It’s all a bit overwhelming for him.”
So Ezra did what any normal, viral-game-sensation game creator would do: He turned off the comments.
And went outside to play.
(Click here for Ezra’s game. Enjoy the comments that were posted before he turned them off!)
Wow, not a single comment on this so far?
It’s about 11:50 pm EST, July 20th, as I began drafting this, so unless my server is f’d up, or I have a virus/hack, and comments aren’t showing up here for me, (which is entirely possible), I’m kinda surprised.
Anyway, I’m inspired by this kid and his gaming idea, and all the positive feedback comments from that gaming community!
Geez, “kids these days” …. Very VERY smart … when, of course, they’re provided the resources, encouragement, and education to express themselves.
Good stuff Dan, as always.
Thanks, Sharon. I too was surprised at the total lack of comments!
Dan – LOVE your headline on this…viral clickbait parody, I presume?
Bingo!