How to Make a Pong Game in Scratch

1. Set up the sprites

Before coding, pick out sprites and position them against the backdrop. We recommend using pre-made sprites (from the "Choose a Sprite" database in Scratch) while they're setting up the code. There’s always time to customize further later! 

1. Click "Choose a Backdrop" to find a background for the game.

2. Click "Choose a Sprite" to find the "Star" or "Ball" sprite. Set its x and y position to 0, 0 in the sprite's properties.

3. Click "Choose a Sprite" and add the "Paddle" sprite to the project.

4. Set the paddle's Direction to 0, and its x, y position to -216, 0.

5. Right-click and Duplicate the paddle. Set the copy's x, y position to 216, 0.

2. Code the Pong ball

First, you'll code the pong ball to bounce across the screen.

1. Add when clicked to the Star (or Ball) sprite's code area.

2. Attach a go to x, y block set to 0, 0 and a point in direction block set to 45.

3. Attach a forever ↺ block to the code.

4. Inside the block, add move with 20 steps, turn ↻ with 1 degree, and an if on edge, bounce block.

3. Sense the paddle

Sensors are blocks of code that can track the player's movements or sense when one sprite is touching another sprite. In this case, the paddle will act as a sensor. 

Read More: How to make a Snake game in Scratch

Right now, the ball will pass through the paddle instead of bouncing off of it. To hit the ball, it'll have to sense when it's touching the paddle.

1. Add another when the flag button is clicked to block the code area.

2. Attach a forever ↺  block. Inside of that, add the  if <> then block. 

3. Add if/then variables.

Kids will need to add some “if/then” blocks to complete this feature. As an example, imagine you're eating a pizza. If you take a slice from the pizza, then the number of slices will go down by 1. Coding it would look like: [ if < slice is taken > then [ change pizza slices by -1 ] ].

The if <> then  block is like a question: if this happens, then this will happen because of that. In this code, the question will always be asked, because it's in a forever ↺  loop. The code will ask: "Is the ball touching the paddle?" over and over. When the ball does touch the paddle, then it will bounce off the paddle.

4. In the Sensing panel, drag  <touching mouse-pointer>  into the  if  statement's bracket.

5. Click the sensor's dropdown to select Paddle.

6. Inside the statement, add  turn ↻ set to 180 degrees,  move set to 15 steps, and a wait  block with 0.5 seconds.

7. Right-click and Duplicate the code. Change the copy's <touching Paddle?> to Paddle2.

4. Code the Paddles

There are two paddles—the first one, on the left side of the game screen, will be controlled by the player.

1. Select the player's Paddle sprite and add when the flag button is clicked in the code area.

2. Attach a forever ↺  block, and within that add the set y to block from the Motion panel.

3. In the Sensing panel, drag a (mouse y)  bubble into the set y variable. The (mouse y) sensor tracks the player's mouse movements across the y axis (up and down). This code will make it so the paddle always follows the player's mouse.

Enemy paddle setup

The second paddle, positioned on the right side of the game screen, will be the "enemy." This paddle will move on its own.

1. Select the Paddle2 sprite and add when the flag button is clicked to its code area.

2. Attach a set color effect block with a value of 125 to turn the paddle red.

3. Below, attach set y to 0 and a forever ↺ block.

4. Inside, add “move”  set to 15 steps and  if on edge, bounce .

If kids test the game now, they should be able to knock the pong ball back and forth between the paddles! See how the player's paddle follows the mouse? That's because there’s a sensor to track the mouse movements! Pretty cool, right?

Next, they’ll add a variable to keep track of which side has scored the most points.

5. Make Goal Lines

These "Line" sprites will sense when the ball touches the goal.

1. Click "Choose a Sprite" and add the "Line" sprite to the project.

2. Set the sprite's Direction to 0 and x, y position to -236, 0.

3. Right-click and Duplicate the sprite. Set the copy's x, y position to 236, 0.

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6. Create Variables

A variable is a folder that stores data in your game, such as the player's score. Variables can be changed—like increasing the player's score when they touch the goal line.

Make sure each variable is checked on. This will make them visible in the game.

1. In the Variables panel, click "Make a Variable."

2. Create a variable named "score" and another named "enemy." 

7. Tally the Scores

Select the Line sprite and add when the flag is clicked to its code area.

1. Attach set enemy to 0 and a forever ↺ block to the code.

2. Inside, add an if <> then block with the <touching Ball?> sensor.

3. Inside the if <> then statement, add a change enemy by 1 block.

4. Copy the code onto Line2 and change the enemy variables to "score."