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Congratulations to Hanna Wyman, age 11 and Kodu Cup winner, on her meeting with President Barack Obama at the White House Science Fair! Learn more |
What is Kodu?
Kodu lets kids create games on the PC and XBox via a simple visual programming language. Kodu can be used to teach creativity, problem solving, storytelling, as well as programming. Anyone can use Kodu to make a game, young children as well as adults with no design or programming skills.
Join our community, and discover games created by others and share your game at KoduGameLab.com.
Kodu for the PC is available to download for free. Kodu for the XBox is also available in the USA on the XBox Marketplace, in the Indie Games channel for about $5.
Kodu Teaches more than Programming
- Kodu is a rich tool for narrative creation and storytelling
- Kodu demonstrates that programming is a creative medium
- Kodu helps children with critical thinking, breaking a complex goal into manageable steps, and iterate on the design process – an approach applicable to all academic subjects, business and personal relationships
- Kodu introduces the logic and problem solving of programming
- Kodu introduces conditions and sequences, which teaches cause and effect
- Students learn about cooperation, logic and creativity in addition to programming
- Read about our Kodu pilot program in Australia's public schools: Report (pdf)
Anyone Can Use Kodu
- Kodu can be taught by any teacher, no previous programming expertise required
- Ages 8 and up typically have the most success
Kodu Classroom Kit for Educators
The Kodu classroom kit is a set of lesson plans and activities for educators, after-school instructors, parents, peer mentors and administrators. The entire kit is available as a single zip file for download here or as single lesson plans available below:
Children in the classroom using Kodu
Sample game - Create 2D side-scrolling games
...or 3D racing games
...or 3D adventure/storytelling games
...all using Kodu's completely visual programming language
System Requirements
Operating Systems:
- Windows 7
- Windows Vista
- Windows XP (latest updates required)
Additional requirements:
- A graphics card that supports DirectX 9.0c and Shader Model 2.0 or higher
- .NET Framework 3.5 or higher
- XNA Framework 3.1 Redistributable
Contact Us
Introductory Videos
Installing Kodu
Editing Terrain tutorial
Intermediate/Advanced
How to Move the Camera
First Game tutorial
Timers and Scoring
Replicating characters: Creatables
Making Landscapes: Terrain tutorial
Common Pitfalls tutorial
Complex Character Behavior: Pages tutorial
In the News
Kodu Cup winner Hannah Wyman’s interview on Daily Edventuresdailyedventures.com, February 23, 2012
11 year old Kodu developer received by President Obama at White House Science Fair!The New York Times, February 7, 2012
Creative Kids Win Kodu Video Game Design CompetitionMicrosoft, June 13, 2011
Kodu Cup Winners AnnouncedMicrosoft Unlimited Potential Blog, June 13, 2011
Microsoft's Kodu Takes Kids from Game Players to Game MakersThe Bellevue Patch, April 25, 2011
Microsoft’s Kodu Cup Contest Rewards Underage Game DevelopersKotaku.com, March 16, 2011
The 8-Year-Old ProgrammerThe New York Times, September 16, 2010
Kodu Language Specification and GrammarMicrosoft Research, August 31, 2010
Kodu, Microsoft’s game creation lab for kids, comes to the PCDownload Squad, January 13, 2010
Kodu at SlateSlate, July 10, 2009
Make Your Own Xbox Games with KoduPC World, July 2, 2009
Kodu at Seed MagazineSeed, June 23, 2009
Logo on SteroidsSlate, July 10, 2009
Kodu Partners
Related Work
