Learn to Code with Eat Yummy Taco – A Fun Scratch Game for Kids

Get ready to dive into a deliciously engaging game that will tickle your taste buds and test your reflexes — all while learning how to code! “Eat Yummy Taco” is a beginner-friendly and fun Scratch game for kids developed by Kodex Academy that turns learning into an exciting adventure. Whether you’re a young coder just starting out or a teacher looking for an interactive classroom project, this game is packed with creativity, color, and coding challenges.

Let’s take a deep dive into how the game works, what you’ll learn while building this Scratch game, and why this project is the perfect way to start your Scratch journey!

Game Overview: What Is “Eat Yummy Taco”?

In Scratch game Eat Yummy Taco, you control a character named Nano who must eat flying tacos (YUM!) while avoiding ducklings that reduce your score. Each time Nano catches a taco, you score a point. But beware — if you hit a duck, you lose a point! Add in some cheerful sound effects, random sprite movement, and smooth game-play mechanics, and you’ve got a super-fun game that’s also a teaching tool.

“Eat Yummy Taco” isn’t just a game — it’s a step-by-step, interactive guide that teaches foundational Scratch skills. As you build this game, you’ll learn how to use Scratch in a creative and practical way.

Let’s break down the main lessons you’ll gain from this engaging project:

Basic Game Design with Scratch

Objective:

Create a fun, interactive game where Nano throws tacos to Giga, avoids a mischievous duck, and scores points until the player wins.

Step-by-Step Design Process for this Game

You start by deleting the default sprite and choosing four important sprites from the Scratch library:

• Nano – The player who throws the tacos
• Giga – The friend who receives the tacos
• Duck – The tricky obstacle
• Taco – The moving object Nano throws

Then, select your backdrop — a schoolyard scene — and duplicate it to create a “You Win” screen that shows when the player scores 5 points. Add a “You Win” message to the second backdrop using Scratch’s backdrop editor.

Customization Tips

Resize your sprites for visual balance:

• Duck: 50%
• Giga: 60%
• Nano: 80%
• Taco: 50%

Set your default backdrop at the beginning of the game using:

when green flag clicked
switch backdrop to [School v]

Key Game Design Concepts Learned

1. Setting up a game environment
2. Planning character roles and goals
3. Visual design through sprite sizing and backdrop creation
4. Ending the game with a win condition

How to Use Sprites, Sounds, and Motion

Sprites are the core components of this game. Each sprite has specific behaviors and interactions that bring your game to life.

A. Nano – Player Control

Nano can be moved up and down using the arrow keys:

when green flag clicked
go to x: -150 y: 0
forever
  if key (up arrow v) pressed
    change y by (10)
  if key (down arrow v) pressed
    change y by (-10)

Nano also displays a helpful message at the start:

when green flag clicked
say [Use up and down arrow to move Nano and space bar for tacos] for 5 seconds

B. Taco – Action Sprite

Taco is the interactive object Nano throws at Giga or accidentally at the duck. It’s programmed to show up at Nano’s position, move forward, and hide once it hits the edge.

Taco throw mechanics (code):

when [space v] key pressed
go to [Nano v]
show
repeat until <touching [edge v]>
  move (10) steps
end
hide

C. Giga & Duck– Moving Targets

Both Giga and Duckling move randomly across the screen to make hitting targets a fun challenge. Their movement is created using glide and random coordinates:

when green flag clicked
forever
  glide (1) secs to x: (pick random -140 to 140) y: (pick random -100 to 100)

D. Adding Sounds

To make the game more immersive:

• Background music plays throughout:

when green flag clicked
forever
  play sound [Chill v] until done

• Giga says “Yummy!” and plays a pop sound when hit:

if <touching [Taco v]> then
  play sound [pop v]
  say [Yummy!] for 1 sec
end

• Duck says “Ouch!” and makes a quacking sound:

if <touching [Taco v]> then
  play sound [duck v]
  say [Ouch!] for 1 sec
end

Simple Coding Logic for Interactive Game-play

This game project introduces kids to interactive game logic, including conditions, variables, and loops that power a real game engine.

A. Create and Use a Score Variable

You track the player’s success with a point variable:

when green flag clicked
set [point v] to [0]

B. Collision-Based Scoring

In your taco sprite, you create logic that checks for collisions with other sprites to determine what happens:

forever
  if <touching [Giga v]> then
    change [point v] by (1)
    wait (1) sec
  end
  if <touching [Duck v]> then
    change [point v] by (-1)
    wait (1) sec
  end

C. Win Condition with Backdrop Switch

When your score reaches 5, the backdrop changes to display the “You Win” message and the game stops:

forever
  if <(point) = (5)> then
    switch backdrop to [You Win v]
    stop [all v]
  end

This is a major milestone in the game and teaches conditional logic in a meaningful way.

D. Repeat Until Logic

You use control blocks like repeat until to run a loop as long as the taco hasn’t hit the edge:

repeat until <touching [edge v]>
  move (10) steps
end

This teaches students how game engines work — repeating actions until a condition is met.

Bonus Learning Points

While building “Eat Yummy Taco,” you’ll also learn:

Concept	Scratch Block Example
Events	when green flag clicked, when space key pressed
Loops	forever, repeat until
Conditions	if, if then with touching blocks
Variables	set, change, and check point
Motion	move, go to, glide to random position
Looks	say, switch backdrop to, show, hide
Sound	play sound until done for interaction and feedback
Sensing	touching [sprite] to detect collisions

This Scratch game tutorial is perfect for:

• 🧒 Kids just starting out with coding
• 🧑‍🏫 Teachers building STEM lesson plans
• 👨‍👩‍👧 Parents wanting a guided project for their kids
• 🕹️ New coders who love games

Final Thoughts

“Eat Yummy Taco” isn’t just about tacos — it’s a full learning journey wrapped in fun. As you build it from scratch (pun intended!), you’ll explore real programming logic in a visual, friendly format. Every feature — from moving sprites to scoring logic to win conditions — helps you level up your coding skills.

By the end, you won’t just have a game; you’ll have coded your first game engine — and that’s a big win 🎉.

So go ahead, fire up Scratch, open your imagination, and start chomping your way to code mastery with Kodex Academy!