Project 02 - Sprite Flight
Course: 2D Beginner Game: Sprite Flight
By: Unity Technologies
Version: Unity 6.3
Course Overview
In this course, you'll build a 2D game in Unity starting from a completely blank project with no assets provided. You will create the game from start to finish.
In the game, you fly a simple triangle-shaped ship using mouse clicks or screen taps. Your goal is to stay alive for as long as possible by dodging flying obstacles while your score increases over time.
What You Will Learn
- 2D Fundamentals: Navigating the Scene view and working with 2D coordinates.
- Coding Interactions: Writing simple C# scripts for gameplay.
- Key Systems: Using the User Interface (UI), particle effects, and audio.
- Polishing: Creating a complete game loop with a start and end.
Project Roadmap
| Part | Title | Est. Time | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Set up your 2D game world | 20 mins | Create a new Unity project and set up the basic play area with walls. |
| 2 | Make a flying obstacle prefab | 20 mins | Add physics to an obstacle and turn it into a reusable prefab. |
| 3 | Random obstacle properties | 45 mins | Write a script to randomize size, direction, and speed of obstacles. |
| 4 | Steer the player | 45 mins | Create a controllable player ship that follows the mouse cursor. |
| 5 | Add a scoring system | 30 mins | Track survival time and display it using Unity's UI Toolkit. |
| 6 | Restart the game with a bang | 30 mins | Add particle explosions and a restart button for a complete game loop. |
| 7 | Optional bonus features | 60 mins | Take your project to the next level with extra polish. |
| 8 | Build and publish to web | 20 mins | Publish your game to Unity Play. |
| Review | Review activities | 80 mins | Rebuild the game from memory with retrieval drills, debugging challenges, and a feature remix pitch. |
Review Activities
After students finish the build, use the Review Activities page for an 80-minute retrieval lesson based on the systems they actually built in Sprite Flight.
The review lesson includes:
- Rapid-fire recall questions about Unity tools, prefabs, UI, and game systems
- A full game-loop diagram rebuilt from memory
- A bug-hunt relay focused on diagnosing likely mistakes
- A design challenge that reuses scoring, collisions, prefabs, particles, and UI
Best Use
Run the first half with no notes open. Students should retrieve answers from memory first, then verify and correct their thinking using the project and lesson pages.
Let's Get Started!
Click on Part 1 in the table above or use the navigation menu to begin your journey.