Our retro-gaming classic went on sale back in 2019, and we’re releasing the new edition of Code the Classics Volume I today. The biggest update is the addition of three new tutorials covering Python, Pygame Zero, and Git for version control. These new tutorials will make working with the code examples easier for beginners.

Retrogamers of certain generations will remember the days of type-in computer game listings. Nearly every computer magazine, from ANALOG Computing to The Micro User magazine, featured code listings that you’d have to type into your computer. There were books, too, like the ubiquitous Usborne books. You’d trade an hour or two of your time for an experience that was just as good as games from your local computer store.

This new edition of Code the Classics Volume I features retro arcade games written by Raspberry Pi co-founder and CEO Eben Upton, ably assisted by Andrew Gillett and Sean Tracey. Dan Malone (famous for his work with The Bitmap Brothers) created the game graphics, and long-time game audio pro Allister Brimble provided the music and sound effects. David Crookes and Liz Upton wrote the stories that take you behind the scenes of the creation of the five classic arcade games featured in this book.

You won’t have to type in these games, though. We’ve set up a GitHub repo with all the source code. However, we’ve printed abridged listings in the book to approximate the type-in experience.

The simple act of typing in a game helped to familiarise you with a programming language (such as BASIC). By making mistakes, you could start to understand what other, more intentional changes might accomplish. Some of Eben’s earliest games started off as heavily modified versions of type-in listings. In fact, one of these made a sneaky reappearance on this blog back in 2018.

In this new edition, you’ll meet these vintage-inspired games, and learn from their code in between rounds of play:

• Boing!: all it took was a couple of lines and a dot, and gamers would be queuing up to play.
• Cavern: Enduringly popular, the platform game genre is still packed with creative possibilities.
• Infinite Bunner: Play around with the benefits that a top-down perspective can lend to the classic platform genre.
• Myriapod: Some shooters confine the gameplay to a single screen while limiting the player’s movement. Restrictions can build challenge and difficulty, making for truly addictive gaming.
• Substitute Soccer: Top-down games of pinball-style soccer kicked off a sports genre that’s still going strong.

Stay tuned, because we’ve been hard at work on the second volume of Code the Classics. Volume II will feature all-new games and interviews. When it’s ready, we’ll tell you all about it here!