Maze Escape IV — Scratch L1 Topic 1.23

Learnt27 min · levels, the timer, and a win screen
Basic25 min · finish the game
Challenge 1–327 min · level two, the clock, the ending
Extrabonus · the class record

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

What we are making today. Two mazes instead of one, a clock running while you play, and the best time anyone in the class has managed.

level 1

level 2 · same game, new walls

panels run left to right

Review — where we got to 5 min

The maze has walls, crystals, a locked door, a guard and three lives.

Move, check, step back — that is a wall.
A hidden sprite touches nothing — that is a door.
A wait after being caught — that is one touch costing one life.

Quick-fire

You solve your own maze. What is there to do the second time?

Reveal the answer

The same thing, faster. That is a real answer, and it is what a clock is for. Today they also get a second maze they have never seen.

Today’s Topic 3 min

A level is a costume: switch costume to [maze-2 v]
Scratch’s own clock: reset timer and (timer)
A win screen that is not the same as a game over
A best time that never resets

Learning outcome

By the end of this lesson you will be able to:

Change every wall in the game with one block.
Time a run and show the player how long they took.
Keep a record that survives from one game to the next.

Learnt — levels, the clock, the ending 27 min

1 · A level is a costume

Your maze is a sprite, and a sprite can have as many costumes as you like. So a second maze is a second costume, and changing level is one block.

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

The maze sprite has two costumes. Switching between them changes every wall in the game at once — and touching still works, because it reads whatever costume is showing.

costume maze-1

costume maze-2

panels run left to right

Click the Maze sprite, then the Costumes tab.
Right-click your maze costume and choose duplicate.
On the copy, move some walls about. Add a dead end or two.
Name them maze-1 and maze-2.

Nothing about touching [Maze v]? changes. It asks about whatever costume is showing, so every wall in the game changes at once.


when I receive [next level v]
change [level v] by (1)
switch costume to [maze-2 v]

On the maze sprite. Three blocks, and the whole game is somewhere else.

Runs here in the page. Nothing to install.

How to use this: Click the green flag, then click the stage once and use the arrow keys to move the Beetle.

Reach the star and the walls change under you. Same beetle, same code, new maze.

2 · Scratch already has a clock

You do not need a variable counting seconds. Scratch has been timing since the moment it opened, and two blocks in Sensing are all you need.

Block	Category	What it does
`reset timer`	Sensing	Puts the clock back to zero. Use it at the start of a run.
`(timer)`	Sensing	How many seconds since the last reset. A number you can say or compare.

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

Scratch has a clock of its own, running all the time. You do not build one — you reset it at the start and read it at the end.

reset at the start

read at the exit

panels run left to right

Tick the box beside (timer) in the palette and it appears on the Stage, counting up, with no code at all.

Runs here in the page. Nothing to install.

How to use this: Click the green flag, then click the stage once and use the arrow keys to move the Beetle.

The clock starts when you press the flag and stops mattering when you reach the star. Try to beat thirty seconds.

3 · A win screen

Running out of lives and finishing the game are completely different, and they should not look the same. Give the win its own backdrop, its own message, and the time.

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

Finishing both mazes is not the same as running out of maze. It deserves a screen of its own.

the win screen


when I receive [win v]
switch backdrop to [Theater v]
say (join [Menang! ] (join (timer) [ saat.]))
stop [all v]

Two joins, because a sentence with a number in the middle needs two. The clock reading is the player’s score.

Runs here in the page. Nothing to install.

How to use this: Click the green flag, then click the stage once and use the arrow keys to move the Beetle.

Finish both mazes and the game says how long it took you.

Basic — finish the game 25 min

Open your maze. This is the last thing you build in Level 1, so save it properly at the end.

Runs here in the page. Nothing to install.

How to use this: Click the green flag, then click the stage once and use the arrow keys to move the Beetle.

The finished Maze Escape: two mazes, crystals, a guard, a clock and a win screen.

Step 1 — the second maze

Duplicate your maze costume and change the copy.
Make sure your new maze can actually be finished. Walk it yourself.

Step 2 — the level

Make a variable level, set to 1 under the flag.
When the player reaches the star, broadcast next level instead of stopping.
On the maze, receive it: add one to level and switch costume.
On the player, receive it: go back to the start.

Step 3 — everything else goes home

Crystals: receive next level, go to a new spot, show.
The door: receive it, go to its new spot, show.
The guard: receive it, go back to the start of its patrol.
Play it. Finish level one and check nothing is left over.

Step 4 — the clock

Add reset timer under the player’s flag hat.
Tick the timer box in the Sensing palette so it shows.
Play. It should start at 0 every green flag.

Step 5 — the win

On the star, check the level: if it is 2, broadcast win instead of next level.
Build the win stack with the backdrop, the message and the stop.
Finish both mazes and read your time.

Step 6 — save it

Name the project and save it to your computer.
Reopen it from the file and play it once, all the way through.
This is the last project of Level 1. Keep it somewhere safe.

Level 2 starts with the crystals already collected.

They hid in level 1 and nothing showed them again. Every collectible needs a when I receive [next level v] with a show.

The game goes to level 3, 4, 5…

The star still broadcasts next level whatever the level is. It has to check level first, and broadcast win when there are no more mazes.

My time is a huge number.

reset timer is missing. The clock has been running since Scratch opened.

CHALLENGE 1 · T1.23-M1🪙 30 Adcoins8 min

A second maze

Draw a harder maze and make it the second level.

It arrives when the first one is finished, not before.
It is harder: longer, or with dead ends.
It can be finished. Prove it by finishing it.

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

Challenge 1 — a second maze that is harder than the first, and arrives when the first is finished.

level 2

Done when: you play from the start and reach the exit of level two without editing anything on the way.

CHALLENGE 2 · T1.23-M2🪙 50 Adcoins9 min

Against the clock

Put a clock on your game so a player can race themselves.

It starts at zero on every green flag.
It is visible while you play.
The time you finished in is part of the ending.

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

Challenge 2 — a clock the player can see, running from the first move to the last.

part way through

Done when: you play twice and can say which run was faster, without guessing.

Teacher note — the timer nobody has to build

Some pupils will start building a counter out of a variable and a wait (1) seconds loop. It works, it drifts, and it is a good moment: Scratch has a clock already, and knowing what the environment gives you is part of programming.

CHALLENGE 3 · T1.23-M3🪙 70 Adcoins10 min

An ending worth reaching

Finishing both mazes should look nothing like running out of lives. Give the win its own screen.

A different backdrop from the game and from the game over.
The time on screen, in a sentence.
A way to play again without pressing the flag.

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

Challenge 3 — an ending screen with the time on it, and a way to go again.

finished both mazes

Done when: you finish, read your time, and start another attempt with a click — the green flag is never pressed twice.

Teacher reveal — two endings, told apart

This is the Muffin Catcher’s ending screen again, and pupils should be told so: a backdrop for the state, a message with the number in it, a button that resets and broadcasts. The only new part is that there are now two different endings, and each one needs its own message.

EXTRA MISSION · T1.23-MX🪙 100 Adcoinsbonus

The class record

Add a best time. It is the only number in your project that does not go back to where it started.

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

Extra — a best time that survives every game, and knows when it has been beaten.

a good run, but not the best

a new record

panels run left to right

Runs here in the page. Nothing to install.

How to use this: Click the green flag, then click the stage once and use the arrow keys to move the Beetle.

Play it twice. The second run knows what the first one managed, and says so when you beat it.

best shows on screen all the time.
It only changes when somebody is faster.
A new record gets a different message.
Nothing resets it — not the flag, not the play-again button.

Done when: three people play your game one after another, and the number on screen is the fastest of the three.

Teacher notes — the first game problem


when I receive [win v]
if <<(best) = (0)> or <(timer) < (best)>> then
  set [best v] to (timer)
  say (join [Rekod baru! ] (join (timer) [ saat.]))
else
  say (join [Menang! ] (join (timer) [ saat.]))
end
stop [all v]

The first game is the trap. best starts at 0, and nobody is ever faster than 0, so without the first half of that question the record can never be set at all. Pupils who instead start best at 9999 have solved it another way, and theirs is shorter.

Going further: a best time that survives closing the project needs a cloud variable, which lives on the Scratch website and is shared by everybody who plays. That is a real class leaderboard, and it needs a shared project.

Summary 4 min

That is Level 1 finished, and the last four lessons made a whole game.

A level is a costume on the maze sprite. One block changes every wall.
Everything else has to go home with it, which is what one broadcast is for.
Scratch has a clock. reset timer starts it, (timer) reads it.
Winning and losing are different states, and they should look different.

Level: A costume on the maze sprite, plus everything else moving back to a start.
timer: Scratch’s own clock, in Sensing. Reset it, then read it.
Win screen: The ending you reach by winning. Not the same as a game over.
Best time: The record. The only number that does not reset — and the smallest, not the biggest.

Next: Quiz Show — the first project in the course that stops and waits for the player to type an answer.

Learnt27 min · levels, the timer, and a win screen
Basic25 min · finish the game
Challenge 1–327 min · level two, the clock, the ending
Extrabonus · the class record

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

What we are making today. Two mazes instead of one, a clock running while you play, and the best time anyone in the class has managed.

level 1

level 2 · same game, new walls

panels run left to right

Review — where we got to 5 min

The maze has walls, crystals, a locked door, a guard and three lives.

Move, check, step back — that is a wall.
A hidden sprite touches nothing — that is a door.
A wait after being caught — that is one touch costing one life.

Quick-fire

You solve your own maze. What is there to do the second time?

Reveal the answer

The same thing, faster. That is a real answer, and it is what a clock is for. Today they also get a second maze they have never seen.

Today’s Topic 3 min

A level is a costume: switch costume to [maze-2 v]
Scratch’s own clock: reset timer and (timer)
A win screen that is not the same as a game over
A best time that never resets

Learning outcome

By the end of this lesson you will be able to:

Change every wall in the game with one block.
Time a run and show the player how long they took.
Keep a record that survives from one game to the next.

Learnt — levels, the clock, the ending 27 min

1 · A level is a costume

Your maze is a sprite, and a sprite can have as many costumes as you like. So a second maze is a second costume, and changing level is one block.

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

The maze sprite has two costumes. Switching between them changes every wall in the game at once — and touching still works, because it reads whatever costume is showing.

costume maze-1

costume maze-2

panels run left to right

Click the Maze sprite, then the Costumes tab.
Right-click your maze costume and choose duplicate.
On the copy, move some walls about. Add a dead end or two.
Name them maze-1 and maze-2.

Nothing about touching [Maze v]? changes. It asks about whatever costume is showing, so every wall in the game changes at once.


when I receive [next level v]
change [level v] by (1)
switch costume to [maze-2 v]

On the maze sprite. Three blocks, and the whole game is somewhere else.

Runs here in the page. Nothing to install.

How to use this: Click the green flag, then click the stage once and use the arrow keys to move the Beetle.

Reach the star and the walls change under you. Same beetle, same code, new maze.

2 · Scratch already has a clock

You do not need a variable counting seconds. Scratch has been timing since the moment it opened, and two blocks in Sensing are all you need.

Block	Category	What it does
`reset timer`	Sensing	Puts the clock back to zero. Use it at the start of a run.
`(timer)`	Sensing	How many seconds since the last reset. A number you can say or compare.

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

Scratch has a clock of its own, running all the time. You do not build one — you reset it at the start and read it at the end.

reset at the start

read at the exit

panels run left to right

Tick the box beside (timer) in the palette and it appears on the Stage, counting up, with no code at all.

Runs here in the page. Nothing to install.

How to use this: Click the green flag, then click the stage once and use the arrow keys to move the Beetle.

The clock starts when you press the flag and stops mattering when you reach the star. Try to beat thirty seconds.

3 · A win screen

Running out of lives and finishing the game are completely different, and they should not look the same. Give the win its own backdrop, its own message, and the time.

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

Finishing both mazes is not the same as running out of maze. It deserves a screen of its own.

the win screen


when I receive [win v]
switch backdrop to [Theater v]
say (join [Menang! ] (join (timer) [ saat.]))
stop [all v]

Two joins, because a sentence with a number in the middle needs two. The clock reading is the player’s score.

Runs here in the page. Nothing to install.

How to use this: Click the green flag, then click the stage once and use the arrow keys to move the Beetle.

Finish both mazes and the game says how long it took you.

Basic — finish the game 25 min

Open your maze. This is the last thing you build in Level 1, so save it properly at the end.

Runs here in the page. Nothing to install.

How to use this: Click the green flag, then click the stage once and use the arrow keys to move the Beetle.

The finished Maze Escape: two mazes, crystals, a guard, a clock and a win screen.

Step 1 — the second maze

Duplicate your maze costume and change the copy.
Make sure your new maze can actually be finished. Walk it yourself.

Step 2 — the level

Make a variable level, set to 1 under the flag.
When the player reaches the star, broadcast next level instead of stopping.
On the maze, receive it: add one to level and switch costume.
On the player, receive it: go back to the start.

Step 3 — everything else goes home

Crystals: receive next level, go to a new spot, show.
The door: receive it, go to its new spot, show.
The guard: receive it, go back to the start of its patrol.
Play it. Finish level one and check nothing is left over.

Step 4 — the clock

Add reset timer under the player’s flag hat.
Tick the timer box in the Sensing palette so it shows.
Play. It should start at 0 every green flag.

Step 5 — the win

On the star, check the level: if it is 2, broadcast win instead of next level.
Build the win stack with the backdrop, the message and the stop.
Finish both mazes and read your time.

Step 6 — save it

Name the project and save it to your computer.
Reopen it from the file and play it once, all the way through.
This is the last project of Level 1. Keep it somewhere safe.

Level 2 starts with the crystals already collected.

They hid in level 1 and nothing showed them again. Every collectible needs a when I receive [next level v] with a show.

The game goes to level 3, 4, 5…

The star still broadcasts next level whatever the level is. It has to check level first, and broadcast win when there are no more mazes.

My time is a huge number.

reset timer is missing. The clock has been running since Scratch opened.

CHALLENGE 1 · T1.23-M1🪙 30 Adcoins8 min

A second maze

Draw a harder maze and make it the second level.

It arrives when the first one is finished, not before.
It is harder: longer, or with dead ends.
It can be finished. Prove it by finishing it.

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

Challenge 1 — a second maze that is harder than the first, and arrives when the first is finished.

level 2

Done when: you play from the start and reach the exit of level two without editing anything on the way.

CHALLENGE 2 · T1.23-M2🪙 50 Adcoins9 min

Against the clock

Put a clock on your game so a player can race themselves.

It starts at zero on every green flag.
It is visible while you play.
The time you finished in is part of the ending.

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

Challenge 2 — a clock the player can see, running from the first move to the last.

part way through

Done when: you play twice and can say which run was faster, without guessing.

Teacher note — the timer nobody has to build

CHALLENGE 3 · T1.23-M3🪙 70 Adcoins10 min

An ending worth reaching

Finishing both mazes should look nothing like running out of lives. Give the win its own screen.

A different backdrop from the game and from the game over.
The time on screen, in a sentence.
A way to play again without pressing the flag.

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

Challenge 3 — an ending screen with the time on it, and a way to go again.

finished both mazes

Done when: you finish, read your time, and start another attempt with a click — the green flag is never pressed twice.

Teacher reveal — two endings, told apart

EXTRA MISSION · T1.23-MX🪙 100 Adcoinsbonus

The class record

Add a best time. It is the only number in your project that does not go back to where it started.

WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE

Extra — a best time that survives every game, and knows when it has been beaten.

a good run, but not the best

a new record

panels run left to right

Runs here in the page. Nothing to install.

How to use this: Click the green flag, then click the stage once and use the arrow keys to move the Beetle.

Play it twice. The second run knows what the first one managed, and says so when you beat it.

best shows on screen all the time.
It only changes when somebody is faster.
A new record gets a different message.
Nothing resets it — not the flag, not the play-again button.

Done when: three people play your game one after another, and the number on screen is the fastest of the three.

Teacher notes — the first game problem


when I receive [win v]
if <<(best) = (0)> or <(timer) < (best)>> then
  set [best v] to (timer)
  say (join [Rekod baru! ] (join (timer) [ saat.]))
else
  say (join [Menang! ] (join (timer) [ saat.]))
end
stop [all v]

Summary 4 min

That is Level 1 finished, and the last four lessons made a whole game.

A level is a costume on the maze sprite. One block changes every wall.
Everything else has to go home with it, which is what one broadcast is for.
Scratch has a clock. reset timer starts it, (timer) reads it.
Winning and losing are different states, and they should look different.

Level: A costume on the maze sprite, plus everything else moving back to a start.
timer: Scratch’s own clock, in Sensing. Reset it, then read it.
Win screen: The ending you reach by winning. Not the same as a game over.
Best time: The record. The only number that does not reset — and the smallest, not the biggest.

Next: Quiz Show — the first project in the course that stops and waits for the player to type an answer.