The Making Games in Collaboration for Learning (MAGICAL) project, in which we’re a partner, has just released an updated version of its list of game-making environments (pdf). It contains information about nearly forty different game-building tools, classified by cost, game-type, and type of access (i.e. online or download).
One thing that struck me is the lack of online tools for game-building. Given the practicalities of gaining access and installing software on most institutional computers, this is a real barrier to game-building in the classroom.
Great thinking on your part. There is a great tool that works completely on line and you can see it at http://touchdevelop.com . This tool can work on most platforms and will generate code that can be submitted to the Microsoft Windows Store for Windows 8.
Microsoft Research produces this tool for a number of research reasons, one of which is to get students and hobbyists excited about technology. This tool is completely free and fairly easy to use, it does take a little getting used to since it is designed to work on iPads, Android Phones, Windows 7 Phones, Windows 8 Phones, Windows 8, Windows 8 Surface, Vista, Windows 7, which as you can see is quite a few devices. No downloads required.
Thanks for this, Sam. Definately one to play with 🙂