Learn to code by making games.
Irenaverse is a friendly place to write real code and watch it come alive as a game — with a coding buddy named Ren who helps you learn, not one that does it for you.
Seven days free, no card · NZ$5/month for the whole family after. Have an account or invite? Sign in →
Real code, not blocks
Irene is a gentle Python-like language. The skills carry straight over to the real thing — no walls when they graduate.
A buddy, not a cheat
Ren (right side of the editor) gives hints, asks questions, walks them through plans — never just hands over the answer.
Make actual games
Sprites, keys, sound, score. Every lesson ends with something playable; the gallery below is what the templates look like.
Show your friends
Publish a snapshot and send a play link to a friend in your circle. They can play it, leave a (safety-checked) comment, or remix it into their own account.
See it in action
Real Irene code on the left, your game on the right. Go on — change a number and watch.
What you can build
Once the lessons click, the editor ships with a shelf of starter games to remix. Open one, change anything, see it run. Here's the shelf:
Arrow keys · Score
Catch the coins
Slide the dog to catch falling coins. The first game most kids finish.
Arrow keys · Eat gems
Snake
Steer the snake, eat the gems, grow longer, don't bite your own tail.
Arrow keys · Dodge
Asteroid field
Tilt the rocket to weave past stars hurtling out of the dark.
Space · Fly
Flappy parrot
Tap to flap, glide through cactus gaps. The all-time classic.
Arrows + Up · Platform
Jump and run
A platformer with running, jumping, and coins to grab on the way up.
Choose your own adventure
A branching tale with scenes, choices, and three different endings.
Many more on the shelf — pong, dodge, whack-a-mole, scroller, space shooter, Donkey Kong, Mario, more. Every one is a real game your kid can open, read, and rewrite.
Make it yours
The art and sound aren't fixed. Draw your own characters — go on, repaint the dragon below — then score the whole thing with music.
Tools
Colours
In your game
Every pixel you change shows up here — exactly how
sprite("dragon")
would draw it.
This is the real thing — the full Studio adds frame-by-frame animations, your own colours, and a describe-it-and-Ren-draws-it generate button. This dragon started as "a tiny red dragon".
Draw your own sprites
A built-in pixel studio: paint a character, give it a walk cycle frame by frame, and drop it into your game by name — right alongside the bundled art. Your hero can be one you drew.
Score it with music
One line — play_music("forest") —
loops a chiptune soundtrack under your game, with dozens of tunes to pick from. Swap it on a scene change for a boss fight.
The coding buddy who reads the room.
Ren lives in the chat next to your game. Ask anything — about your code, an error you don't understand, or what to try next. Hints first; code only when you ask. No modes to pick — just say what you want.
- Say "walk me through it" — Ren breaks your goal ("add an enemy", "make it harder") into 3-5 steps you can do one at a time, checking your code between each.
- Say "show me" — Ren gives you the line — one or two, with a sentence on what they do and where they go. Never a whole file.
- Say "just ask me" — Ren only asks questions. You write every line. Good for the second or third time around an idea.
Or just ask normally — Ren reads the conversation and adapts. Pressed for the answer twice in a row? She'll get more concrete. Reasoning out loud ("I think it's because…")? She'll echo it back so you can test the guess yourself.
Ren
Real Ren reads the kid's actual code at each step and checks it works before moving on.
Ready to build your first game?
Seven days free, no card needed. Your kid could have a running game before dinner.