K–6TechNest
Retro Gaming
Classic games and history
Faye
Juniper JackBefore you start
- Age band
- K–6
- Time
- 20–40 minutes
- Quest type
- Hanging Out
- Guardian
- Hob · San Juan
- Materials needed
- Retro Gaming History Book — "Console Wars" or "The Ultimate History of Video Games"
- USB Retro Gamepad Controller
- Pixel Art Graph Paper Notebook
Why this skill rocks
Playing retro games is like time travel! You get to explore the super fun beginnings of video games and see how they've changed.
2034Where this could take you
By 2034, you'll be a gaming history expert, maybe even designing the next big Olympic-themed game, knowing exactly where it all began!
What You'll Need
Optional materials for this quest.
Retro Gaming History Book — "Console Wars" or "The Ultimate History of Video Games"
RequiredA deep-dive read on how the game industry grew from Atari to PlayStation. Full of design stories, business battles, and technical breakthroughs that will change how you look at old games.
USB Retro Gamepad Controller
RequiredA classic NES or SNES-style USB controller makes playing retro games on your computer feel exactly right — and you can use it with emulators and your own Scratch/PICO-8 games too.
Pixel Art Graph Paper Notebook
Sketch sprite ideas, level layouts, and character designs on paper before building them digitally. Old-school game devs did this constantly — it is faster than a screen for brainstorming.