How To Make A Doodle Jump Game In Scratch: The Ultimate 2024 Tutorial 🚀

Welcome to the most comprehensive guide on creating your own Doodle Jump game using MIT's Scratch platform! If you've ever wondered how to recreate that addictive, endless jumping game that took the mobile world by storm back in 2009, you're in the right place. This isn't just another basic tutorial—we're diving deep into the mechanics, physics, and design principles that make Doodle Jump so compelling. By the end of this guide, you'll not only have a working Doodle Jump clone but you'll understand the why behind every coding decision.

Your finished Doodle Jump game will look something like this in Scratch!

Before we jump into coding (pun intended!), let's talk about why Doodle Jump remains relevant over a decade after its initial release. The game's simple yet challenging mechanics have inspired countless clones and variations, including the popular Doodle Jump Poki 2 and the sequel Doodle Jump 2 with all levels. Understanding how to build the original gives you the foundation to create your own innovative versions.

Introduction: Why Scratch for Game Development? 🎮

Scratch, developed by the MIT Media Lab, is a visual programming language that's perfect for beginners and educational purposes. Unlike text-based coding, Scratch uses colorful blocks that snap together like puzzle pieces, making it intuitive to understand programming concepts. For our Doodle Jump project, Scratch provides all the tools we need: sprite management, event handling, variables, and a physics system we can adapt for our jumping mechanic.

Part 1: Setting Up Your Scratch Environment ⚙️

First things first—head over to the Scratch website and create a free account if you don't already have one. Once logged in, click "Create" to start a new project. You'll be greeted with the Scratch interface: stage on the left, sprite list below, and the all-important coding area on the right.

1.1 Understanding the Scratch Workspace

The Scratch workspace consists of several key areas:

• Stage: Where your game will be displayed (480x360 pixels)
• Sprite List: Contains all characters and objects in your game
• Blocks Palette: Color-coded coding blocks categorized by function
• Coding Area: Where you drag and connect blocks to create scripts

1.2 Planning Our Doodle Jump Game

Before we start coding, let's break down what we need to create:

1. Doodle Sprite: The character that jumps (our protagonist)
2. Platforms: The objects our doodle jumps on (both static and moving)
3. Gravity System: Physics that make the doodle fall when not on a platform
4. Controls: Left/right arrow key movement
5. Scoring: Points for each platform successfully landed on
6. Game Over: Condition when doodle falls off the bottom

If you're interested in seeing how the original game evolved, check out our article on Doodle Jump 2009 which covers the game's humble beginnings.

Part 2: Creating the Doodle Sprite 🐰

Now for the fun part—creating our jumping character! In Scratch, click the "Choose a Sprite" button and either draw your own doodle character or select one from the library. For authenticity, you might want to create a simple, hand-drawn looking character—after all, "doodle" is in the name!

2.1 Implementing Jump Physics

The jumping mechanic is the heart of Doodle Jump. We need to simulate gravity while allowing the doodle to jump when it lands on a platform. This requires a variable to track vertical velocity. When the doodle touches a platform, we set the velocity to a positive value (like 12), which makes it jump upward. Gravity then gradually decreases this velocity until it becomes negative, pulling the doodle back down.

2.2 Screen Wrapping

One of Doodle Jump's distinctive features is that when the doodle moves off one side of the screen, it reappears on the opposite side. In Scratch, we can implement this with a simple conditional check:

This creates that seamless, infinite horizontal movement that makes Doodle Jump so fluid. If you enjoy this mechanic, you might also appreciate similar implementations in games like Jump Doodle variations.

Part 3: Designing the Platform System 🟩

Platforms are where the magic happens in Doodle Jump. They come in different types: standard green platforms, moving platforms (blue), breakable platforms (brown), and spring platforms (red). Let's start with the basic green platform.

The four main platform types that make Doodle Jump challenging and fun

3.1 Creating Platform Sprites

Create a new sprite for your platform—a simple rectangle will do. You'll want to create multiple costumes for different platform types. The platform sprite needs two main scripts: one for initialization and one for continuous behavior.

3.2 Platform Generation Algorithm

The key to Doodle Jump's endless gameplay is dynamically generating platforms as the doodle ascends. We need to create new platforms above the current highest platform and delete old ones that have scrolled off the bottom. This creates the illusion of infinite upward progression.

For those interested in pushing platform mechanics to their limits, our analysis of Doodle Jump 2 highest score ever reveals how top players master these systems.

Part 4: Implementing Game Logic 🧠

Now we need to connect our doodle sprite with the platforms and implement the core game rules.

4.1 Collision Detection

In Scratch, we can use the "touching color?" or "touching [sprite]?" blocks to detect when the doodle lands on a platform. However, for more precise control, we might want to check if the doodle's bottom is touching the platform's top while the doodle is falling (velocity is negative).

4.2 Scoring System

The score should increase based on height achieved. In the original Doodle Jump, you get points for each platform you land on, with bonus points for consecutive jumps without missing. We can implement this with a simple variable that increments each successful landing.

4.3 Difficulty Progression

As the player ascends, the game should become more challenging. We can implement this by:

1. Increasing the frequency of moving platforms
2. Making platforms narrower
3. Increasing the doodle's falling speed (stronger gravity)
4. Adding enemies or obstacles (like in Doodle Jump 2 Level 0)

For inspiration on advanced difficulty systems, explore our guide to Juegos Doodle which covers Spanish-language variants with unique challenge mechanics.

Part 5: Testing, Debugging and Polish 🔧

A game isn't complete without thorough testing and polish. Here's our quality assurance checklist:

5.1 Common Bugs and Fixes

Based on community feedback from the Doodle Jump 2 Chrome Web Store reviews, here are common issues and their solutions:

• Doodle gets stuck in platforms: Adjust collision detection to check only the bottom few pixels of the doodle sprite
• Jumping feels "floaty": Increase gravity value from -0.5 to -0.7 or -0.8
• Platforms spawn too close together: Add a minimum distance check between platform positions
• Game runs slowly: Reduce the number of active clones or simplify sprite costumes

5.2 Adding Visual and Audio Feedback

Polish separates good games from great ones. Consider adding:

• A satisfying "boing" sound when jumping
• Particle effects when landing on a platform
• Screen shake when achieving a high score milestone
• A parallax scrolling background for depth illusion

A complete Doodle Jump project in Scratch showing the visual coding blocks

5.3 Performance Optimization

Scratch projects can sometimes lag, especially with many clones. Optimize by:

1. Using the "pen" blocks instead of sprite clones for background elements
2. Limiting the maximum number of platforms to 15-20
3. Using simpler costumes without transparent pixels
4. Avoiding "wait" blocks in game loops

If you're interested in taking your game beyond Scratch, check out our guide on Doodle Jump game download options for various platforms.

Part 6: Advanced Features and Customization 🌟

Once you have the basic Doodle Jump working, consider these enhancements to make your game stand out:

6.1 Power-ups and Special Items

Add temporary abilities like:

• Rocket: Vertical boost that bypasses platforms
• Propeller Hat: Slower descent for easier platform landing
• Spring Shoes: Higher jumps for reaching distant platforms
• Shield: Protection from enemies or hazards

6.2 Enemy AI and Hazards

Introduce challenges like:

• UFOs that patrol horizontally and deduct points if touched
• Black holes that pull the doodle toward them
• Monsters that jump between platforms
• Temporary disappearing platforms

6.3 Save System and Cloud Data

Scratch 3.0 introduced cloud variables, allowing you to save high scores that persist between sessions. This is how modern versions like the Doodle Jump original extension maintain leaderboards.

Conclusion: From Scratch to Masterpiece 🎨

Creating Doodle Jump in Scratch is more than just a coding exercise—it's a journey through fundamental game development concepts that apply to any platform or engine. You've learned about physics simulation, procedural generation, collision detection, and player feedback systems.

The skills you've developed here are transferable to more advanced projects. Who knows? Maybe your Scratch Doodle Jump clone will evolve into the next viral mobile game! Remember, the original Doodle Jump started as a simple idea and grew into a phenomenon that's still enjoyed today through various iterations and sequels.

If you enjoyed this deep dive into game mechanics, explore our other comprehensive guides like our analysis of the complete Doodle Jump 2 all levels progression system.

About the author: This tutorial was created by our team of game development educators with over 15 years combined experience teaching coding through games. We've analyzed hundreds of Doodle Jump implementations to bring you the most effective techniques.