The most essential way to introduce people to the wonderful world of programming and computer game development is through creative bridges that allow people to get creative without needing a complete understanding of programming.

At present, Minecraft modding is a perfect example of a bridge like this, as people are free to make small adjustments to their game and see them in action. There is a reason why courses are available to mod the game.

However, whilst modding has existed since 1984’s Jet Set Willy and there was a vibrant scene of bedroom coders before this, one of the biggest bridges between playing games and making your own took the form of the construction kit.

These were effectively commercially available mod-making tools or rudimentary game engines that someone could quickly learn and put together their own games in.

The first ever construction kit was The Arcade Machine by Broderbund Software in 1982, which allowed players to create a fairly simple arcade shooter similar to the Namco game Galaxian.

The tools were fairly simple, from being able to design and animate the various sprites, programming the patterns for the swarms, designing backgrounds and title screens, creating music and setting the rules of the game.

Most of this was fairly simple, but what made it special was that it could be done without any programming knowledge whatsoever, which led to the game becoming a bestseller by 1984.

However, the most famous example of this concept by a considerable margin was Pinball Construction Set, initially released by Bill Budge’s BudgeCo publisher in November 1982, but most famously rereleased by Electronic Arts as one of their first major successes a year later.

Described as a “software toy”, but more accurately considered to be an early game engine, it allowed for a surprising level of flexibility and scope and yet allowed children with no programming knowledge at all to create tables with ease.

Its legacy of bringing the magic of game creation to people who do not yet have the programming knowledge to do so inspired an entire genre of other construction kits based on popular games, which led to the game modding scene and to the beautiful game development world we know today.