Hanna Wyman and President Obama Congratulations to Hanna Wyman, age 11 and Kodu Cup winner, on her meeting with President Barack Obama at the White House Science Fair! Learn more

What is Kodu?

Kodu lets kids create games on the PC and XBox via a simple visual programming language. Kodu can be used to teach creativity, problem solving, storytelling, as well as programming. Anyone can use Kodu to make a game, young children as well as adults with no design or programming skills.

Join our community, and discover games created by others and share your game at KoduGameLab.com.

Kodu for the PC is available to download for free. Kodu for the XBox is also available in the USA on the XBox Marketplace, in the Indie Games channel for about $5.

Kodu Teaches more than Programming

  • Kodu is a rich tool for narrative creation and storytelling
  • Kodu demonstrates that programming is a creative medium
  • Kodu helps children with critical thinking, breaking a complex goal into manageable steps, and iterate on the design process – an approach applicable to all academic subjects, business and personal relationships
  • Kodu introduces the logic and problem solving of programming
  • Kodu introduces conditions and sequences, which teaches cause and effect
  • Students learn about cooperation, logic and creativity in addition to programming
  • Read about our Kodu pilot program in Australia's public schools: Report (pdf)

Anyone Can Use Kodu

  • Kodu can be taught by any teacher, no previous programming expertise required
  • Ages 8 and up typically have the most success

Kodu Classroom Kit for Educators

The Kodu classroom kit is a set of lesson plans and activities for educators, after-school instructors, parents, peer mentors and administrators. The entire kit is available as a single zip file for download here or as single lesson plans available below:

Image of kids using Kodu

Children in the classroom using Kodu

Sample game: create 2D side-scrolling games...

Sample game - Create 2D side-scrolling games

Sample game: ...or 3D racing games

...or 3D racing games

Sample game: ...or 3D adventure/storytelling games

...or 3D adventure/storytelling games

Sample game: ...all using Kodu's completely visual programming language

...all using Kodu's completely visual programming language

System Requirements

Operating Systems:

  • Windows 7
  • Windows Vista
  • Windows XP (latest updates required)

Additional requirements:

  • A graphics card that supports DirectX 9.0c and Shader Model 2.0 or higher
  • .NET Framework 3.5 or higher
  • XNA Framework 3.1 Redistributable

Contact Us


Introductory Videos

Installing Kodu video

Installing Kodu

How to edit terrain

Editing Terrain tutorial

Intermediate/Advanced

How to move the camara

How to Move the Camera

First Game tutorial

First Game tutorial

Timers and Scoring

Timers and Scoring

Replicating characters: Creatables

Replicating characters: Creatables

Making landscapes: Terrain tutorial

Making Landscapes: Terrain tutorial

Common Pitfalls tutorial

Common Pitfalls tutorial

Complex Behavior: Pages tutorial

Complex Character Behavior: Pages tutorial

 

In the News

11 year old Kodu developer received by President Obama at White House Science Fair!
The New York Times, February 7, 2012
Creative Kids Win Kodu Video Game Design Competition
Microsoft, June 13, 2011
Kodu Cup Winners Announced
Microsoft Unlimited Potential Blog, June 13, 2011
Microsoft's Kodu Takes Kids from Game Players to Game Makers
The Bellevue Patch, April 25, 2011
Microsoft’s Kodu Cup Contest Rewards Underage Game Developers
Kotaku.com, March 16, 2011
The 8-Year-Old Programmer
The New York Times, September 16, 2010
Kodu Language Specification and Grammar
Microsoft Research, August 31, 2010
Kodu, Microsoft’s game creation lab for kids, comes to the PC
Download Squad, January 13, 2010
Kodu at Slate
Slate, July 10, 2009
Make Your Own Xbox Games with Kodu
PC World, July 2, 2009
Kodu at Seed Magazine
Seed, June 23, 2009
Logo on Steroids
Slate, July 10, 2009