What is Game Maker?
I find Game Maker an excellent tool for introducing Computing Science concepts. It is a 2D Game Design Engine that allows students to push themselves as far as they want to go in gaming. While I use it primarily in my introductory course, it uses an Object Oriented Programming approach so I find it to be a great introduction to higher level programming concepts. It has a drag and drop interface but also integrates a traditional programming language called GML. While I do not go greatly into GML with my grade 10 students, other teachers use it more extensively with great success.
Recently Game Maker (yoyogames.com) changed their software distribution model but the free version is still available. For years I worked only with the free version but recently upgraded to the Pro version. The pro version gives you a bit better control of the graphics but otherwise the free version is perfectly suitable. Their newer versions are named Game Maker Studio and they do have the ability to export to smart phones should you be able to pay for those modules. If you use the Studio version, you will need to IMPORT my example files. They will not open naturally but once imported, everything will work fine.
Note: I teach Game Maker differently every year because I prefer to flow with student ability and interest. In a semestered course, I do a week of Game Maker about once every four to six weeks. During these weeks, I now tend to give my students more challenges rather than formal assignments. Then at the end of the course, they get 10-12 classes to work on a single large scale game project which does have very formal guidelines. I give the Alberta Education CSE Project A credit for all the work they did in Game Maker throughout the semester.
For Complete Computer Science Lesson Plans that integrates Game Maker into a bigger program: Go to the Lesson Plans Tab... Computer Science 10
For Game Maker Only Lesson Plans: Go to Game Maker Lesson Progression - This is a set of lessons that have been pulled out of one of my past CS10 Lesson Plan documents. You could consider it one of many ways to progress through instruction.
For Example files: Go to DropBox. Includes teaching examples and completed student projects.
Most of my assignments are here but, keep in mind, I do not assign them as formally as I used to.
Game Maker Tips Files for Students
GM Tips - Slow Down Your Bullets
GM Tips - Gravity and Platform
Other Resources
The documentary movie Indie Game is a great resource that I show towards the end of my course. There is a fantastic 10 minute section where they discuss Level Design concepts at about the 30 minute mark of the movie. I am sure to show this clip earlier.
Game Maker for Beginners - Warning: This is NOT for beginners. It is an introduction to GML which is the built in programming language. However, you should NOT start with GML. This would be used for students who have a strong basis in the regular drag and drop version first.