Itsy Bitsy Exercises

From 2020 to 2025 I taught a class in narrative design using Bitsy, a simple game-making tool by adam le doux. The objective of the class was to learn how to tell interactive stories with a simple set of tools: spatial movement, simple interactions, concise dialogue, pixel art, color design, and screen composition. Bitsy is both (A) relatively approachable for non-programmers, and (B) actively resistant to systems-based design, making it perfect.

You'll find the actual Bitsy files in the Downloads section below, but you won't get much out of them without reading their descriptions. Check the Development Log for full notes and descriptions for each exercise (note that they're listed in reverse chronological order).

Overview

These are all files that can be imported into the Bitsy editor using the "load game" function. Each exercise has a goal, and I've tried to provide the basic scaffolding for it in the file. (For example, a Bitsy file might come with sprites representing characters, and the exercise might be to give those characters dialogue by editing the sprites.)

None of that scaffolding needs to exist in the finished project. The guiding principal is: Anything can be changed in service of an interesting idea.

Most of these exercises were run in class: We would start with a lecture, then I would give students about fifteen minutes to work on the exercise, and finally they would upload their finished creations to D2L for a class show-and-tell.

Some of these will be larger projects or smaller examples.

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