Pixel Game Lab is a creative platform where kids draw characters, create animations, build levels, write stories, package games, publish them, share pixel art, and play games made by others.
Pixel Game Lab is a proprietary game design toolset owned by Game Design Academy® and used in selected elementary school programs in the United States. It was first built for our students and used inside our real game design curriculum. Now, we are making it available for everyone.
Many professional game engines are too complicated for kids when they are just starting. Pixel Game Lab makes game design easier to understand by focusing on visual creation, step-by-step tools, and playful learning. Instead of starting with code, students start with creativity:
Everything works together inside one platform, so students can go from an idea to a finished playable game.
Four tools, used in order, take your idea all the way from a first sketch to a finished, playable game.
Sketch your ideas before turning them into pixel art, front and side views you can use as references.
Create characters, tiles, decorations, animations, enemies, NPCs, powerups and more.
Build side-scroller levels with your art or the PGL Library, characters, hazards, checkpoints and function blocks.
Put it all together: choose a hero, add levels, write a story, make a cover, test it, and submit it.
When a game is ready, it can be shared and played by everyone. Creators can share their pixel art too.
Approved games are free to play for everyone in the Pixel Game Lab Games Catalog.
Share free pixel art with the community, or download free shared art into your own library.
Pixel Game Lab is not focused on coding first. It is focused on game design first. Students learn how to design characters, organize ideas, build worlds, create challenges, test gameplay, and improve their projects.
This makes it a great starting point for younger students who want to make games but are not ready for advanced programming tools yet.
Pixel Game Lab is built with kids and schools in mind.
This helps create a safer creative environment for students, families, and school communities.
Pixel Game Lab is not just a game-making app, it is a learning platform. Students learn by making real projects: they start with an idea, create assets, design levels, test their work, improve it, and publish a finished game.
This process helps students develop creativity, patience, focus, problem-solving, storytelling, and digital design skills. Because it was built for actual students and school programs, every tool is designed around how young creators learn, stay engaged, and complete projects.
Whether you are a student, parent, teacher, or school, Pixel Game Lab makes game design easier, safer, and more creative. Make games. Make worlds. Make magic.
