When my kid started taking Python classes circa 9th and 10th grade, I asked him to do some scripting tasks for my side business that ordinarily I could and would polish off myself. For example, something as simple as doing a website screen scrape to grab a notification, or to send out an email list, except to send it one user at a time, varying the time schedule, so that email programs wouldn’t sniff it out as spam. That got him to understand how programming works in real life rather than just doing school projects.
My son got really into minecraft redstone. He built a working arithmetic logic unit which was truly impressive to both his parents (working computer scientists) totally by watching youtube videos and the like. I don’t know if redstone is still “a thing” (this was about 6 years ago) but it might be something for him to look into it. Apparently there is (or was) a very active collaborative community.
He’s 11. If he’s interested, he’s very self guided… if not, well it can be ugly. He used to play alot of minecraft, though I have to admit I have no idea what he was actually doing on it. I’ll have to ask him if he’s heard of redstone.
I mostly agree, but there are some big exceptions.
Information Science as a major is usually not necessarily technically-oriented or may be minimally technically-oriented. A major like Informatics is very technically oriented. By “technically-oriented” I am going by the industry/academic standard of being programming and/or math/quant heavy.
Game DESIGN is not necessarily technical, but it can be. When you see the word “Design” being used in the context of technology (Game Design, UI/UX Design, etc.), it is an indicator of something not necessarily being programming/math oriented. Many schools have CS electives that focus on Game Development.
S19 started his college search with gaming in mind. He took a few summer camps and you are smart to look for them now. The ones around here have registrations that open next semester. The camps at the local college fill very quickly so be aware of registration opening dates and times.
There are colleges with CS degrees that have different focuses. S19 found some schools with actual game degrees and some with CS degrees with classes in game design. He found them by checking the course catalogs to see what type and how many classes are offered.
There are also schools with more co-op expectations or a design vs coding option for gaming. S19 has since shifted his focus to AI. CS is a very competitive program so that’s great if your son is looking now and motivated to see what he needs to get in.
George Mason University In Fairfax, VA . Has a summer camp run by MGTA ( Mason Game and Technology Academy) it was run by Envision at the university. Offers day camps and a residential option in the dorms. My daughter’s did these camps and loved them and got to experience living on campus before going to college. They have a middle school option and high school option. (Or used too… it’s been a couple of years) Curently my middle daughter is seeking a BFA degree in Game Design whichnis in the AVT ( Arts and Visual Technology college) . Gaming can include apps and simulation. The school recently received a grant from Homeland Security to design a game for them to use for training employees. Mason also has a cyber security degree.
Hey there OP! I work in game design. (Full disclosure, I actually work on Minecraft.)
Minecraft redstone is still very much a thing 
The YouTube community and other pockets are alive and thriving, and there are lots of videos and how-tos out there about how to build redstone contraptions and stuff. But using redstone in and of itself doesn’t necessarily involve coding; using command blocks and making mods in Minecraft do (mods are most often written in Java for the PC version of Minecraft, but there are ways to make add-ons for the console versions as well, which are written in C#). So getting into trying to make mods and tinker with Minecraft is one way to explore coding and game design for fun. There are big collaborative projects that some collectives online do, although of course with young kids you always have to be careful.
I work in game design - not as a software developer, but I work with lots of software developers. I agree with the general advice that if a kid is interested in coding and wants to work in game design, a regular CS major is probably better than a specialized game design major. Basic coding/programming is used anywhere - the same languages are used to code games and productivity apps - but a CS major usually has more of the theoretical background necessary to compete for CS/developer jobs. (That said, I do know lots of software developers here in games with specialized game design degrees. And with enough supplemental classwork, a game design major could have the same background as a CS major.)
I also agree with the advice that games is an intensely connections-driven industry. It’s pretty small, and everyone knows everyone (exaggeration, but you get the idea). People often bounce around between studios and breaking in can be difficult. I get that this is just to foster an interest in a kid who as of yet is showing motivation below his potential but if he is or becomes seriously interested in working in games, I’d suggest intensely pursuing an internship in college. (There are also a few HS internships out there.)
Game coding and design is not usually part of the regular CS curriculum per se, although students do learn the skills necessary to write code for games. Some schools have elective courses in game design, if they either have professors on faculty who can teach those classes or if they are close enough to a games epicenter where they can get adjuncts from the industry.
Information science is literally about the technological management of information, and is often concerned with the interaction between humans, computers, and information. It builds on computer science and psychology, usually with elements from other fields (cognitive science, linguistics, business, mathematics, etc.) built in depending on the program. I don’t think most information science majors learn strong programming as a matter of course. Most probably couldn’t become software developers or game developers without significant additional coursework. But there are roles in the tech industry and beyond. Some of them go into my field, user experience research (it’s a really common major for the field; we had an infosci major on my team who’s moved to another company.) Others might become information architects or IT administrators or systems analysts. With enough programming and math/statistics, an information science major could theoretically go into data science as well (but again they wouldn’t get that as a matter of course; they’d have to seek it out).
Computer & information science majors are usually a blend of computer science and information science/systems majors. The student will get some basic CS principles (usually programming, data structures, algorithms, etc.) and some basic information science and business management principles.
However, some colleges’ regular computer science majors are called “computer and information sciences.” So what I’d suggest you do, when you’re ready, is get the course catalog for a well-respected department’s computer science major and then compare the catalogs for the other schools he’s looking at. If the classes are purely computer science concepts then it’s probably a school with a fancy name for their CS major. If the classes seem a blend of CS and business/management and infosci stuff, it’s probably a regular CIS major.
Unreal Engine is a game design engine that game designers use to build games. Many commercial, big-budget games use Unreal - games like Tekken 7, Gears of War 4, Street Fighter V, Fortnite (who’s developer, Epic, owns Unreal Engine 4), State of Decay 2 and Octopath Traveler. If you’re not into games…trust me, these are some of the biggest games releases in the past few years There are online classes (Udemy has one, for example) and coding camps that teach working in Unreal Engine. I think you need to learn C++ to code in it, which is a pretty good language to have under your belt for game design. Not being a developer, I know little about working with it, but Epic has tutorials and documentation for Unreal.
@juillet You. Are. Awesome. ^:)^
I had S read your post & he understood most of it. He’s going to check out redstone and we also found him an online class that teaches Java & I think they also have one for C++. That part of your post about Unreal & Epic made his voice go up about 3 octaves, so HE definitely knew what you were talking about even if I didn’t. LOL
Thank you SO MUCH!!
LOL! Happy to help! If you or he has any more specific questions feel free to PM me. Love talking to kids interested in game design; it’s a fun field!
Kano has some toys out that teach coding. One of them is a “Harry Potter” wand that can be programmed. It comes with instructions to teach the kid, but the coding possibilities go beyond the included instructions. There are other toys as well.
Block programming is a good place to start. DD started with MIT App Inventor a few years ago.