Game assets creator and video game developer known simply as KenneyNL on Twitter took his industry knowledge and put it to good use. In partnership with the Make-a-Wish Foundation, Kenney brought to life a very original Super Mario-esque The Mandalorian platformer and, in the process, taught a young Star Wars fan some lessons in programming.
Take note EA. The force is certainly strong with this one.
Having already worked with Make-a-Wish before, Kenney was eager to return when a colleague reached out to him looking for a video game developer. Together, Kenny and his partnered child, Luc, got to work taking the hit Disney+ Star Wars show and weaving it into a cute 2D puzzle-platformer. As Kenny programmed the various in-game assets, from enemy stormtroopers to the tiny Baby Yoda that trails the player's every move, he likewise taught Luc a plentitude about programming and game design along the process.
Kenney explains to one user the project took them no longer than four hours to produce, with, as he puts it, "a bit of (boring) pre-work the day before." The finished game features a total of five varied levels, all of which were of Luc's own design, including Mando's signature spacecraft, the Razor Crest, and a boss battle with the show's main antagonist, Moff Gideon. As Kenney aptly relates in the comments of his Reddit post, "...according to Luc it wouldn't be a good Mandalorian game without Moff Gideon."
Given the plethora of legal issues and copyright infringement disputes that would no doubt arise, this little 2D Mandalorian platformer can't be released publicly, and maybe that's for the best. After all, given the hard work put in by both parties, it's only fair and fitting that Luc be the only one to keep this beautiful Star Wars experience, alongside the many lessons learned in video game development. There's enough Mandalorian to go around for all these days anyway, from his forthcoming inclusion in Seaso0n 5 of Fortnite to Google's The Mandalorian augmented reality application, not to mention three more exciting episodes remaining in this action-packed second season.
Beyond helping kids bring their imaginations to life while teaching them a thing or two about video game development, Kenney also has his own free-to-use game assets page, where a suite of sounds, models, and sprites live open for public use. If you like what you see, maybe drop a donation to help his cause. Otherwise, emulate a bit of Kenney's kind-heartedness as the holidays draw near.
This is the way!