Visual Programming
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PyGameMaker includes Google Blockly for visual, drag-and-drop programming. Build game logic by connecting blocks instead of writing code.
- Open an object in the Object Editor
- Click the 🧩 Blockly tab (next to Event List and Code Editor)
- The Blockly workspace appears with a toolbox on the left
(The Blockly canvas itself is a web-based component and isn't captured here — see Code-Editor for what the equivalent generated Python looks like for the same event.)
Which blocks you see depends on your preset. Tools > Configure Action Blocks... (or Preferences > IDE Edition, which sets the default for new
projects) controls the block set — see the Preset Guide for
details. The tables below list every block that exists in any preset; a
given project may show fewer.
The left panel contains block categories:
- Events - Event trigger blocks
- Control - Conditionals, variables, and grouping (this project's conditional blocks are stack blocks, not classic if/else containers — see "Block Types" below)
- Movement - Motion, speed, and physics blocks
- Timing - Alarms
- Drawing - Text and shape rendering
- Score/Lives/Health - Game state blocks
- Instance - Object creation/destruction
- Room - Room navigation
- Values - Reporter blocks (position, speed, score, lives, health, mouse)
- Sound - Audio playback
- Output - Messages and custom Python code
- Game - End/restart game, highscore table
There is no separate Math, Text, or Logic category — number/text fields are typed directly into each block, and there's no generic boolean/comparison reporter block. See "Block Types" below for how conditionals work instead.
The center area where you build your program by:
- Dragging blocks from the toolbox
- Connecting blocks together
- Configuring block parameters
Drag unwanted blocks here to delete them, or press Delete key.
Hat blocks have a rounded top and start a sequence. They represent events:
┌─────────────────┐
│ When Create │
└─────────────────┘
Stack blocks have notches that connect to other blocks. Almost every block outside the Values category is a stack block — including the conditional blocks:
├─────────────────┤
│ Set Horizontal Speed [5] │
├─────────────────┤
Reporter blocks are rounded and plug into a number field on another block (e.g. into Move Direction's speed field, or Set Variable's value field). This project has 9 of them — X Position, Y Position, Horizontal Speed, Vertical Speed, Score, Lives, Health, Mouse X, Mouse Y:
( X Position ) ( Score ) ( 100 )
There's no ( speed ) or ( direction ) reporter — those aren't tracked
as single values in this engine (movement speed/direction are derived from
Horizontal Speed + Vertical Speed together), and there's no reporter for
custom variables either (read them with Test Variable's comparison instead).
Unlike Scratch-style visual languages, this project's If Condition / Test Variable blocks are stack blocks with one "then" slot, not two-sided if/else containers, and there's no hexagonal boolean reporter to plug into them — the comparison is built from fields directly on the block:
┌───────────────────────────────────┐
│ If count of [obj_coin] [==] [0] │
├───────────────────────────────────┤
│ then [actions go here] │
└───────────────────────────────────┘
To add an "otherwise" branch or run more than one action on either side, combine it with three more Control blocks:
- Else - runs its own next block only when the preceding test was false
- Start Block / End Block - bracket several actions so the preceding test (or Else) applies to the whole group, not just the next block
This is the same GM80-style flat conditional flow the structured Events/Actions panel uses (see Events and Actions) — Blockly is a drag-and-drop skin over the same underlying action list, not a separate execution model.
┌─────────────────────┐
│ When Create │
├─────────────────────┤
│ [actions go here] │
└─────────────────────┘
┌─────────────────────┐
│ When Step │
├─────────────────────┤
│ [runs every frame] │
└─────────────────────┘
There are four separate keyboard hat blocks — Key Held, Key Press, Key Release, and No Key — each with a key-name dropdown (No Key has none, since it fires whenever nothing is held):
┌─────────────────────────┐
│ When key [held: left] ▼ │
├─────────────────────────┤
│ [actions go here] │
└─────────────────────────┘
┌────────────────────────────┐
│ When colliding with [obj] ▼│
├────────────────────────────┤
│ [actions go here] │
└────────────────────────────┘
| Block | Description |
|---|---|
Set Horizontal Speed [4] |
Set X velocity |
Set Vertical Speed [-5] |
Set Y velocity |
Stop Movement |
Set both speeds to zero |
Move [direction ▼] speed [3] |
Move in one of 4 directions (or diagonals, or "stop") |
Move Free [direction] [speed] |
Move at an arbitrary angle and speed |
Set Speed [5] |
Set speed magnitude, preserving current direction |
Set Direction [90] |
Set direction angle, preserving current speed |
Move Towards x:[100] y:[200] speed:[3] |
Move toward a point |
Snap to Grid |
Align position to the grid |
Jump to Position x:[100] y:[200] |
Instant teleport |
Move Grid [direction] |
Move exactly one grid cell |
Stop if No Keys / Check Keys and Move / If On Grid
|
Grid-movement helpers |
Set Gravity |
Apply a constant downward (or any-direction) force each step |
Set Friction |
Apply speed decay each step |
Reverse Horizontal / Reverse Vertical
|
Flip X or Y direction |
Bounce |
Reverse off solid objects |
Wrap Around Room |
Wrap to the opposite edge |
Move to Contact |
Move until touching something |
There's no "Jump to Start Position" or "Jump to Random Position" block — those two actions exist only in the structured Actions panel, not in Blockly.
| Block | Description |
|---|---|
Draw Text [Hello] at x:[10] y:[10] |
Display text |
Draw Rectangle from x1,y1 to x2,y2 |
Draw a filled rectangle |
Draw Circle at x,y radius [r] |
Draw a filled circle |
Set Sprite [spr] |
Change the instance's sprite |
Set Transparency [0-1] |
Set alpha |
There's no "Draw Sprite at position" or "Set Drawing Color" block in Blockly (both exist as structured-editor-only actions). Draw Score/Draw Lives/Draw Health Bar are listed under Score/Lives/Health below, not here.
| Block | Description |
|---|---|
Set Score [100] |
Set exact score |
Add to Score [10] |
Add/subtract score |
Set Lives [3] |
Set exact lives |
Add to Lives [-1] |
Add/subtract lives |
Set Health [100] |
Set exact health |
Add to Health [-25] |
Add/subtract health |
Draw Score |
Display score text |
Draw Lives |
Display lives as repeated icons |
Draw Health Bar |
Display health as a two-colour bar |
| Block | Description |
|---|---|
Create Instance [obj] at x:[100] y:[200] |
Spawn new instance |
Destroy Instance |
Remove self |
Destroy Other |
Remove the colliding instance (in a collision event) |
Change Instance [obj] |
Transform into a different object type |
If Can Push [obj] [direction] |
Sokoban-style push check |
There's no "destroy all of type" or "create at this position" block.
| Block | Description |
|---|---|
Next Room |
Advance to next room |
Previous Room |
Go back one room |
Restart Room |
Reset current room |
Go to Room [room_name] |
Jump to specific room |
If Next Room Exists / If Previous Room Exists
|
Guard multi-room navigation |
| Block | Description |
|---|---|
Play Sound [snd] |
Play sound effect |
Play Music [music] |
Play background music (loops) |
Stop Music |
Stop music |
There's no per-sound "Stop Sound" or "Stop All Sounds" block in Blockly (only Stop Music, which stops music specifically).
| Block | Description |
|---|---|
If count of [obj] [==] [0] then... |
Compare an object's instance count; run the next block(s) when true |
If variable [var] [==] [value] then... |
Compare a custom variable; run the next block(s) when true |
Set Variable [name] to [value] |
Assign an instance or global variable |
Check Empty at x,y |
True when a position has no collision (grid movement) |
Exit Event |
Stop running the rest of this event's actions |
Else |
Runs its own next block when the preceding test was false |
Start Block / End Block
|
Group multiple actions under one test/Else |
| Block | Description |
|---|---|
Show Message [text] |
Display a popup message |
Execute Code |
Run custom Python (real Python — see Events and Actions) |
End Game |
Close the game |
Restart Game |
Restart from the first room |
Show Highscore / Clear Highscore
|
Display or reset the highscore table |
Reporter blocks — plug these into a number field on another block:
| Block | Description |
|---|---|
X Position |
This instance's X coordinate |
Y Position |
This instance's Y coordinate |
Horizontal Speed |
This instance's X velocity |
Vertical Speed |
This instance's Y velocity |
Score |
Current score |
Lives |
Current lives |
Health |
Current health |
Mouse X / Mouse Y
|
Current mouse position |
┌──────────────────────────┐
│ When key [held: left] │
├──────────────────────────┤
│ Set Horizontal Speed [-4]│
└──────────────────────────┘
┌──────────────────────────┐
│ When key [held: right] │
├──────────────────────────┤
│ Set Horizontal Speed [4] │
└──────────────────────────┘
┌──────────────────────────┐
│ When key [no key] │
├──────────────────────────┤
│ Set Horizontal Speed [0] │
└──────────────────────────┘
┌─────────────────────────────┐
│ When colliding with obj_coin│
├─────────────────────────────┤
│ Add to Score [10] │
├─────────────────────────────┤
│ Play Sound [snd_coin] │
├─────────────────────────────┤
│ Destroy Other │
└─────────────────────────────┘
- Start with Events - Always begin with an event block (hat block)
- Connect Vertically - Stack blocks connect top-to-bottom
- Use Colors - Block colors indicate their category
- Right-click - Access duplicate, delete, and help options
- Zoom - Use scroll wheel or zoom controls for large programs
- Switching to the structured panel - Everything Blockly can do maps to an action in the Events tab's structured panel, and the reverse isn't always true (e.g. Jump to Start/Random Position and per-sound Stop Sound have no Blockly block) — if you need one of those, use the structured panel for that event instead of Blockly.
- Events-and-Actions - See the action list equivalent
- Creating-Your-First-Game - Build a complete game
- Object-Editor - Where Blockly integrates
- Preset-Guide - Which blocks are available in your project