Cool Tips and Tricks

How do you disconnect blocks?
You’ll often have to rearrange code and experiment with the sequence of your code. Tynker code blocks have “handles” on their left and right side that...
Search for blocks
Use the Search 🔎 feature in the Code Palette to find the code block you need fast. Search also finds places in your project where you’re already usin...
Help is a click away
Find an unfamiliar block? Click on any block to get a description of its behavior. Click on More Help to get a longer description and code examples yo...
Save code with the Backpack
Do you want to share code among different projects? Or just need to try a quick experiment? You can use the Backpack feature to save Actors or Scripts...
Code Navigator
Have you ever written so much code that it goes beyond your computer screen’s window? Try the new Code Navigator to help you navigate your longest Tyn...
Get and set actor properties
Working with actor properties is like a Tynker superpower, once you get the hang of it. Here’s how you can use the Actor Properties block, which ret...
Control clones and the clone blocks
Tired of "duplicating actors" or "copy pasting" all the time? Clones are a fast and easy way to create enemies, powerups, or other recurring program e...
True-and-False are diamond-shaped
Have you noticed that the code blocks’ shapes give you a hint about the kind of data they return? True-and-false values in Tynker take a diamond shape...
How do I add more branches to if-else?
Several code blocks, like if-else and join , can be expanded. You can use the (+) button to add more branches or inputs. Then use (-) to remove...
Actor properties flyout
At the top of the Coding Area the actor currently in focus appears with a ▶ button beside its name. Click it and watch what happens: An editable view...
Special locations and stage properties
While you can use the coordinate system to place actors, you can also place them relative to the screen itself, using blocks like screen left and s...
How do I keep track of time?
A special timer variable has been provided to make timekeeping easy. You can reset it using this block. Here is some sample code that displays how l...