Learning JavaScript by Building a simple Zelda-Inspired Game
- Ken Munson
- Jul 26
- 2 min read
Updated: Jul 27
Recently, I completed a small Zelda-inspired browser game by following a tutorial created by Ania Kubów.
This was not an original application that I designed from scratch. I followed along with Ania’s implementation, wrote the code myself as she demonstrated it, and used the project as a hands-on learning exercise. Full credit for the game design, structure, code approach, and tutorial belongs to her. Oddly, she seemed to just do the whole thing as a speed run completely from memory - no real edits in the video. Amazing.
All of this was done in support of my AI Journey. I DO NOT see myself as some future front-end developer. I just want to understand what AI will create on my behalf.
The project uses three core web technologies:
HTML to define the structure of the page
CSS to control the layout, appearance, sprites, and animations
JavaScript to manage the game logic, movement, enemies, attacks, scoring, and level progression
The biggest benefit was seeing how those three files work together as one application. Before this exercise, I understood the technologies individually at a basic level, but building a complete working game made their relationship much clearer.
I also gained a better understanding of the Document Object Model, or DOM. JavaScript can locate elements in the HTML, create new elements, change their content, apply classes, respond to keyboard input, and update what appears in the browser while the game is running.
Another useful lesson was learning how to use Chrome DevTools to inspect the live HTML and CSS. This made it possible to see elements that JavaScript created dynamically, examine the styles applied to them, and better understand what the browser was actually rendering.
The tutorial moved quickly and covered concepts well beyond my current level, so I would not claim to understand every line of the application yet. Still, completing it gave me a much better mental model of how a browser-based application is assembled.
Most importantly, it replaced some abstract concepts with a working example that I could inspect, modify, and experiment with.
Original creator and tutorial: Ania Kubów
Original GitHub repository: Ania Kubów’s Zelda JS repository
This was an educational exercise based entirely on her work. The Zelda characters, imagery, and related intellectual property belong to their respective rights holders, and the project is not affiliated with or endorsed by Nintendo.
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