Ania Kubow: Building a Retro Gaming Education Empire on YouTube
In a world where technology education is increasingly important, few programming teachers have captured the hearts and inspired the minds of budding developers quite like Ania Kubow.
This London-based software engineer and YouTube sensation has earned a devoted following by combining two of her greatest passions: a lifelong love for video games and a drive to make coding accessible to all through engaging, project-based tutorials.
Ania‘s infectious enthusiasm, down-to-earth teaching style, and knack for breaking down complex concepts have made her a rockstar of the elearning world. Her tutorials, which revolve around building classic games with JavaScript, have racked up millions of views.
I connected with Ania to learn more about her unique journey into tech, her creative process as an educator, and her thoughts on the future of web development. Let‘s dive in.
Quest to Code: Leveling Up From Gamer to Game Developer
Growing up across several countries as the daughter of Polish parents working abroad, Ania‘s one constant was a love for gaming.
"I was that kid who was always glued to a Game Boy or planted in front of a Sega Genesis," Ania recounts. "Games were my way of making friends and connecting with people no matter where in the world I was living."
That childhood obsession evolved into a fascination with how her favorite games were made. As a teenager, Ania began tinkering with coding, teaching herself the basics of programming through a combination of free online tutorials, textbooks, and a whole lot of trial and error.
"I started out with really simple text-based games in Python," she explains. "Just little choose-your-own-adventure type things. But even those basic projects gave me such a rush. I was hooked on the feeling of being able to craft interactive experiences from scratch."
In university, Ania pursued computer science, honing her skills in a variety of languages and technologies. But it was the web development courses – the ones that dealt with JavaScipt, HTML and CSS – that really captured her imagination.
"Suddenly I saw how I could build games and interactive art that could live on the web and reach so many people," she says. "The satisfaction of combining code and creativity was unmatched."
After graduating, Ania kickstarted her career as a frontend developer, working for startups and agencies across London. Her resume grew to include impressive projects for big brands and plenty of slick corporate websites.
But Ania never lost sight of her first love: fusing code and fun to build games and playful digital experiences. On nights and weekends, she would prototype game mechanics and hone her skills by participating in game jams.
It was this passion for creative coding that would soon collide with another one of Ania‘s talents – one that had been lying dormant for years.
The Accidental Teacher Goes Viral
"Honestly, I had no intention of becoming a ‘YouTuber‘," Ania laughs, recalling the inauspicious start to her booming elearning career. "A few years back I was just messing around, recording my screen and narrating as I coded a Snake game in JavaScript. I uploaded it, thinking maybe it would help some other devs out there. I had no idea it would blow up like it did."
That initial tutorial video, a 90-minute step-by-step coding session entitled "Code Yer Own Snake Game in JS", racked up 100,000 views in its first few weeks. More importantly, it unleashed a deluge of comments from new coders who were thrilled to discover such an accessible entry point into game development.
The popularity of that first video tutorial drove Ania to produce more coding content. And with each new project she tackled – from Whack-a-Mole to Flappy Bird to Tetris – her subscriber base grew.
To date, Ania‘s YouTube channel has amassed:
- Over 200,000 subscribers
- 6 million total video views
- An average of 400,000 monthly video views
- 50,000+ hours of watch time per month
But beyond the impressive numbers, it‘s the impact on individual learners that Ania treasures most. She frequently receives messages from viewers who credit her tutorials for sparking their passion for programming and launching their careers as developers.
"It‘s incredibly fulfilling to be a part of someone‘s learning journey," Ania beams. "To hear from people who went from knowing nothing about code to landing their dream jobs in tech, and to know I played a small role in that, it‘s just the best feeling."
The Ania Academy: Inside the Retro Game Dev Dojo
So what exactly goes into the secret sauce of an Ania Kubow coding tutorial? How does she consistently churn out compelling content that both educates and entertains? I asked the master game dev teacher herself to share some insights into her approach.
"The first step is always ideation – figuring out which game or project will be fun to build and teach," Ania explains. "I keep a running list of ideas, pulling from classic games I love, viewer requests, and sometimes just random flashes of inspiration."
Once Ania locks in a concept, the real work begins. She starts by thoroughly researching the game mechanics, graphics, and features that define the classic version. Then she sets out to reverse engineer and replicate those elements in her own code.
"It‘s a lot of trial and error, a lot of late nights and debugging," she admits. "I‘ll build a rough prototype of the game in vanilla JavaScript, then refine and refactor until I have a version that‘s clear and ready to present."
While developing the code for her tutorial, Ania is also carefully considering how to structure the educational content. She breaks the project down into logical steps, aiming to introduce new concepts gradually while keeping the pace engaging.
"It‘s all about striking that balance between being thorough but not overwhelming," she notes. "I try to anticipate the questions and knowledge gaps someone totally new to programming might have, while also providing depth that intermediate devs can appreciate."
In the final production phase, Ania records her screen as she codes the game from scratch, narrating each line and explaining her thought process along the way. Editing is kept minimal to preserve the authentic, real-time feel of a pair programming session.
The end result is a comprehensive, step-by-step guide that empowers viewers to code along and create their own functional games by the final line. It‘s a format that has proven both popular and effective, with an average watch time of over 20 minutes per video.
Some of Ania‘s greatest coding hits include her tutorials on building:
Each completed game serves as more than just a fun standalone project. It‘s a modular learning experience that teaches critical concepts like JavaScript game loops, canvas rendering, collision detection, keyboard input, and DOM manipulation.
For Ania, the real power lies in the cumulative skills and confidence learners gain by working through her extensive catalog of hands-on tutorials.
"The goal is for viewers to feel that click moment of ‘Wow, I really built this myself‘ over and over again," Ania shares. "It‘s so much more impactful to learn by doing, by getting your hands dirty and figuring things out through coding real projects."
A Crash Course in the Future of Coding Education
As Ania‘s content garners fans across the globe and her impact as an educator grows, I was curious to get her take on the state of online programming education and where she sees things heading.
"What I love about the elearning landscape right now is the rise of project-based, skills-focused content," Ania raves. "It‘s so much more effective than just memorizing syntax. Platforms like freeCodeCamp that emphasize building real projects are absolutely killing it."
Ania also notes the increasing demand for creative coding and JavaScript skills across the tech industry. The ability to build engaging web experiences and interactive applications has never been more marketable.
"Being able to create interfaces that grab users‘ attention and deliver functionality that delights is hugely valuable," she emphasizes. "Strong vanilla JavaScript and game development chops will take you far, whether you want to build mind-blowing websites, launch a startup, or dive into web3."
So what‘s next for the star instructor of retro game dev? Ania‘s always got a few secret projects and surprise tutorials up her sleeve that she‘s not quite ready to reveal.
But she does hint at a larger project that will take her coding education work to the next level: a full-fledged curriculum that goes beyond standalone tutorials to offer a comprehensive learning journey.
"I‘m really excited about the potential to reach and help even more aspiring developers by providing structured pathways and support," Ania shares. "But I can‘t say too much just yet. You‘ll have to stay tuned!"
If Ania‘s track record is any indication, it‘s bound to be a game-changer.
Join the Quest to Code Like Ania
Feeling inspired to start your own game development journey? You‘re in the right place. Ania‘s tutorials are the perfect on-ramp for turning your passion for gaming into real-world coding skills.
To get a taste of her teaching style and start leveling up your JavaScript chops, check out some of these fan-favorite tutorials:
And of course, be sure to subscribe to Ania‘s YouTube channel and follow @Ania_Kubow on Twitter to catch every new tutorial and project as it drops.
Happy coding, and may the retro gaming muses be with you on your programming quest!