I am looking for very beginner programming software for my 12 y/o grandson for his birthday. He wants to program his own video games eventually but needs to start with basics. Is this a good software for that? If not, any suggestions? I am not technically savvy wise, so please use simple language. Thanks.

Make his own video games, at twelve? I don't think it's possible, unless if he is a genius who understands trigonometry for 3d vector transformations and game logic.
I really think he is too young to start programming games, but he isn't too young to start programming, in general.
Games are probably skill-level 100, because there are so many parts to any game that have to work together.

Python is one of the easiest languages to start with, so you can get him a book on Python and he is good to go, if he has enough motivation to learn by himself.

Buy him this book can be smart.
http://www.amazon.com/Hello-World-Computer-Programming-Beginners/dp/1933988495
Has some pygame lesson.

Invent Your Own Computer Games with Python
http://inventwithpython.com/

For more basic i think byte og python i good start,and a smart 12 y/o shold cope with it pretty well.
http://www.swaroopch.com/notes/Python

Non-Programmer's Tutorial for Python 2.6
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Non-Programmer%27s_Tutorial_for_Python_2.6

And kids like youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Mf0h3HphEA&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHvhfjVpSdE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xgn-HKzZes&feature=related

TEXT ADVENTURE GAME FTW. But you might want to start with Flash.

I am looking for very beginner programming software for my 12 y/o grandson for his birthday. He wants to program his own video games eventually but needs to start with basics. Is this a good software for that? If not, any suggestions? I am not technically savvy wise, so please use simple language. Thanks.

Thanks all who responded. Good input.

I appreciate the good info.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.