Aliens invade 11-year-old’s iPhone — and he doesn’t mind

IRVINE — Pulling out his black iPhone, Luke Stanback called up an app for “Alien Invasion” and started blasting space invaders from a ship.

The game is pretty challenging, but Luke knows all the “cheats.” That’s because the 11-year-old created the game over the last four days.

“It’s pretty cool,” said Luke, “especially since it’s on my iPhone.”

Luke was just one of many kids working diligently on computers Thursday morning at the weeklong iD Tech Camp in UC Irvine’s Mesa Court Community Center.

The students were finishing individual projects, making things from iPhone applications and movies to 2- and 3-D video games and websites.

The skills the students are learning are for more than just fun. They will be something they can use in the future, whether in college or later in a career, said camp Director Steven Miller.

“In today’s world, I think [these skills] are essential,” he said.

The students come up with their own projects and are given about five hours of instruction a day to help them learn the skills needed to complete them, said instructor Kristine Spitznagel.

The classes cater to students of all skill levels, but they tend to draw in the more tech-savvy kids who have a natural interest, she said.

Candy Promprasert, 10, falls into that category. She said computers have always interested her.

The Newport Beach resident attended the camp last year and came back because she said she had so much fun creating games on the computer.

This year she’s creating an iPad game she’s calling “Pirate Treasure,” which features a pirate she made in Photoshop who players control to find coins that get them to the next level.

Candy is still finishing up the project before she tries it out on her pink iPad, but she can’t wait.

“I’m feeling excited,” she said.

Interested?

The iD Tech Camp runs week-long sessions through Aug. 19. Prices start at $799 for day students and $1,298 for overnight. To check availability and find out more, go online to https://www.internaldrive.com or call (888) 709-8324.