Actors, heroes, props, and stages — what is what

Whimsy games are made from various things commonly called by assets, and each asset type has its own purpose:

• Hero is the main character of your game. It already has all the movement logic implemented and can interact with Actors.
• Props are decoration you put on Stages. They don't do much on their own, but can be marked as impassable to block Hero's movement.
• Actors are interactive entities in your game — they can be NPCs, enemies, collectibles, doors, and whatnot. To make them interactive, you write Scenarios for them. Actors can be impassable or not, and can be invisible. Invisible actors can be used as triggers for certain events when a Hero steps on them.
• Stages are digital spaces where you combine Props and Actors to create a scene. Stages are divided into a 15x15 grid.
  • You can also place your Hero in any stage — it will mark where your game will start.
  • Stages have foreground and background layers for Props — foreground props will overlay all the other Props and Actors and never block Hero's movement.
    • Only one Prop can be placed in every grid cell on every layer, but you can also place Actors on them.
    • Use the foreground layer to add details and create a sense of depth.
  • Actors can be duplicated on one Stage, and across Stages, too. They will use the same scenario.
• Sound cues are sound effects you play through Scenarios. Whimsy has a sound generator — create a cue and try the buttons at the top of the sound editor.
  • To play a sound cue, add a block "Play sound cue" block to your Scenario and link it to other blocks.