My 12-year-old and his 10yo brother (they're both Minecraft fans, the younger one likes coding) both still play a lot with their "inventor center", which is a large bin full of assorted junk like boxes, paper towel tubes, 2-liter bottles, string, duck tape, bouncy balls, binder clips, etc. They've made games, buildings for toys, forts, vehicles, weapons, helmets and other armor, Rube Goldberg machines, a rope ladder, balls, etc. It's very messy but I think it kind of scratches the same itch for them that Minecraft does. They're very proud of what they make.
Do their creations stay around your house for days or weeks? Our problem with stuff like this is that the kids never want to take it apart again to make something else.
All of the little coding fans I've known have liked strategy games, like Machi Koro, Dominion, Carcasonne, etc. In Roborally you have to "program" your little robot. If he doesn't like to compete, there are cooperative games like Forbidden Island, Pandemic, Castle Panic.
Not as easy to find in stores, but everyone in our family enjoys
Ricochet Robots, and now its little sister,
Micro Robots. It's competitive but extremely quiet - you will see a bunch of people intently studying a board, and then someone will exclaim, "Seven!" and turn over a timer while everyone redoubles their efforts.
We just acquired
Dice Forge, and I also expect that to be a hit once I get the family to play it.
It's like a toy and a game in one - the dice are very satisfying to take apart and put together. Just be prepared to keep track of many little pieces. (It has an excellent insert that helps with that.)
