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Show HN: Code Kingdoms – a game that teaches kids to code

codekingdoms.com

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Re: Show HN: Code Kingdoms – a game that teaches kids to code

#11

Post by jordn »

pyromine wrote: post #4

I went to check this out, and my first two questions are how is this significantly different from Code Combat, and any idea why quick play isn't working. I'm actually trying to play from a school network and it doesn't seem to work. I'll come back and edit my comment latter with more full impressions when I actually get to check it out.

At a basic level it's for a younger age group and is reasonably gender neutral.

I'm sat next to these guys at the moment - they're working away fixing some server errors to cope with the high load.

Re: Show HN: Code Kingdoms – a game that teaches kids to code

#12

Post by rosstargett »

karl_gluck wrote: post #5
hoopism wrote: post #3

I hit "quick play" and it asked if I was connected to the internet... well played, game. Well played.

Same. Hit it again and it works.

Sorry about this, caused by a server load spike. We're changing a setting on the VPS now to allow more connections.

Re: Show HN: Code Kingdoms – a game that teaches kids to code

#13

Post by umut »

what is this obsession with teaching your kids how to program? I would not want my future kids do the same always worrying occupation that I do... probably the world as well as programming will be totally different then anyways. Just teach him/her some analytical thinking through 100 year old games and let the evolution play his part. There is no such thing as full control of your kid's destiny, just forget about it already...

Re: Show HN: Code Kingdoms – a game that teaches kids to code

#14

Post by umut »

what is this obsession with teaching your kids how to program? I would not want my future kids do the same always worrying occupation that I do... probably the world as well as programming will be totally different then anyways. Just teach him/her some analytical thinking through 100 year old games and let the evolution play his part. There is no such thing as full control of your kid's destiny, just forget about it already...

Re: Show HN: Code Kingdoms – a game that teaches kids to code

#15

Post by umut »

what is this obsession with teaching your kids how to program? I would not want my future kids do the same always worrying occupation that I do... probably the world as well as programming will be totally different then anyways. Just teach him/her some analytical thinking through 100 year old games and let the evolution play his part. There is no such thing as full control of your kid's destiny, just forget about it already...

Re: Show HN: Code Kingdoms – a game that teaches kids to code

#16

Post by umut »

what is this obsession with teaching your kids how to program? I would not want my future kids do the same always worrying occupation that I do... probably the world as well as programming will be totally different then anyways. Just teach him/her some analytical thinking through 100 year old games and let the evolution play his part. There is no such thing as full control of your kid's destiny, just forget about it already...

Re: Show HN: Code Kingdoms – a game that teaches kids to code

#18

Post by karl_gluck »

rosstargett wrote: post #2

Just a bit of background: We've been teaching Computer Science and programming in schools for several years and noticed the resources are not tailored to the kids themselves. Code Kingdoms teaches 6-13 year olds code in a way they enjoy: by playing a game and creating their own levels. Our aim is simple, to create a new generation of programmers by getting them to code in ways they find fun. Appreciate any feedback.

First off, great idea! The screenshots look friendly and I think it would be something I'd have used when I was a kid.

That said, you have some stability/UX issues. The loading delays are very long. I can easily see kids losing interest because it takes >2 minutes to load the Quick Play game. Then, once I was in the game, the graphics rendering was laggy and made my computer stutter / the screen flash. Shrinking the window made it run fast enough. I walked around a bit but as soon as I encountered the first duck the game went into loading mode again... and has been stuck there ever since.

Re: Show HN: Code Kingdoms – a game that teaches kids to code

#20

Post by rosstargett »

umut wrote: post #13

what is this obsession with teaching your kids how to program? I would not want my future kids do the same always worrying occupation that I do... probably the world as well as programming will be totally different then anyways. Just teach him/her some analytical thinking through 100 year old games and let the evolution play his part. There is no such thing as full control of your kid's destiny, just forget about it…

I completely agree with you. We focus on creating levels and computational thinking. But most importantly we want kids of all ages and of both genders to be wanting to become Computer Scientists.
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