Leading up to Christmas I’ve been pottering away on a prototype for a programming game. My friend Matt, whose game Hacknet has piqued the interest of educators, has been pushing me to look at educational games. I’m not really interested in these kinds of games but I told him that I’d think on it. After thinking for a while I came up with a small prototype which you can play by following the link below.
In the game you need to write some basic programming code that will reduce all the numbers in a grid to zero. The game limits the number of times you can use loops and if statements. The game will step through your code showing you which lines are being executed and when changes are made to the grid. It should take you about 10 minutes or so to get a feel for the game. Please read the README file before starting.
Download Loop Game Prototype(Windows only)
I’m not really sure if I want to pursue the game any further which is why I’m posting out to see what people think. Feel free to post a comment with your thoughts, email me or tweet at me.
Hi Chris, I met you at the last Ludum Dare and at a few ARGGGHs. I was going to comment that Two Lives Left have a programming game but I’m sure you already know that.
If you proceed with this prototype, could you do the first level as a tutorial, just to get newbies like me started?