Learn coding by playing game? A Review of CodeCombat

Intro

As we all know that learning how to code is one of the things that takes lots of dedication and times. Sometimes it could be very intimidating and frustrated when you first start. At least that’s how I felt. I always like to think outside of the box so I was wondering how could I make the learning process more efficient and fun? And that’s what leads me to coding games.

What is CodeCombat

CodeCombat is essentially an adventure/dungeon-delving-type game that teaches the basics of coding for kids. Players can only control their characters by writing actual code using actual programming language, like JavaScript or Python.

It expertly combines hack-and-slash, turn-based combat with logic puzzles and fantasy scenarios to create a game that encourages kids to learn how to code. Player’s avatars can only move, run, attack, or dodge once the correct command is entered, and running the wrong script can have disastrous consequences. (CodeCombat review — everything you need to know in 2021. CodaKid. (2021, January 14). Retrieved September 12, 2021, from https://codakid.com/codecombat-review-everything-you-need-to-know-in-2020/.)

Review

After trying out the CodeCombat it certainty makes the learning process less intimidating and more fun. The instruction is straight forward and very easy to handle and it supports many different programming languages such as JavaScrip, Python, Java and etc. It defiantly gains your confidents to keep learning.

But there’s also some draw backs to CodeCobat. The method of use of code in game will need to translate it to actual functions, because lessons does not mimic to real-world scenarios. For a better use of CodeCobat to help you learning how to code, I would suggest to learn some fundamental knowledge about your programming language first. That way when you use these commends in game you would know the concept behind it. It would served as a refresher to help you brain memories the concept better.