Clash of Code: Game Review
Clash Time?
It’s become a ritual for our growing company to play CodinGame’s Clash of Code at least once a week during the lunch hour. We get to practice our coding skills through short 15 minute contests, while also having fun together as a team!
On this article, I’ll talk about what we love the most about Clash, as well as its very big limitations for teams!
But first, what is Clash of Code?
They explain it very well on the website. It’s “a game to improve your coding efficiency by solving short programming problems with other people, at the same time”.
So why is Clash so great?
It’s fun!
The creative prompts, different modes, and resulting team banter make for a great time. Unlike real work, you are free to play around with different languages, coding styles, and esoteric tricks through Clash. After all, what’s a more gamified form of learning than outright playing a game?
It fosters great discussions
Speaking of the team banter, it’s really through the post-clash discussions that we learn the most. Since a Clash session is so brief, we are able to talk through our thought processes while fresh in our minds. This can allow us to not only share raw coding tactics, but also problem solving strategies.
And why is it not so great?
Your performance in Clash does not reflect your performance at work
Among a team of coders, when made to play a coding “game”, it really doesn’t feel like just a game. In a typical work setting, you have access to not only more time to look into reference materials, but also help from your team! This aspect of teamwork is put into the backseat in Clash, instead focusing on competing with the very people you’re meant to cooperate with. This can lead to anxieties about judgement and unfair comparisons, when this isn’t a goal of the game in the first place.
The game format can be anxiety inducing
The fact that there is a timer ticking, and that your code will be instantly reviewed by your peers once that timer stops will affect how you code. It’s deeply psychological: even if you have the ability to solve the problem independently in theory, the fact that it’s in such a game format may work against you. And once again, the skill of solving coding puzzles as a game is not reflective of real-world coding performance.
Takeways
- Clash of Code can be fun, engaging, and educational.
- We get to try different languages, styles, and tricks on code you may not have a chance to otherwise at work.
- Clash enables sharing both coding tactics and problem solving strategies with each other as a team.
- Clash lacks a cooperative aspect we would have loved to take advantage of.
- Coding puzzles will never reflect real-world performance.
- It’s not for everyone, but good for those who want to play!
Clash has been a great part of our routine in Athennian. However, some of us are open to finding a different game to play. Maybe something with more co-operative modes? Any suggestions?
If you’d like to read up on other games reviews, follow BACIC where yours truly, Elvin Limpin, posts more like this.
