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I want something fun, like clolobot, which was primarily a very interesting game that teaches programming along the way.

Please suggest other ones similar to this.

Features -

  • Start with small problems.
  • Teach how to approach a big problem and break into into smaller ones.
  • Should help develop problem approach and solving skills.
  • Be fun.
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  • 3
    You should probably indicate the age group.
    – rrirower
    Nov 28, 2014 at 13:34
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    Please add some detail to your question.
    – 200_success
    Nov 28, 2014 at 20:42
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    Maybe depends on objective. "Programming" is a potentially very generic term, and different 'kids' will have very different desires and aptitudes. Consider what some can do with Twine, a free interactive browser-based, text-game generator. It can certainly foster interest.
    – user2338816
    Nov 29, 2014 at 0:10
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    Try ROBLOX. it's a interesting way to start game development and it uses Lua.
    – user9077
    Nov 29, 2014 at 4:43
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    @Th0masR0ss Please make this into a proper answer so I can upvote it. I have a lot of respect for Roblox and Lua, and it has a very large userbase.
    – Pharap
    Nov 30, 2014 at 2:54

11 Answers 11

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Lego Mindstorms can be programmed in Block-Code, or in a C-like language. Additionally, the kids can build and physically interact with it. On the downside, it is rather expensive.

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    Mindstorms NXT+Tetrix+RobotC is a very powerful combo for learning both programming and robot building, in one package. On the other hand, it is far more expensive than the NXT kit itself and has a much more difficult assembly. Depends on the age group.
    – nanofarad
    Nov 28, 2014 at 17:05
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There is Scratch, an in-browser environment for kids to learn programming.

It is visual in that graphics can be placed on a stage and then scripts can be attached to the graphics by dragging around blocks of code primitives (e.g. loops, assignments, conditionals, etc).

It is used with great success at the CoderDojo Berlin, where kids aged 5 to 15 create their own programmes, games or animations.

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I played Lightbot a long time ago and thought it was an interesting way to get to know some basic programming principles. But that was an old free version. I don't know much about the newer one.

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Alice is an excellent way to learn about object-oriented programming, by interacting with 3D objects to create animations and games. It uses a visual programming language, so is a bit like an advanced version of Scratch.

Microsoft Kodu is also fun, as it lets you create 3D video games using an Xbox 360 controller and a visual interface.

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  • Should I have posted each as a different answer, so people could vote for each individually? I'm not sure if the aim of softwarerecs is to have one canonical answer, or to find the popular opinion.
    – Rikki
    Nov 29, 2014 at 0:08
  • that was quite talked about a few months back on the meta: meta.softwarerecs.stackexchange.com/questions/55/…
    – Nick Dickinson-Wilde
    Nov 29, 2014 at 1:46
  • Thanks Nick, that's an interesting read. Unfortunately there seems to be little consensus! I could split this answer down, but now it has votes that seems careless.
    – Rikki
    Nov 30, 2014 at 9:49
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Given your no age group specification, I would recommend you look at the Raspberry Pi. It's a real cheap (US$30) computer that is meant for kids to learn about programming and computers in general. It comes with a language called Scratch that teaches programming. More importantly, kids feel like they have their own computer.

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Also a lot of people use www.codeacademy.com which will teach you the basics of web programming as well as python. It is simple for young children and includes basic concepts for both markup and programming.

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For me... the most important thing is to have a mission. To have a goal, something you want to create for yourself. It is different for every individual. Whatever that thing is for you... that goal is what will drive you and will give you the greatest joy, pride and fun once you achieve it. So it is important to pick the thing you most want to create.

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For teaching really young children in a really engaging way, there is the "How to Train Your Robot" game, as described by DrTechniko.

Effectively the child "programs" their parent by selecting from a set of symbols (mostly arrows) and drawing them in order. Then the parent acts out the instructions. Typically the child is trying to move the patent through an improvised obstacle course (think chairs and toys).

The programming instructions are arrows to move the robots legs and body

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http://codingame.com

It not a game for kids. But very fun and improving exercises for programmers who already know basics.

It fun, because You start not from scratch, but from template.

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Check out ROBLOX. It has a pretty large userbase and uses Lua to make games.

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  • Why the down votes?
    – user9077
    Dec 1, 2014 at 2:58
  • Welcome to Software Recommendations! You should have some experience using the software. What exactly did you like about it, and what did you not like as much? How does the software match each requirement in the question? Thanks!
    – Nicolas Raoul ♦
    Mar 14, 2016 at 7:27
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Codecademy It is not a game but I think it is fun. I personally enjoyed very much their Javascript course.

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