Learning to Code with a Boardgame

markmcb writes "While some of us cling tight to our memories of Apple-filled classrooms playing The Oregon Trail and driving our Turtle around in Logo, children today have many other ways to learn about the inner-working of computers and the code that drives them. Wired.com is running an interesting article about a boardgame in which players must use simple logic similar to that used in programming to get their skier down the mountain. From the article: 'Using basic math, players have to figure out which paths are open to them and then decide the fastest way to the finish line. The trick, however, is learning which paths are open to you using only programmer jargon like 'if (X==1)' then you can take the green path or 'while (X4) you can take the orange path,' where X is the roll of the die.'"

Comments

engineering application

[millahtime]

This could have good implications on future engineers. Where I read that the US is falling behind, this could help teach the logic engineers, especially electrical and computer engineers, need to use regularly.

This really is only dimly connected with programs

[UserGoogol]

This is really more of a math game than a programming game per se. Yes, it teaches the concept of conditional branching, but that's not especially new to the world of board games. Also, "x" isn't really a variable, but instead represents the number you rolled, which is different from how programming actually works. (Which is potentially confusing, because c-jump otherwise uses a fairly C-like syntax, with == instead of = and everything.)

Not to say that this isn't a potentially educational game, but this is really more a way to practice doing simple arithematic and logic instead of anything specific to programming itself. (Although arithematic and logic is certainly worth learning.) It would probably lose absolutely nothing in playability or educational value if they removed all C stuff from it and just made it into a silly little math game.

Looks boring

[LordNimon]

I tried reading the rules, but they're hard to understand just by reading the web page (and yes, I'm a programmer). From what I gather, there are no real decisions that the player makes. That is, you roll the dice and your move is based solely on that dice roll and whatever square you happen to be on.

What would be cooler is if while playing the game, you had to build a "program" of sorts, and you can't win the game until your program produces a specific output. You could then compete against other players for resources needed to finish your program. This would allow you multiple ways to win based mostly on your ability to understand programming concepts.

I see this game as a cool idea, but it's really just a first step.