Code Combat

Code Combat uses a game to learn javascript programming.

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Other Hour of Code Sites

This is how Spelunky's Level Generator Works

When it comes to level generation (that is creating levels based on algorithms as opposed to forming them in a map editor), one of the most admirable examples is Spelunky. You’ve surely played Spelunky by now (if not, here’s the free older version) and know that it creates a magical illusion that “the walls are shifting” every time you enter its caves, jungles and hellholes. It’s not magic, though; it’s procedural generation and it supplements Spelunky’s mechanics and creates a constant challenge even for veteran players.

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Example

Replacing Tests with Video Games

The idea being that monitoring the way a kid reacts to challenges thrown up in a game is a lot more useful to understanding them than a traditional "right or wrong" test.

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Interviews with Evoland Developers

Interview 1
Interview 2

Nick and Tesla's High-Voltage Danger Lab

Nick and Tesla's High-Voltage Danger Lab: A kids' mystery novel with electromagnets, burglar alarms, and other gadgets you can buildNick and Tesla are a couple of teenagers who get themselves into trouble and must build MAKE-style projects to save the day. There are two books in the series, aimed at ages 9-12, and they contain a number of fun DIY projects. The publisher, Quirk Books, kindly gave us permission to run an lengthy PDF excerpt from Nick and Tesla's High-Voltage Danger Lab that includes plans for making a compressed-air water rocket.

Read an excerpt here

Spelunky Developer Interviews

Interview: Derek Yu

Mobile "just too scary" for indies, says Spelunky dev

Video game playing found beneficial for the brain

Playing the Super Mario 64 video game causes increased size in brain regions responsible for spatial orientation, memory formation and strategic planning as well as fine motor skills, a new study conducted at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and Charité University Medicine St. Hedwig-Krankenhaus has found.

Read the rest of the article (and the comments) here