Concept
Code Games is a real time programming game where you compete against other players by coding the behaviour of a space ship. The programming language is easy to learn and the game is super fun. Subscribe to one of our tournaments and compete for the prize.
Requirements & Context
We knew a few coding games where players control the behavior of a spaceship, or a race car, or some other thing, and compete against other players, but none of them offered the possibility to adjust that behavior in real time. We instantly fell in love with the idea: what could be better than an agile coding game?
Approach
The purpose was to build a multiplayer game where players could change strategies on the go, during the course of the game. CodeGames is built with Ruby, a language and environment with a low entry-barrier for people with no initial knowledge of programming: we thought this would make the game as accessible as possible.
Flow
We designed a simple flow with the purpose of maintaining high performance and delivering a real-time experience.
Results
CodeGames is still active to this day, and we found it’s a great tool to help organizations train their workforce in the basics of coding.
A couple of years back, we held a few tournaments, some of them with more than 100 participants simultaneously, with prizes for the top three players, who made it to the finals after 17 rounds of 5 minute matches.
Home
The CodeGames website is a straightforward One Page site, with a galactic battle theme that hints to the Star Wars franchise and the classic 80s videogames like Galaga or Space Invaders.
Game State
There are stats for each round of any tournament, available to active players enrolled.
Arena
Players constantly see their code and their spaceship during the battle, and they have an option to share a visualization of the arena for non-players.
Error Message
The devil is in the details, and so is the Dark Force: we decided it was appropriate to design a custom 404 page that went with the theme.
