Berlin (dpa) — Rabbits in space. More specifically: rabbits, an astronaut, a space station, washing machine teleporters and lots of hustle and bustle. That’s the essence of “Rabbids Coding!”, a free educational app that aims to teach programming basics in a fun way.
Players take on the role of an astronaut on a space station that has been invaded and wrecked by the zany rabbit-like Rabbids. Nothing works anymore and the astronaut has to try to restore order.
The game mechanics are simple: Players use code blocks to give the Rabbids small commands to direct them. As you play you discover different coding concepts. At first there are only a few commands — for example to turn the Rabbids or to give them a direction to run.
As the game progresses, more and more commands are added so that you eventually have a large number of "if ... then" commands and can create more complex program sequences.
Some of the coding challenges include sending the Rabbids around, having them captured by robots with grasping arms, giving them sausage bait and much more. If you lure them in front of a washing machine you can teleport the bunnies back to Earth — or into space.
Every command counts in this slightly crazy game and the goal is to solve the task as efficiently as possible. After the space station has been saved, the players have an open environment to let off steam and experiment. This means the game remains interesting for longer.
“Rabbid’s Coding!” should interest people who’re looking for a playful introduction to the world of coding with its insights into algorithms, sequential programming, conditional statements, and the like. The game is available free for PCs and Android/iOS devices.
