LenovoGameState.com – a free, online destination for kids ages 13 and up. The site lets kids become part of a Code & Play Adventure, powered by Code Combat, where they can learn to code by playing a game. The more they play and learn, the more chances they have to win Lenovo products and a $2,500 scholarship to a coding school or camp.
Kids play through three immersive worlds and 142 levels coding their way as they go and gaining the equivalent of a college course in computer science in the process, learning real-world programming skills and languages (Python, JavaScript, Lua and CoffeeScript).
Each level completed counts toward an additional entry, so the more kids Code & Play, the more chances they have to win $5,000 in prizes, including a $2,500 scholarship to a coding school or camp and Lenovo products. Register at LenovoGameState.com by March 31, 2017 when entry period for Grand Prize Drawing of $2,500 scholarship ends (see LenovoGameState.com/rules for more details).
- Starting in Kithgard Dungeon, the player’s chosen hero has been imprisoned by ogres and must sneak, puzzle and battle their way out by writing code to control their hero. In the first 10 levels (or about a half-an-hour of game time), players learn programming concepts like writing basic syntax, calling methods, writing strings, passing function arguments, repeating code with while-loops and storing data in variables.
- With those basics covered, the game quickly moves on to exploring if-statements, x-y coordinates, Boolean operators, event handling and other coding concepts.
- Along the way the player finds loot that allows their hero to access new programming methods and abilities as their quest continues through the Backwoods Forest and Sarven Desert whereadventurers master wielding mighty powers in defense of their people against the ogre threat.
- Players reaching the end of Sarven Desert will master arrays, break statements, counters, computer arithmetic and more.
- Throughout the Code & Play worlds, multiplayer arenas give players a chance to develop their own artificial intelligence code for their heroes to compete against each other, customized to their unique hero builds and individual coding creativity.
- The most powerful heroes will choose to shoot lightning from their fingers by putting a spell on the Emperor’s Gloves; wield the legendary Sword of the Template Guard; or use a good defense as the best offense with a full set of highly durable Enameled Dragonplate body armor. It’s up to them!
- Tips & tricks are built-in to the user experience including auto-complete codes kids can use on-the-fly
More chances to Code & Play for prizes will be announced this spring and summer – LenovoGameState.com is a GREAT free, online resource to keep your kids learning new skills even during school breaks!
Why kids should learn to code:
- According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, jobs in computers and information technology are expected to grow 12% from 2014 to 2024, adding 488,500 new jobs. These positions currently offer a median wage of $79,390, more than double the average of $35,540 for all occupations. Computer jobs are appearing faster than U.S. schools are preparing people to fill them; today an estimated half-million of such jobs are open.
- According to Girls Who Code by 2020 there will be 1.4 million jobs available in computing-related fields. Women are on track to fill just three percent.
