''CodeCombat'' is an educational
video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...
for learning
software programming
Computer programming is the process of performing a particular computation (or more generally, accomplishing a specific computing result), usually by designing and building an executable computer program. Programming involves tasks such as anal ...
concepts and languages. This game is recommended for students ages 9–16. Students learn to type coding languages like
JavaScript
JavaScript (), often abbreviated as JS, is a programming language that is one of the core technologies of the World Wide Web, alongside HTML and CSS. As of 2022, 98% of Website, websites use JavaScript on the Client (computing), client side ...
,
Python,
HTML
The HyperText Markup Language or HTML is the standard markup language for documents designed to be displayed in a web browser. It can be assisted by technologies such as Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and scripting languages such as JavaScri ...
and
CoffeeScript
CoffeeScript is a programming language that compiles to JavaScript. It adds syntactic sugar inspired by Ruby, Python, and Haskell in an effort to enhance JavaScript's brevity and readability. Specific additional features include list comprehen ...
, as well as learning the fundamentals of
computer science
Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (includin ...
. ''CodeCombat'' has 11 units - three game development units, two web development units, and six computer science units. The first unit, Computer Science 1, is free to all students and teachers. In 2019, ''CodeCombat'' was recognized by the
College Board as an endorsed provider of curriculum and professional development for AP Computer Science Principles (AP CSP).
''CodeCombat'' works directly with schools and districts, as well as offering self-paced learners a monthly paid subscription that gives access to additional game content.
In order to advance through the game's levels, players must prove their knowledge by writing code. It includes both single-player and multi-player components, and is ideally suited for 4th-12th graders.
The game was positively reviewed by
PC Magazine,
won the 2017 SIIA CODiE award for Best Creativity Tool for Students, and has been named a top pick for learning by
Common Sense Education.
In January 2014, ''CodeCombat'' made their software
open-source
Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...
, and released a
level editor
In video games
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual f ...
so that users could create their own game content.
In August 2019, ''CodeCombat'' released its newest game, ''Ozaria''.
Company
''CodeCombat'' was founded in February 2013 by George Saines, Scott Erickson, Matt Lott, and Nick Winter, who had previously developed the language-learning application Skritter.
The company is based in
San Francisco, California
San Francisco (; Spanish for "Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
and makes two
programming games
A programming game is a video game that incorporates elements of computer programming, enabling the player to direct otherwise autonomous units within the game to follow commands in a domain-specific programming language, often represented as a ...
, ''Ozaria'' and ''CodeCombat'', for schools and learners. In 2014, the company received $2 million in
seed stage funding from firms such as
Y Combinator
Y Combinator (YC) is an American technology startup accelerator launched in March 2005. It has been used to launch more than 3,000 companies, including Airbnb, Coinbase, Cruise, DoorDash, Dropbox, Instacart, Quora, PagerDuty, Reddit, Str ...
,
Andreessen Horowitz
Andreessen Horowitz (also called a16z, legal name AH Capital Management, LLC) is a private American venture capital firm, founded in 2009 by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz. The company is headquartered in Menlo Park, California.
Andreessen H ...
, and
Allen & Company
Allen & Company LLC is an American privately held boutique investment bank based at 711 Fifth Avenue, New York. The firm specializes in real estate, technology, media and entertainment.
History
Founded in 1922 by Charles Robert Allen, Jr., he ...
. In 2019, the company received $6M in
Series A
A series A round (also known as series A financing or series A investment) is the name typically given to a company's first significant round of venture capital financing. The name refers to the class of preferred stock sold to investors in exchan ...
funding, led by Hone Capital. It announced a partnership with the Chinese internet company,
NetEase
NetEase, Inc. () is a Chinese Internet technology company providing online services centered on content, community, communications, and commerce. The company was founded in 1997 by Ding Lei. NetEase develops and operates online PC and mobile gam ...
, on April 18, 2018.
The company currently employs 29 people.
See also
*
Code.org
*
Codecademy
Codecademy is an American online interactive platform that offers free coding classes in 12 different programming languages including Python, Java, Go, JavaScript, Ruby, SQL, C++, C#, and Swift, as well as markup languages HTML and CSS. Th ...
*
CodeHS
*
Coursera
Coursera Inc. () is a U.S.-based massive open online course provider founded in 2012 by Stanford University computer science professors Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller. Coursera works with universities and other organizations to offer online cour ...
*
edX
*
freeCodeCamp
*
Khan Academy
Khan Academy is an American non-profit educational organization created in 2008 by Sal Khan. Its goal is creating a set of online tools that help educate students. The organization produces short lessons in the form of videos. Its website also i ...
*
LinkedIn Learning
*
Livecoding.tv
*
Replit
*
Udacity
Udacity, Inc. is an American for-profit educational organization founded by Sebastian Thrun, David Stavens, and Mike Sokolsky offering massive open online courses.
According to Thrun, the origin of the name Udacity comes from the company's d ...
*
Treehouse (company)
References
External links
*
Programming games
Computer programming
Video games developed in the United States
Educational technology
Browser games
2013 video games
Visual programming languages
American educational websites
Video game development software
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