More Than 60 Game Levels to Enjoy During Hour of Code!

Daniela Lao -

CodeCombat has four different Hour of Code activities to ensure your students have amazing opportunities to code, play, and create during Computer Science Education Week 2018!

“We’re coding!!! Like real coders!!” “I did it!!” @SPElemLibrary @stonypointschl #HourOfCode2017 #acps #codecombat Image: @cvenablenolan

In just a few days, thousands of teachers and students will participate in the largest educational event in the world; the Hour of Code. This year, CodeCombat has an activity for every type of student from beginning coders to more advanced students ready to challenge themselves by creating their own game. All of our activities help students move beyond drag and drop coding to teach them how to type real code.

The Hour of Code

The Hour of Code is an international initiative to introduce computer science to students all over the world. The Hour of Code is typically a one-hour activity to teach computer science and show any student that they can code. The Hour of Code is also part of the larger Computer Science Education Week. With a goal of broadening participation in the field of computer science, this year “CS Ed Week” takes place from December 3-9, but you can host an Hour of Code year round.

How To Participate

You can host an Hour of Code in your class, your community, club, non-profit, at work or try it at home on your own.

Hour of Code CodeCombat Tutorials Overview:

On the top left is our new activity: Code, Play, Create. It is the number #1 rated 3rd-party activity by Code.org this year for students who are more “comfortable” coding. If your students have some experience coding, this is the activity for them! They will see code and play 9 game levels before building their own.

On the top right is Escape the Dungeon activity, which is our oldest and most popular activity for beginners. It is also the same as our free CS1 course, so your students may have tried this one before! On the bottom are two different game development activities. Both are great, but the one on the left is for slightly more advanced students.

Both of our activities on the top also have lesson plans! Take a look at our Code, Play, Create lesson plan and Escape the Dungeon lesson plan if you would like to introduce students to programming concepts with offline activities.

If you want to search for more Hour of Code activities or tutorials, you can do so on the Hour of Code site. To quickly try our new CodeCombat Hour of Code self-led tutorials, just click the link under each tutorial above. More information on each activity is below:

Escape the Dungeon, Levels: 42 Student Experience: Beginner, Comfortable

This is a great introduction to computer science. Students can choose their hero and, earn gems, loot magic items, escape ogre patrols, lava pits, and more all while typing real code and learning an actual programming language (Python or JavaScript).

Build Your Own Game! - Levels: 11 Student Experience: Beginner

[AWS Educate](https://aws.amazon.com/education/awseducate/) and [Amazon Future Engineer](http://www.amazon.com/amazonfutureengineer) teamed up with CodeCombat to create an activity that combines our introductory computer science lessons with our Game Development 1 course. So students are able to polish their Python or Javascript skills, create their own game on the final level and share it with friends and family.

Code, Play, Create - Levels: 10 Student Experience: Comfortable

Code, Play, Create is great for students that are ready to jump in and start creating and playing their own game. Students play through a series of games they can code and customize while learning core computer science concepts. On the final level they can use the concepts they learned to create their very own game from scratch.

Build an Arcade Game! - Levels 20 Student Experience: Comfortable

In this activity, students learn more advanced coding concepts from our Computer Science 2 and Game Development 2 levels and can create their very own arcade game to challenge friends and family. We recommend this tutorial for coders that have completed one of the previous tutorials or those that are comfortable with typing code.
CodeCombat Game Interface Helps Students While Motivating Critical-Thinking and Creativity Skills

Our activities are self-led and self-paced to produce independence and confidence and we encourage trial-and-error to motivate students’ critical thinking and creativity skills. However, we do have various game features that help students from becoming frustrated if they can’t seem to progress.

Within the game interface, students will find instructions, hints, a handy drop down of commands and other methods to assist them along their way. We also recommend educators encourage collaboration between students. Any activity students choose may last an hour or more depending on their experience and if they are working in pairs.

More Information

The resources below should provide everything you need to have a fun and successful Hour of Code this year!

Share on social media!

We love to see your students’ success and engaged students enjoying CodeCombat. Remember to share your awesome pictures and student-created games with us @CodeCombat:

  • Reach out on Twitter & Facebook. Use the hashtag #HourofCode , #CodeCombat, and #CodePlayCreate when sharing your photos or sending us CodeCombat Hour of Code comments.

If you have immediate support issues, we’re here to help!

  • Email us via schools@codecombat.com
  • Chat with us on the CodeCombat site. Just click on the blue circle on the lower right side of your screen when logged into your teacher account and someone will respond.

Happy Coding!


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About CodeCombat:

CodeCombat is a platform for students to learn computer science while playing a real game. It has been played in 200 countries around the world and has helped 12M users learn Python and JavaScript. Used by more than 41,000 teachers in more than 16,000 schools in North America. Built for all learners and teachers, recommended for grades 4-12 and recognized by the College Board as an endorsed provider of curriculum and professional development for AP® Computer Science Principles (AP CSP). Teachers, students, and individuals can sign up for CodeCombat and try the first course for free.