Robot Turtles: The Board Game for Little Programmers has taken the kid coding world over by storm. It’s the highest earning Kickstarter project of all time, receiving over $600k in crowdfunding. We know it’s popular, but does it really teach kids how to code? Check out our Learning-Theories.com official video review below to see if it’s a game worth buying for your kids:
Overview
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Robot Turtles is a board game that teaches children how to think logically. Each player aims to get their “Turtle Master” to capture jewels that are placed throughout the board. The student plays programming cards that can move or turn their turtle one space at the time. They start with one card at a time, but grow to use entire functions consisting of 10 or 20 cards. The better their logic, the quicker they can reach the jewels!
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Benefits for Education
- Students need to use logic to win. They program their turtle’s as a sequence of steps, similar to a program.
- It introduces a love for programming. Playing a game makes the students forget that they’re coding!
What We Liked
- It’s adaptable. Teachers or parents can adjust the difficulty of the game to suit every age.
- It’s simple. There aren’t a lot of elements or player actions.
- It’s fun for younger students. Winning those jewels is addictive!
What We Disliked
- No player interaction. There’s no way to affect another player’s turtle. As a result, players might lose interest in the long run.
- Too simple. The basic game is limited in its replay-ability. Older students may get bored with the simple mechanics.
Our Score
Ease of Use: 8 out of 10
Fun: 7 out 10
Learning Value: 7 out of 10
Overall: 22 out of 30
Key takeaway: It’s versatile, adaptable and fun, especially for younger kids. But it needs custom rules to engage older players. You get it now from Amazon for about $18 — try it out for yourself for your classroom or at home.