If you haven’t figured it out yet from previous posts, I am a programmer by trade. As such I have a keen interest in others learning to code at one level or another. Lightbot teaches some of the fundamental thought processes that programmers use on a daily basis.
To be honest, Amber turned me onto this game one morning when we were on our way to get bagels and coffee. I didn’t think much about it at the time, but as she worked through the problems and asked me questions I started taking an interest.
As a game it takes on some of the basic concepts of programming. Loops, Conditionals, and Functions. You use these concepts to navigate around corners, repeat small units of work, and generally get your little robot to light up squares as he traverses a maze. These are some of the concepts I tried to cover in the Artillery series. Some of the puzzles are quite challenging, while others took a only a couple minutes to figure out.
The only real criticism I have for the game is that it covers loops long after you have the opportunity to use them in the game.
I would recommend this game to anyone who wants to practice the concepts used in programming. It is a fun game to play, and a good learning tool. On a side note, there is a junior version of this game as well. It covers the same concepts and layout, but with simpler puzzles.