GridLight: Hello World Game Guide
Set up for your GridLight: Hello World activity for Hour of Code™ in three simple steps.
[ 1 ] SIGN UP FOR HOUR OF CODE
Register your Hour of Code event
Computer Science Education Week is December 3 - 9, 2018!
[ 2 ] LOAD THE GAME
Load www.botschool.io/hoc on your computer browser (Chrome recommended!)
Once the game is loaded in your browser, you don’t have to be connected to the internet to play
If you have any hiccups, just reload the page while connected to the internet
[ 3 ] START PLAYING!
The activity is self-guided — the first few levels ease players into how to play
We highly recommend you run through the experience at least once in advance
We also have a Certificate of Completion you can print
That’s it, you’re ready to go!
Want a deeper dive? Scroll down for more info.
MISSION COMPLETE?
Print out a certificate with Root and your Bot Friend Nab!
There are spots to write in the player’s name and to jot how many Light Sprites, Null and Bugged Bots, and Light Bits were collected.
Click on an image to download a certificate of your Nab, or hit “Download All Certificates” to get a PDF with all four certificates.
GridLight: Hello World introduces coding fundamentals — sequencing & loops.
We integrated these coding principles directly into the gameplay, so even those completely new to computer science can experience that it’s fun, creative, and accessible.
Through playing, you'll put these K-12 Computer Science Framework concepts into practice:
> Algorithms and Programming — learn this every turn by structuring your Command Line sequence
> Computing Systems — shown by the relationship between software (the Command Line) and hardware (your Bot Friend)
> Impacts of Computing — use programming to solve a challenge (restoring the Lighthouse for the Festival)
SEQUENCING
LOOPS
In coding, every line of code is run in order. Imagine a robot that will bake a cake by following the instructions exactly as written from top to bottom. If the instructions are wrong, the cake won't turn out!
Running code in order is called sequencing, and it's the foundation of all coding!
Imagine 30 lines of code, one for each student in a class to list their name and favorite book. To list their favorite animal instead, you have to update all 30 lines. Lame! Loops let you process each student the same way with just one line of code, which saves time and avoids mistakes.
Loops are a powerful way to avoid bugs and process lots of information with few lines of code!
THE STORY
You're preparing for the Lighthouse Festival with the help of your mentor, Root.
At first, the mission seems simple -- gather up Light Sprites! They are powerful, magical critters that can restore the Lighthouse Orb with GridLight, an energy source. Root introduces you to the magic of coding, by showing you how to program Nab, the Bot Friend you’ll rely on to complete the mission.
Then Wild Bots start to appear on the map. Wild Bots aren’t uncommon, but it’s strange to see so many of them either broken (Null Bots) or grumpy and trying to attack (Bugged Bots). Not only are they cluttering things up, they’re scaring away the Light Sprites!
You and Root eventually discover the source of Null Bots and Bugged Bots. A fellow programmer had written code to automate the gathering of Light Sprites, but in his hurry to ship it out, he didn’t test the code nor did he have it reviewed by a peer. His code produced a bug that made the Wild Bots treat everything with a different protocol as an enemy.
You disable the device broadcasting the code to Wild Bots. Root says she will bring the bug report back to the other programmer. Both of you make plans to return for the Lighthouse Festival that night -- where you see the Light Sprites restore the Lighthouse Orb.
NEED A HANDY REFERENCE? Here’s A Game board Diagram!
The 'Hour of Code™' is a nationwide initiative by Computer Science Education Week and Code.org to introduce millions of students to one hour of computer science and computer programming.