Parents' Guide to CodeCombat

CodeCombat Poster Image

Common Sense Media Review

By D T , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 14+

Defeat enemies with your newly learned programming skills.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 14+?

Any Positive Content?

Enjoy 3 free reviews when you get the Common Sense Media app .

Parent and Kid Reviews

age 9+

Based on 3 parent reviews

age 9+

Based on 2 kid reviews

What's It About?

Set in a medieval land of knights, ogres, wizards, and warriors, CODECOMBAT skips most of the mythical narrative to get right to the task at hand: defeating your opponent. Players write short JavaScript, Python, or other featured programs that instruct characters on where to walk, what to do, and when to fight. Learning to code new behaviors makes the player more effective, whereas simply writing scripts that send warriors screaming into battle usually ends up in a messy loss.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say ( 3 ):
Kids say ( 2 ):

At its best, this programming game integrates JavaScript, Python, and other coding so effortlessly that players will be programming before they know it. CodeCombat will motivate kids to want to learn more about computer programming, but it also focuses on writing programs. Without some additional support and training, don't expect to take your CodeCombat programming skills and create the next hit iPhone app. The important principles of coding and the syntax of the various included programming languages are an important first step in leading the life of a coder. And this is where CodeCombat excels.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how programmers create the behavior of characters in video games such as CodeCombat. Do you think it's easy to create unique traits for characters in games? How easy would it be to change these characteristics once you learn how to program?

  • How does solving a problem, such as beating a game level, force you to approach it in separate parts? Can this apply to every problem, or are there some problems that can't be broken into pieces?

  • The game includes multiple languages you can learn. Why learn one language over another? What is similar or different about the various program languages included in the game?

Website Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by

CodeCombat Poster Image

You May Also Like...

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate