Cargo-Bot is getting attention for being the first game entirely programmed on the iPad and it is fantastic for teaching programming thinking and problem solving.
The Game
Cargo-Bot involves players programming a machine which picks up and moves boxes. Levels provide a set up of boxes and a blueprint of a formation which players need to program the machine to create with the boxes (See image below). The more efficient the players program the higher amount of points they earn. Level difficulty increases as you progress through the game.
Programming fluency activity
My students and I have recently started a programming lunchtime club. As a warm up and to get regular practice of our programming skills I try to include a fun game or activity in every session. Cargo-Bot is the perfect iOS app for our programming fluency activity.
As a person in general I am finding Cargo-Bot very addictive and find it a guilty mobile gaming pleasure much more though provoking than hurling birds or avoiding objects while I run.
Teaching kids how to write computer programs, by Marshall Brain
