Game of the Month: Code Master

Teaching kids to code is all the rage right now, and for good reason. I love it when I find ways to teach kids coding skills offline. ThinkFun games sent us their new board game, Code Master Programming Logic Game to try out and it was a big hit. I was especially impressed with how challenging and versatile it was for kids of different skill levels. This single player game is our game of the month.

(Note: this post contains affiliate links. ThinkFun provided a review game. All opinions, as always, are my own.)

How to Play Code Master

Code Master Programming Logic Game is a single player game. It consists of an avatar game piece with 4 crystals, a book of guide scrolls, colored tokens and a map book. The player choses a skill level and a map and attempts to navigate the map by creating a sequence of actions based on placement of tokens. The object of each challenge is to collect the required crystals and land on the end portal. For a visual guide, watch the video at the end of this post.

Thoughts on Playing Code Master

ThinkFun recommends their Code Master Programming Logic Game for ages 8 and up. My 6 year old always wants to try everything out, so I sat down with him and while he caught on to the rules quite easily, he needed a lot of help after the first few basic levels.
My 10 year old enjoyed Code Master Programming Logic Game very much and easily rose to the challenge of playing the game by himself without any help from me at all.
One of the best features of Code Master is the variety of skill levels and maps. Kids can continue to advance as their skills improve and my older son did not get bogged down in frustration even when a level was quite difficult. It is hard to memorize the solutions for each challenge, so the kids can play again and again, honing their skills.
You've figured out by now that Code Master is excellent for developing logic skills, complex thinking involved in problem solving and strategy, and visual perception. I believe that unplugged games like this play a crucial part in teaching kids coding skills that they will need for computer literacy.