Free Rabbids game designed to teach coding now available

Ubisoft has released Rabbids Coding, an educational PC game designed to teach players the basics of programming and algorithmic logic.

Suitable for players aged 7+, Ubisoft says reading skills are required but previous knowledge of coding isn’t.

The Ubisoft Montreal game, which is available to download from Uplay, tasks players with entering programming commands into a spaceship’s operating system in order to clean up a mess caused by the mischievous Rabbids.

Ubisoft says players will learn how to use sequential programming, loops and conditions across 32 levels. The goal in each level is to provide the simplest instructions possible to complete the task at hand.

Eventually players will unlock a sandbox environment, allowing them to explore and play with the instructions as they see fit.

Speaking at Ubisoft’s recent Keys to Learn event, which was attended by VGC, game director Olivier Palmieri said the company hopes Rabbids Coding will be used in schools to teach programming logic.

“Rabbids Coding is about making programming fun and accessible for everyone and to show that actually it’s not that complicated. It’s about logic and simple instructions that you put in front of each other,” he said.

“We’ve created a handbook so that the game can be used in schools, by children or adults. With this guide you can make classes, whether that’s at school or at home with your kids. It’s a very easy and accessible way to explore the logic of programming.”