ThinkFun Code Master Programming Logic Game and STEM Toy – Teaches Programming Skills Through Fun Gameplay

The game is really fun to play - both for my daughter (5) and adults, myself (programmer) and my wife (a teacher) so I highly recommend it.I was a bit afraid that this will be thrown-away-money as I wasn't sure how my little girl will react to such a puzzle but after the first attempt at playing I found out that this was money extremely well spent.The thing doesn't even feel like learning for the kid and if you add some additional sound effects and motivating explanations while the kid is playing it really feels like a computer game on the table :)The game is also really easy to set up and has a nice box layout so that it's not a problem even for the kids to place everything back where it belongs before they even notice that it's boring to clan up after playing :)

I bought this for my 6-year-old son. He loves working his way through the levels, but it is challenging enough that he won't get through it quickly. As a matter of fact, I am enjoying working my way through the levels too. Some are more challenging than others. I like that my son can play on his own or we can sit side-by-side and try to get them individually while spending time together. Neither he nor I are get bored with this game! I recommend it to anyone who wants to teach principles of coding without using electronics, and to anyone who loves solving puzzles (might be a tad easy for an adult experienced in puzzle-solving though).

It was an inquiry to my daughter-in-law as to possible 9th birthday gifts for our oldest grandson that led me not only to this game, but to this amazing company called ThinkFun - gosh, I am SO glad I asked! His eyes lit up when he opened this, and that big grin told me all I needed to know. In days gone by, it was a given that he'd be happy with diecast cars, planes or trains, but he's grown up so gosh darned fast and that brain of his never ceases to amaze me - he's got "both sides" of it working in full gear (the analytical and the creative.) To give you some indication, last Saturday we babysat our three younger grandkids so he could have some quality, one-on-one time with Mom and Dad at his requested destination - COSI, the Center of Science and Industry museum in Columbus!The first thing I liked about this game is that it's for one player... even though he's a terrific big brother, the four year age gap between he and his next-in-line sib means he's typically playing down at their level, and it doesn't help that the small gradeschool he attends is without the ability to provide enough challenges for him since he catches on so quickly. This game will let him challenge himself! In it, you receive maps showing where your avatar begins, the locations of the crystals, along with the location of the portal to bring you to the next level. You then write a program - using a guide scroll and specified number of action tokens - to move your avatar across the map to reach the portal with all of the crystals in hand. Your avatar then moves to the next level, ready to harvest the next batch of crystals!I appreciated her suggestion, but I still needed to satisfy my undiagnosed OCD-ish personality by checking out the company that manufactures this game. Founded by a husband and wife team 32 years ago (originally called Binary Arts), their goal was to make learning fun and - boy - they sure have accomplished what they set out to do! They have so many terrific products that focus on logic and problem solving, STEM and creative thinking, visual perception and reasoning, and word/language skills. Product offerings range from toddler to adult, with the majority being in the 8+ age bracket, all reasonably priced (i.e. the MSRP for Code Master is $19.99) and just SO interesting!I think you can tell that I'm REALLY excited about this company, and I've already begun listing Christmas gift ideas for all four grandkids, with so much to choose from... logic games for both younger and older kids, hands-on puzzle games, yoga games to coax kids into exercising and away from the TV, educational card games, bingo-type games (called "Zingo!") to boost academic skills, construction sets (our grandson plans to be an engineer and will LOVE those!), math dice games, toddler and family games, even a couple of games where you solve a mystery and try to escape a room before time runs out! I've already placed an order for a few "brain fitness" games for my dear mom - want to do my part in keeping that mind of hers sharp!

This is a wonderful introduction for children (and adults) to simple programming logic structures. I've been an application developer for nearly 20 years and my child (age 9) was able to pick this up and run with it. It feels like a puzzle to him and it is abstract enough to not be overwhelming. He's learning the fundamentals of loop and logic structures and not getting tied down in the specifics of a particular programming language. My mother (who also was a professional programmer) was so intrigued that she requested one for her birthday. This is an excellent product and the 60 levels allow the player to start slowly with very simple problems, learn the principles, but have plenty of advancing challenges to stay engaged for a long time. I'd give this game 6 stars if that was an option.

We got this for my sons 10th birthday. He wants to learn coding and it’s a really creative way for kids to learn the concepts without them spending more time in front of screens! It gets progressively more difficult and has even been a challenge for my programmer husband. The avatar and portal are a little large for the booklet would be my only criticism. It’s got fairly easy to follow directions for how to start each puzzle and you can always look at the answer key to check your solution. We are impressed with it and would recommend it to others.

My 8-yr old daughter & I love this game!! It takes some thought and I'm excited when I can see her mind working away at finding the solutions. We include the 5 yr old sibling, too -- her job is the "test the logic". We've had fun as a family with this game. Recommended for any kid that is very analytical. It builds problem-solving skills in a fun way. ThinkFun is a great brand. Great quality games and their customer service is fantastic.