Dundee based computer company Denki has teamed up with Curve Games to donate 5000 free copies of its award winning educational title Autonauts vs PirateBots. The ingenious family-friendly video game launches next week and is proven to educate players on the fundamentals of programming.
Teachers, tutors and lecturers will be able to claim the free copies of the game on PC by completing a simple online form.
Denki is the development studio behind the BAFTA Award-winning original Autonauts and its forthcoming sequel. The company’s Creative Director, Gary Penn, is an industry legend having worked on the original Grand Theft Auto whilst Creative Manager at DMA Design, the studio responsible for Lemmings.
Speaking to Dundee Live he said: “Autonauts vs PirateBots is a game for everyone, but it also doubles up as a learning tool. Teachers have contacted Denki to let us know that they are using the original Autonauts to teach students the logic behind coding, especially as it encourages creativity and discussion with other players.
“It may look simple on the surface but there are tons of programming challenges disguised beneath this infectious sim, which is why we’ve decided to gift 5000 copies to schools, colleges and universities across the UK."
And he added: “When we started working on the original Autonauts, we hadn't considered its potential as a learning tool at all. As a game designer it's hard enough making sure your game's fun, so there's rarely time to think beyond that.
“However, as soon as people started playing the demo, we received comments from parents and teachers who'd picked it up for fun, but quickly recognised that the puzzle element would be a great way of introducing their students to coding skills.
“We even had one teacher get in touch from Denmark to tell us he'd tested it against their standard course materials, and that he'd noticed his students were learning more about coding by playing Autonauts!
“With the latest game - 'Autonauts vs Piratebots' - we wanted to give more teachers and students the opportunity to try it themselves. Initially we were just going to offer it to schools and colleges around Dundee where we're based, but when we mentioned it to our publisher, Curve Games, they loved the idea and wanted to roll it out nationwide, which we were excited to do.
“If the response from teachers for 'Autonauts vs Piratebots' is as enthusiastic as it was for the original Autonauts, I'm sure we'll be focusing on the learning aspects more in future Autonauts releases.”
Endorsing the campaign is Chris van der Kuyl, a visiting professor of digital entertainment at University of Abertay Dundee, said: “Video games are a great way to entertain ourselves, have fun together, and to relax – this is all the more reason why their intersection with education is something that needs to be taken seriously.”
Whilst games like the Nintendo DS title, Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training, were designed to improve mental arithmetic, more recently commercially successful games like Minecraft and Roblox have been utilised to teach chemistry, computer-aided design, maths, and computer science.
Autonauts vs PirateBots marries an utterly charming artistic vibe with an innovative and intuitive ‘show-and-tell' Scratch-style coding system to make unique automation gameplay accessible to all.
The game launches via Steam next Thursday and is the follow-up to the multi-award-winning title Autonauts where players must build, create, and automate to establish a thriving settlement, crafting bots and programming them to build an ever-evolving autonomous paradise of agriculture, industry, and enlightenment.
-If you’re a tutor, teacher or lecturer you can apply for your free copy here.
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