HackForPlay.xyz: Conquering dragons with code

This month, we’ve been honored to be part of two exciting hackathons from coast-to-coast: from Boston Hacks at Boston University, to the very far west at the University of Southern California’s HackSC. With apps, software, and websites all around us in our daily lives, it’s no wonder why so many students are striving to become the next best developer!

For this week’s #WebsiteWednesday, we’re highlighting HackForPlay.xyz, a free game developed by a Japanese small business that teaches elementary and middle school kids how to code.

HackForPlay.xyz – Onamae customer (Japan)

With their mission to make learning code fun for all ages, HackForPlay.xyz developed an “action RPG” game to do just that. While it might look like a run-of-the-mill role-playing game, you have to get creative and “hack” the code to defeat your enemies and pass through roadblocks.

Established in 2014, Hack For Play hosts training programs for students and has already received awards for their innovative workshops. In a country where people use mobile devices a lot more than computers, it isn’t uncommon to find elementary and middle school kids who haven’t even learned how to type yet.

But through Hack For Play, they learn to swiftly navigate the keyboard, conquer their RPG stages by manipulating the code, and before you know it (and even the students themselves), they’ve become junior programmers!

The game itself is free for anyone through their website. What’s awesome is how the creators also host workshops for these pre-teen kids, and on occasion, even sessions where the kids partner up with their parents to conquer the slimes, dragons, and monsters with code.

Do you have what it takes to clear the stages of HackForPlay.xyz? Test it out yourself and let us know how you fare – we’re all ears @XYZ.