Coding games

Nothing lends itself better to the gamification of learning than Coding. In all likelihood, if you're interested in coding, you've probably got half an interest in gaming, so a marriage made in heaven is to use coding as a gameplay element. Thankfully, some people have decided this is a good idea too, and have created some top notch websites to learn coding whilst exploring dungeons, killing monsters and getting loot!

First up is Code Combat which has 80 free levels covering all the basics of coding in a language of your choice (including Python). You can create Clans which allow you to monitor student progress. Teachers, for more info, check out https://codecombat.com/teachers

I really like Code Combat, it's got a great visual style, and I love the fact you can choose which language you want to learn. It's a nice step by step guide, with instant visual results. It's style is similar to a lot of iPad games, and it looks good without being overly flashy.

Next up is Codekingdoms which is also free. This has a younger feel to it, so probably better for the lower end of KS3, so this one might not be as useful to you. Again it has Class management built in, but the language is restricted to its own, Java based language. Again, more info can be found here http://codekingdoms.com/teachers/

I'm not as convinced by this one. There's a bit more of a game going on, but the coding is a bit more hidden and not explained as well. Maybe I'm being harsh, but I feel that you aren't going to choose to play a game like this because you want to play a basic platformer, you're playing it to learn coding. Therefore, the coding parts should be first and foremost, which Code Combat does, rather than a secondary element, which seems to be Codekingdoms approach. That said, it certainly has the capacity for indepth coding, so perhaps the mix of platforming and coding can give players some divergence in their gameplay. 

Other websites on a similar theme:

https://www.bloc.io/ruby-warrior#/ - Be aware of a load, 8 bit soundtrack!

http://www.crunchzilla.com/code-monster

Edugeek thread on the subject here:

http://www.edugeek.net/forums/coding/151071-code-combat-coding-website.html