
Show HN: Variables War, a kid-friendly code playing-cards game - erwanalliaume
https://github.com/kids-code-games/variables-war
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erwanalliaume
This game is free to play, cards could be printed from the github page.

The goal is to be the first to reach 42 for either of your 2 variables. For
that, you will have to create a program that gets them closer to 42. Different
kind of cards will help you to achieve that, if you are lucky enough: values
and loop cards will help you increment your variable value. All the other
cards will be used to slow down your opponents or defend yourself from a
previous attack.

Some of the cards: code freeze, legacy code, pair programming, mob
programming, memory leak, rollback, refactoring.

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failrate
Graphic design feedback:

\- don't use just color to separate card types. Include an icon.

\- make it obvious which text is the effect and which is the flavor text.

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jerf
I don't understand the "Condition" cards: "Forbids any card that is breaking
this condition. If the condition is already broken, then forbids any card that
is not going towards its resolution." I don't know what it means to "forbid" a
card. The word appear nowhere else in the card descriptions or game rules.
Some (non-trivial) examples are probably called for; it seems like one of the
more powerful and complicated cards.

(Note my problem isn't an inability to come up with a plausible
interpretation, it's that I can come up with _too many_.)

I also find myself having a dream of playing a "Repeat ${PlayerCount}" card
and contriving it so that by quitting on my turn, I simultaneously win and
exit the game. (What's the opposite of "ragequit"?)

~~~
yann_r
"Forbids any card..." means that no one, not you nor an opponent, can put on
your board that will break the condition written on the card (or worsen the
situation it it's already broken).

For instance, if you have the "varB < varA" condition card on your board with
your variable A = 2 and your variable B = 4, then no one can put a "Increment
one var by 1" card on your variable B.

Someone could put a "Increment one var by 1" card on your variable A, as it
would bring you closer from having "varB < var A"

~~~
webmaven
"Block" might be a better term than "forbid".

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zokier
If you want programming inspired card game, wouldn't deck building be the
natural mechanic?

~~~
snarkyshark
If you want deck building mechanic, wouldn't programming the game be the
natural suggestion?

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wernsey
This is very cool and I'd like to try it.

I participate in an outreach program that help under privileged children. We
use project based learning methods to for topics that aren't covered in the
normal curriculum. We also don't have access to enough computers.

I've recently looked into "teaching computer science to kids without using
computers" because I believe that the skills are valuable in other domains
(for example, being able to think through a problem logically or as an
algorithm might help them with mathematics or economics later).

Here are two of the resources I've found:

[1]
[https://code.org/curriculum/unplugged](https://code.org/curriculum/unplugged)
[2] [https://csunplugged.org/en/](https://csunplugged.org/en/)

If anyone would like to reply with more resources I'd really appreciate it.

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mogigoma
This reminds me of the great game, Ergo:
[https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/55279/ergo](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/55279/ergo)

~~~
kqr2
[https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/product/146618](https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/product/146618)

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arayh
[https://github.com/kids-code-games/variables-
war/blob/master...](https://github.com/kids-code-games/variables-
war/blob/master/CardsDescription.md)

"Increment one var by 1" shows up twice, once as x6 and again as x10 (maybe
I'm misunderstanding something here?)

Interesting game! Some of the flavour text might be lost on a 7-year-old, but
I can see it being rather quite endearing as a family game.

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snarkyshark
Nice concept! Good game. And nice presentation.

Wonder if the lack of visuals and random terms/quotes be a detractor from
kid's interest.

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zaman8040
If you want programming inspired card game, wouldn't deck building be the
natural mechanic?

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hoos97
This is cool...and I would back you in a kickstarter campaign...go for it!

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ArekDymalski
Very interesting - gonna test it with my son.

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dave-f
Looks great, and some nice ideas for cards!

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mcarthur_gill
Awesome game! I love it!

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nirelBRACITOS
Let kids be kids and let them do kid’s things. Even if your passion is coding,
you must not impose it.

~~~
AnIdiotOnTheNet
I don't think that's the point. Kids don't necessarily know what they'll like
until they try it, that's sort of the whole point of being a kid.

~~~
nirelBRACITOS
Most of the parents here will abuse their kids on a weekly basis with coding
crap until they “like” it. Kids like to run, jump, play, be with other kids,
not code.

~~~
chrisweekly
My little brother started programming when he was five. You might want to
rethink your sweeping generalizations about "parents here" or kids in general.
It's not just rude and obnoxious, it's ignorant and plain wrong.

~~~
failrate
My son is almost 9, and he is far more accomplished in programming than I was
at that age. And I was a precocious self-taught programmer of the TRS-80 era.

