Robot Turtles is the most backed board game in Kickstarter history. The game was created by Dan Shapiro a father of twins and software programmer. Dan got the idea for Robot Turtles during his shower one morning. He created the first version using clip art images and had so much fun playing it with his children that he took a leave of absence from his job at Google to develop the game.
I never pass up an opportunity to review an educational board game, because games are part of our homeschool learning arsenal. When I read about Robot Turtles I immediately fell in love with this one of kind game. The game is great for children ages 4-10 years old and provides crucial brain development and computer programming skills. Children will learn about order of operations, debugging, limited syntax, functions and more. The board game is very similar to a video game and has cool obstacles and powers that you can unlock along the way. 2-5 players can play this game, which literally takes seconds to learn (which is awesome when you have impatient children). The game is one that will grow with your children as their programming skills improve.
The first time we played the game it was a rainy dreary day, which is perfect game playing weather. After reading the basic game instructions, which took just a minute, we were ready to play. In the game the parent is the "Turtle Mover" and the children are the "Turtle Masters." The "Turtle Mover" run the game, provide encouragement and add to the fun my making silly turtle noises. My children really enjoyed the silly turtle noises that I was required (per the game instructions) to make. Turtle Masters get to create the programming and boss the "Turtle Mover" (aka computer) around.
Beep, boop, beep, boop! Doot-dot, doot-dot-doo! Zippity, Zap!
After children decide which color "Robot Turtle Tile" they want to be (Beep, Dot, Pi, Pangle) they are ready to start creating their code. Each child takes turns laying down a "Code Card" and the "Turtle Master" moves the child's "Robot Turtle Tile". "Code Cards" allow children to move Forward, Left and Right. For younger children who may not completely understand left vs right yet the "Code Cards" and "Robot Turtle Tiles" have color coded flowers to help guide children.
The object of the game is to reach the matching "Jewel Tile" in the center of the board. There is no need to worry about making a mistake because there is a "Bug Tile" to undo a move.The children caught on quickly and after playing the basic game a few times they were ready to move onto some of the "Obstacle Tiles". The obstacles include: Ice Walls, Stone Walls and Crates. In order to get around obstacles more advanced "Code Cards" will need to be used these include lasers and function frog.
My 7 and 8 year old fell in love with the game the first time we played it and even after 2 hours of continuous game playing they were not bored. It is a game that they ask to play at least twice a week. Both children are getting really good at the game and they have been able to add several different "Obstacle Tiles" to their game playing.
The game board game, cards and game pieces are bright, colorful, and sturdy. This game provides families with endless learning opportunities and before you know it your children will be writing computer games rather than just playing them.
On the Thinkfun Robot Turtles website there are video instructions, extra game board setups, the full Robot Turtles story, adventure quests and more.
Gwyn (8 years old) and Rowyns review (7 yrs old):
Gwyn, "I like the turtles they are cute. I think the guy did a good job creating the game. I have fun playing the game with my mom and brother. I like the creativity of the game. It is so much more fun than our other regular board games. I liked it so much I hope he makes more fun games"
Rowyn, "I like the crystal cards. The game is fun and exciting. I have fun playing with the turtles and moving them on the board."
Links to follow:
-Robot Turtles Website-Robot Turtle Facebook
-Robot Turtle Twitter
Where to buy:
You can purchase Robot Turtles on Amazon for $24.99. Also available from Robot Turtles is an interactive, choose your adventure Robot Turtles storybook.
I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.
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