A grid-based programming game for very young kids (4+). The player queues simple commands (move forward, turn left, turn right), presses Run, and watches a character carry them out step by step to reach a goal.
Inspired by Lightbot,
GCompris (the programmingMaze / penguin-to-fish
activity), Karel the Robot, and turtle graphics.
Status: alpha live at https://utsmok.github.io/lugame/ — see
docs/decisions.md(ADR-0005) anddocs/audits/.
- Pre-literate friendly. No reading required: big icons, big buttons, the program is a strip of picture-tiles.
- Touch-first. Must work on a tablet / parent's phone, not just a laptop.
- Gentle. No harsh failure — a wrong step just resets the character with a friendly "whoops".
- Extensible. Start with move/turn; the design leaves room for loops, procedures, and a level editor later.
| Project | License | What we borrow |
|---|---|---|
| haan/Lightbot | MIT | Core loop: build program → run → highlight each step. Robot + goal-tile theme. |
GCompris programmingMaze |
GPL-3.0-or-later | Instruction set (move/turn/procedure/loop), dead-end handling, run-button gating. Design inspiration only — no code copied. |
| asweigart/botbright | MIT | Minimal single-file Lightbot clone reference. |
MIT — see LICENSE. Chosen to match Lightbot and keep the project maximally reusable for teachers/parents.