Osmo Coding

The Osmo system uses physical game pieces in conjunction with the device’s screen, making scripting and coding tangible and accessible for pre-readers.

Osmo Coding Awbie requires a base system—a stand and a mirror that attach to the device’s camera and that are compatible with other Osmo games—for the iPad, iPhone, and Amazon Fire. The system allows players to use physical pieces to interact with the screen-based game. Kids use bricks marked with commands, arrows, numbers, and loops to create scripts that direct a silly character through mazes and challenges, picking up prizes such as strawberries.

Osmo Coding functions in much the same way, except that you use physical blocks to direct the actions of a character (Awbie) on adventures in the forest. 

In terms of gameplay, it's a developing puzzle solver, with users having to string together longer and more complex codes to munch as many strawberries as possible. At the start this can be as simple as moving around the screen one square at a time, but in later stages you need to tell Awbie to follow much longer sequences.  In-app help guides kids through the increasingly challenge coding puzzles so kids feel successful and have fun with the story-based adventures.

Why it’s great: 

The app combined with physical pieces made kids more patient and thoughtful as they worked through the challenges. Physical pieces made it easier to play the game with multiple people, fostering discussion, collaboration, and group problem-solving. Osmo Coding Awbie is open-ended and kids can explore and create their own paths.

You can download Osmo Coding on your iOS devices from the Apple App Store.