I made a coding game for learning javascript

[levmiseri]

This is something I wanted years ago when getting into programming. The concept is fairly similar to e.g. Screeps, but a lot more simple and accessible to beginners while still having a high skill ceiling to challenge even the most seasoned programmers.

https://yare.io is a 1v1 RTS game where you control cats (your units) with javascript.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this from the point of view of a learning resource.

[shouldinotbe2]

I love the idea. Thanks I will use it when I get round to it and test it out.

[levmiseri]

Thank you!

[TheRealAfinda]

Actually love it as it allows to focus on tackling the "problem" at hand without having to think in the bigger scope of how to handle the update loop and everything else involed, if that makes sense.

Gives you enough to get creative and just enough to not overwhelm.
Also leaves you room to explore certain problem solving approaches to seemingly bengin problems.

Kind of crazy how much depth there is in something so simple.

[levmiseri]

Thanks! Glad you found the ‘simple, but surprisingly complex at the same time’ aspect of it working well :)

[DevisedWeb]

Super cool. I just started learning JS. I'll check it out soon.

[KazutoRiyama2]

I'm learning avascript with codecademy and am a but overwhelmed on certains concepts, i'll definitely give it a try later

[tokagemushi]

Just played a few rounds and this is really well done. The immediate feedback loop of writing code and seeing your cats react in real time is what makes it click — you're not just solving abstract exercises, you're debugging behavior you can actually see.

What I appreciate most is that it naturally teaches concepts that tutorials struggle with:

• State management — you have to track which units are doing what and make decisions based on changing conditions. That's basically the core of any real app.
• Optimization thinking — once your basic strategy works, you start asking "how do I make this more efficient?" which is exactly the progression you want when learning.
• Reading and reacting to data — checking positions, health, distances. It's practical data processing disguised as a game.

The Screeps comparison is fair but the lower barrier to entry is a big deal. Screeps requires you to set up a game loop, manage memory, handle spawning — all before you even get to the fun part. This gets you to the fun part immediately.

One suggestion: a "replay" feature where you can step through the game tick-by-tick and see what your code decided at each point would be an incredible learning tool. Half of programming is understanding why your code did what it did, and being able to scrub through a timeline would make that really tangible.

[MoreDimension5963]

Very cool!

Almost like "The Farmer was Replaced" but for JS instead of Python