TrainsCoding: Learn to Code app icon

TrainsCoding: Learn to Code

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TrainsCoding turns programming into a railway set

By Blazej Zyglarski · Education
Debuts score 84NewRate it first

Why we expect it: A clever railway metaphor makes coding concepts vivid, backed by a clear description and a well-defined young audience.

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About

TrainsCoding turns programming into a railway set. Every program is a train: the locomotive decides WHEN something happens, and each wagon behind it is one command. Couple the wagons together, push the throttle, and watch your characters move, talk, bounce and play.

Made for children aged 5 to 10, TrainsCoding teaches the big ideas of coding through play: sequences, events, loops, conditions, variables, messages and real physics.

BUILD WITH TRAINS • Pick a locomotive: when ▶ is pressed, when a character is tapped, when a button is pressed, when the iPad is tilted, when characters bump into each other, when a message arrives, or every few seconds. • Couple wagons behind it: move, turn, jump, say something, change colour, draw with a pen, wait, repeat, make decisions with if/else, keep score, win or lose. • Every wagon is colour-coded and painted with a pixel picture, so a program can be read at a glance, even by children who are only learning to read. • Drag and drop with satisfying clicks. Wagons snap into place, and pulling one off takes the wagons behind it, just like a real train.

WATCH YOUR CODE RUN • While a program runs, the wagon that is working right now lights up. Children can see exactly which step their character is on. • Stop the train and everything goes back to where it started, ready to try again.

REAL PHYSICS TO PLAY WITH • Switch on gravity and watch characters fall and bounce. • Make characters light or heavy, solid or ghostly, magnetic or sticky. • Kick a ball, build an obstacle course, or let players drag characters around.

MAKE YOUR OWN GAMES • Use the on-screen gamepad on iPad, or the keyboard on Mac, to steer your characters. • Keep score with variables, count hearts, send messages between characters, make clones, and finish with a win or game-over screen. • Four sample projects to explore and remix: Bouncy ball, Banana chase, Pen spiral and Ping-pong.

A WORLD IN 8 BITS • 22 round, friendly characters, each in 8 colours: owl, cat, pig, monkey, bear, frog, cow, sheep, dog, dragon, robot, ghost and more. • Six stage backgrounds, from a sunny meadow to outer space. • A cosy chiptune soundtrack and retro sound effects.

DESIGNED FOR IPAD AND MAC • On iPad, the stage and the code swap with a tap or a swipe, and a live mini stage floats beside the code. • On Mac, the stage and the code sit side by side, with keyboard shortcuts. • Projects save automatically, with unlimited projects and undo. • Available in English and Polish.

SAFE FOR KIDS • No ads, no in-app purchases, no accounts and no chat. • No data is collected at all. The app never connects to the internet. • Everything children make stays on their own device.

TrainsCoding is great at home, in the classroom and in coding clubs. Hook up your first train and see where it takes you!

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