Video gaming has lured the entire generation, right from kids to the elderly, almost everyone resort to gaming to kill free-time. What if, these video games came with a part of learning! This article looks into the video games that looks into upgrading the coding capability and enhancing one’s ability to code even better with a fun side. The top 5 video games as listed will definitely sharpen the coding ability of analytics and data science enthusiasts who want to improve upon it. What’s more! These games are available for free, with paid versions that can add more features.

1. Code Combat

Code Combat is a role-playing strategy game which uses the programming languages Python and JavaScript. Players advance to the successive levels by building code that permits them further into the vast gameplay surrounding the game. The game works only on browsers in Windows and Macintosh (recent OS versions such as Windows 7 & above and MacOS 10.7 & above are preferred for smooth gameplay). It includes single-player as well multiplayer editions. The game was originally developed to teach coding to kids and students, that gradually started gaining attention of the adult generation as well. It is an open-source software with a handful of players contributing to the community to expand the levels. It received positive reviews from critics who hailed the game as a “casual-generic” interactive browser based game.

2. Empire of Code

This browser-based game is again targeted to audience who wish to master Python and JavaScript. The theme of space is what makes this game much more interesting, which demands a user to employ strategies and tactics to progress ahead in the game. Further, to ease the pain for non-coders, the developers have also created a variant to understand coding easily. In the game, players can even use algorithms to build a ‘bot’ to manipulate opponent players. What’s more, the game will also be made available on Android and iOS devices in the coming days.

3. Codingame

More of an interface-interactive browser-dependent coding game, it offers a plethora of programming languages ranging from Python to Scala to even Perl, to those willing to upgrade their coding skills– be it beginner or advanced coders. The game has a community to even review the code that you have worked on in the game. Like every other game, it even has multiplayer options so that you can work along with peers and friends to compete with other opponents. There is a separate tutorial for machine-learning sleuths too.

4. Code Fights

Don’t let the name fool you. Code Fights is not a game per se, but it uses game mechanics to develop a fun coding environment. This website caters to amateurs as well as coding professionals. The interesting fact is that it also supports Julia, which is a new programming language slowly gaining attention in the field of machine learning and artificial intelligence. Furthermore, the website is a catch for tech-companies to scourge for good talent in the coding base.

5. Data Games

Data Games is a collection of mini-games that help the players understand data that goes behind any game. Players eventually develop the necessary math and coding skills that is required for data analysis. The website has many games such as the Rock-Paper-Scissors, Inference to predict matches based on sample, Proximity that lets a user shoot a ball close to the target, and many more. Although, the site offers less information, anyone interested to make it big in the data science industry can go through this interactive game to help them establish a familiar foothold.