Block Tanks teaches KS2 and KS3 computing through block coding and real JavaScript. Pupils snap blocks into a program, watch their tank fight, and improve it in class leagues.
Free to start. A school email address gets two months with no limits.
An animation of a program being built from code blocks: when battle starts, forever, move forward 100, turn gun right 15, and if the enemy distance is under 200, fire 20. Beside it, a lime tank drives, turns its gun, sweeps its searchlight over a red target tank and fires a bolt that hits it.
How it works
From first block to league table in three steps
No installs and no set-up. It runs in the browser on school laptops, Chromebooks and tablets.
1Snap blocks into events
Drag blocks together to say what the tank does when the battle starts, when it spots an enemy, or when it is hit. Switch to the JavaScript view to see the same program as real code.
2Start a battle
Press Start battle and watch the program run. The log shows what happened, so pupils can find the bug, fix it and try again against practice opponents.
3Improve and enter a league
Send the tank to the class league. Matchdays play automatically, the table updates, and every pupil can watch the replays and improve their next version.
Curriculum
Built for the KS2 and KS3 computing curriculum
Here is how Block Tanks lines up with the computing programme of study for England, in our own words.
KS2Ages 7 to 11
Programs with a goalEvery program has a clear aim: beat the opponent. Pupils plan it, build it, test it and debug it.
Sequence, selection and repetitionBlocks run in order, if blocks make choices, and forever and repeat blocks loop.
Variables, inputs and outputsSensors read the distance to an enemy and the tank's own health. Moving and firing are the outputs. Variables remember values.
Reasoning about algorithmsPupils predict what a stack will do, then compare with the battle log and the replay.
Breaking a problem downSeparate event stacks for starting, scanning and being hit turn one big job into small ones.
KS3Ages 11 to 14
A textual language beside blocksThe JavaScript view shows each tank as real code, so pupils move from blocks to text without starting again.
Procedures and functionsMy functions lets pupils name a piece of code, give it inputs, and reuse it.
Data structuresLists store several values, such as where an enemy was last seen.
Objects and classesObjects keep a tank's plan together, and classes build many of them. Pupils extend one class from another, in JavaScript.
Boolean logicConditions combine with and, or and not to decide when to fire or turn.
Evaluating and improving algorithmsLeague results give honest feedback. Pupils compare versions and keep the one that wins.
This is our own summary, not the official wording. Please check it against your school's computing plan.
Goals
Goals that lead pupils through every idea
A Goals button sits beside the code. It shows three small goals at a time, so nobody faces a long list, and each one ticks off in a battle that uses it.
Goals
Rank 3: Gunner2 of 5
Repeat something with a repeat loop
Keep going for ever with a forever loop"forever" in Control runs the blocks inside again and again.
Turn away when you hit a wallUse "when I hit a wall" and turn your tank.
Next rank: Scout
Goal complete! Repeat something with a repeat loop
Twelve ranks, from Recruit to GeneralEarly ranks cover a first battle, sequences and events. Later ranks cover loops, if blocks, sensors, variables, debugging, JavaScript, functions, lists, Boolean logic, objects and classes, and inheritance.
Ticked by playing, not by readingA goal ticks when a battle actually uses it. A "when I spot a tank" stack only counts once the tank has spotted one.
Debugging is a goal tooLose to a rival, change the code, then beat that same rival. Pupils learn to test and improve.
Goals belong to the pupilProgress stays with the pupil, not with one tank, so trying a new idea in a copy never loses it.
For teachers
Everything a class needs, nothing to install
The teacher site sets up classes, runs the leagues and shows you who is making progress.
Classes and login cards
Add a class in a minute and print login cards with a QR code for each pupil. Pupils sign in with a class code, so they need no email address.
Leagues and matchdays
Start a league for the class and plan matchday times ahead. Results and the table update as each matchday kicks off.
Classroom show mode
Put the matchday on the whiteboard: a countdown, every match at once and the table sliding into its new order.
Progress report
See at a glance who changed their tank, who sent it and who has not started, then copy the counts into your records.
Watch any match
Open any played match as a replay to talk through a clever move or a bug with the class.
Privacy by design
Student accounts need no email address, and schools stay in control of their students' data. The game makes no third-party requests.
Cost
Free to start
Free to start
Create an account and begin straight away. There is nothing to pay to try it with your class.
Two months with no limits
Sign up with a school email address and you get two months with no limits, so you can run a full half term.