Quickstart: 3D Frogger

Start by drawing a 2D image (with a simple 2D pixel editor)

Then inflate it with the press of a button to create a 3D shape. With AgentCubes online, anyone can make exciting 3D characters

Make amazing 3D worlds in no time (It's just as fun and easy as Minecraft)

Program your 3D characters with a simple drag and drop interface

Share your game as a full screen web app, have your friends play your game on their mobile devices!

Getting started programming your first 3D game is free and easy

create 3D shapes
create 3D worlds
program your worlds
share your game as a full screen web app, have your friends play your game on their mobile devices!

Create Your 3D Game

Start programming your first game in less than an hour

In one hour you will create the beginnings of a 3D Frogger game that you can share with your friends. Of course, you don't have to build a 3D Frogger game. You can create anything you like! You can make a simple game or a super-sophisticated one that includes 3D layers, and multiple levels. When you are done make sure to submit your game so that no one else can edit it and you can continue working on it later!
Teacher Notes

How well does the Cliffhanger approach work?

if we create a cliffhanger activity and actually measure how many kids want to continue? In just one hour kids create their 3D characters, start to program and play with the early version of their game. Big question: are they hooked enough by the programming that they go home and finish their game? You may wonder if creating their own 3D shape, e.g., the frog, is just a waste of precious programming time. The data speaks a clear language. A sensational 65% of participants do continue. The retention of students is higher than with other activities simply providing artwork for kids. Here is a published paper showing how we measure Retention of Flow and here is a paper comparing the 3D Frogger activity to the Angry Birds Hour of Code activity.

Why AgentCubes Online?

What do kids learn from playing computer games?

Kids today can pick up just about any device or game and start playing or consuming immediately. They get very engaged, and we wonder – why can’t we take that motivation into learning? Well, now we can! Allowing our kids to be producers of new technology (games, apps) teaches them creative problem solving skills, logic, and programming. Real skills that help them succeed at whatever they do in life. Making a game teaches how computer games really work through incredibly fun and deeply engaging activities. Kids love it!

How does AgentCubes Online Work? We balance challenge and mastery

AgentCubes Online is a programming environment that gets you started immediately with our intuitive, visual, built-in programming tools. Guided by tutorials when needed, kids create characters and worlds and program their behaviors with a drag and drop interface. We have curricula to program a Frogger™ game in just ONE hour independently and our classroom curricula are for one- or two-week modules.

Motivation is built In! 3D for everyone!

We don’t separate learning and doing. Kids can get started right away creating their 3D characters! With the patented Inflatable Icons tool, simply draw them in 2D, and then inflate them to 3D with the press of a button. AgentCubes Visual Agent Talk language allows students to visually program their game components immediately, and our patented Conversational Programming makes correcting logic errors easy! AgentCubes has been proven to be engaging and inspirational to kids, and not just those in computer club. It’s easy to begin and there are no limits, so kids don’t grow out of it. AgentCubes is complex enough for advanced simulation modelers, graduate students & even NASA scientists!

Results (we take education seriously)

AgentCubes Online students are NOT guinea pigs in an educational experiment. We’ve tested our products for learning outcomes (and software bugs). Stanford University’s School of Education and the University of Colorado’s School of Education have tested our software and curricula in real classrooms. Well over 10,000 students have demonstrated that Computational Thinking – that is, the logic used to develop algorithms and solve programming problems– improves with use of our products. Results also show that most kids (girls, boys, underrepresented minorities, inner city, suburban, or rural) – are all motivated by game design classes using our products. AgentSheets, Inc. products are used with students from elementary school to post-graduate studies. Large school districts, such as Aurora Public Schools, use AgentSheets, Inc. products as part of a comprehensive K-12 Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) program. NASA scientists have used our software to put simulations on a Space Shuttle Mission.

Exceed the standards

We don’t believe in just meeting standards when it comes to our kids! AgentSheets, Inc. products are designed to exceed educational standards. Our products have been proven to meet and exceed skill mastery outlined in NETS, FITs, Common Core, and even the new Emerging Science Standards.

How it Works - Curriculum

Introduces students to computational thinking patterns through game design and then leverages these skills to have them create STEM simulations aligned with the Common Core and Next Generation Science Standards.
The Frogger activity has been tested with over 10,000 subjects as part of several large NSF (ITEST Strategy, CE21, ITEST Scale Up) funded studies in inner-city, remote rural, and Native American settings. Most students are middle school students, some students were elementary school students. The majority of students were able to create complete games with no background in programming.
Scalable Game Design even works for very young (elementary school) students

Funding

AgentSheets, AgentCubes, and AgentCubes Online have been funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes for Health.