Lucas Academy
Bringer of Light

Games ยท The Glitch Arcade

The Glitch Arcade

Open a real game. Change one line. Watch everything change.

Play the first cabinet โ€” free Explore the paths

One way to learn is through games.

See inside

A quick look at what kids actually see and do โ€” no playing required.

๐Ÿ•น๏ธ The arcade floor The Glitch Arcade floor: a grid of game cabinets to choose from
A Breakout game mid-play: a brick wall with gaps, the ball in flight and the paddle below

๐Ÿงฑ World 3 ยท Breakout

The Brick Cabinet

  • Make the ball bounce off walls and paddle.
  • Fix the broken collisions.
  • Design your own brick level.
A Gomoku game in progress: black and white stones contesting the grid

โšซ World 2 ยท Gomoku

The Board Room

  • Write the referee โ€” spot five in a row.
  • Then code your first bot.
  • Watch your bot take on the house.

๐Ÿค– World 4 ยท Snake Bot Lab

Write the brain

bot.js
function chooseMove(snake, food) {
  // this is the snake's brain
  const dx = food.x - snake.head.x;
  if (dx > 0 && safe('RIGHT')) return 'RIGHT';
  if (dx < 0 && safe('LEFT'))  return 'LEFT';
  return anySafeMove();
}

What kids do

  • Stop tapping the arrow keys.
  • Write the snake's brain in code.
  • It plays for you โ€” as well as you wrote it.
๐Ÿ’กYou don't play the snake โ€” you program it.
๐Ÿ’ก The Glitch ArcadeWorld 4
๐Ÿ World 1 ยท the code editor The in-app code editor: editable lines with line numbers beside the running game
The Mind Game scoreboard: rounds of fire, water and leaf with win, lose and draw results

๐Ÿ”ฎ World 5 ยท The Mind Game

Discover Nash by playing

  • Pick fire, water, or leaf.
  • No single move always wins.
  • Find the balance โ€” Nash โ€” by playing.
A Hex game in progress: two colors of hexes racing to connect across the rhombus board

๐Ÿ”Œ World 6 ยท Hex

Crossed Wires

  • Link your two sides of the board.
  • Blocking your rival defends AND attacks.
  • Teach a bot to find the path.
๐ŸŽฎ Free Play โ€” invent your own Free Play: the live game board with editable code and tunable parts below it

๐Ÿ† World 7 ยท Champion's Arena

Tune an AI by hand

weights.js
const W_FOOD     = 1.0;
const W_SAFETY   = 5.0;
const W_BLOCKING = 0.0;
const W_OPEN     = 0.5;
// score each move, pick the best
score = W_FOOD*food + W_SAFETY*safe + W_OPEN*open;

What kids do

  • Tune four weights by hand.
  • Battle four rival bots.
  • You are the gradient.
๐Ÿ’กA strategy is just numbers you can tune.
๐Ÿ’ก The Glitch ArcadeWorld 7
๐Ÿ† World 7 ยท tune the code, watch the duel
The Champion's Arena duel: two snakes weaving among apples with a YOU versus Eater scoreboard
nextMove.js โ€” your champion's brain
const W = {
  survival:   1,   // don't get boxed in
  hunger:     1,   // chase food, grow longer
  deny:       0,   // shrink the rival's space
  open:       1,   // prefer open neighbours
  tail:      50,   // keep a path to your tail
};
return decide(state, W);   // โ† tune the dials, then Play

The arcade has gone dark

Every cabinet in the arcade has glitched โ€” in a way only code can fix. Kids fix cabinets, win back lights ๐Ÿ’ก, and learn how careful thinking can brighten the room.

Every game can be played. Every game can be opened. Every game can be changed.

How a lesson works

One screen, five small steps โ€” each one a single notch harder than the last.

Learn Predict Modify Create Challenge

Seven worlds, thirty-five levels

Each world is a real game โ€” and a coding lesson in disguise.

World Name What kids do
1 ๐Ÿ Wake the Snake Cabinet Turn the knobs, fix the death rule.
2 โšซ The Board Room (Gomoku) Write the referee, then your first bot.
3 ๐Ÿงฑ The Brick Cabinet (Breakout) Bounces, collisions, design a level.
4 ๐Ÿค– The Snake Bot Lab Stop tapping โ€” write the brain.
5 ๐Ÿ”ฎ The Mind Game Game theory โ€” discover Nash by playing it.
6 ๐Ÿ”Œ Crossed Wires (Hex) Connection bots; attack = defense.
7 ๐Ÿ† The Champion's Arena Tune an AI by hand against four rival bots.

Creativity & judgment, built in

Every world ends with a Free Play sandbox to invent your own โ€” and a 'write the judge' task where kids decide what's fair.

Read the ideas behind the arcade โ†’

Good to know

  • For ages 10+.
  • Free โ€” the first cabinet needs no login.
  • Made for iPad; runs in a modern browser.
  • No student accounts, no data collected.
  • Courses available in English, Espaรฑol, and ไธญๆ–‡.