The 9 Best Coding Games Online for Adults to Learn How to Code

As a full-stack developer with years of coding experience, I know first-hand how challenging it can be to learn programming, especially as an adult. While online tutorials and courses are certainly helpful, they often lack the engagement and hands-on practice needed to truly master coding concepts.

That‘s where coding games come in. By packaging programming challenges into fun, interactive gameplay, coding games provide an entertaining and effective way for adults to learn real-world development skills.

The Benefits of Coding Games for Adult Learners

Studies have consistently shown that active, hands-on learning is far more effective than passive learning through reading or listening. A 2019 study published in PLOS ONE found that students who learned through interactive activities outperformed those who learned through passive methods by a full letter grade.

Coding games take this a step further by motivating you to learn through challenges, achievements, and storytelling. This type of gamified learning has been shown to increase engagement, boost knowledge retention, and accelerate the learning process.

Additionally, unlike coding tutorials, games force you to apply your knowledge to solve problems, providing practical experience that transfers directly to real development work. In fact, a 2018 survey of over 1,000 developers found that 70% felt the coding skills they learned through games were directly applicable to their jobs.

As an experienced developer, I can attest that the problem-solving skills and programming concepts I‘ve honed through coding games have made me a more efficient and capable coder. That‘s why I highly recommend them to any adult looking to learn programming.

So without further ado, let‘s dive into my top 9 picks for the best coding games online for adults, along with the key programming concepts you‘ll learn from each one.

1. SQL Murder Mystery

SQL Murder Mystery is a detective game that challenges you to solve a crime using SQL database queries. As you investigate the murder of Dolores Cahill on January 15, 2018 in SQL City, you‘ll get hands-on practice with SQL concepts like:

Querying multiple tables using JOIN operations
Filtering results with WHERE and HAVING clauses
Using aggregate functions like COUNT() and AVG()
Sorting and limiting result sets
Searching text using LIKE and wildcards

The game provides a realistic dataset across 11 tables containing crime scene reports, witness interviews, and more. By exploring this data using SQL queries, you‘ll gain practical experience working with relational databases, a critical skill for back-end and full-stack developers.

SQL Murder Mystery has been played by over 200,000 people and is suitable for all levels, from total SQL beginners to experienced database admins looking to test their querying skills. The game is completely free to play in your browser.

2. Elevator Saga

Elevator Saga is a game that teaches you JavaScript programming by challenging you to code an elevator management system for a high-rise building. With each level, more floors and passengers are added, requiring you to program increasingly complex algorithms.

To efficiently transport passengers to their destinations, you‘ll need to utilize core JavaScript concepts such as:

Variables and data types
Functions and control flow
Arrays and objects
Asynchronous event handling
Code organization and reusability

One of the things I love about Elevator Saga is how it forces you to think through problems logically and craft efficient algorithms, which is exactly what professional developers do every day. You‘ll get a feel for the kind of architectural decisions that go into a large JavaScript application.

The game includes a code editor right in the browser, so you can iterate on your solution and see the results play out in real-time. With 18 levels that scale in complexity, Elevator Saga provides hours of coding practice for JS developers of all skill levels.

3. Screeps

If you really want to take your JavaScript programming skills to the next level, you‘ve got to try Screeps. This massively multiplayer strategy game challenges you to code an AI that controls units in a persistent, open world.

You‘ll need to program your units to gather resources, build structures, defend your territory, and expand your influence on the map. The game world is always active, so your AI needs to make smart decisions even while you‘re offline.

Some of the advanced programming concepts you‘ll need to utilize in Screeps include:

Asynchronous programming with callbacks and promises
Memory management and caching
Pathfinding and spatial algorithms
Decision trees and finite state machines
Fault tolerance and exception handling

The cool thing about Screeps is that it‘s actually played by professional developers from major tech companies like Google, Facebook, and Microsoft. So you‘ll be able to learn from and test your skills against some of the best coders out there.

One caveat: Screeps is a complex game best suited for intermediate to advanced JavaScript programmers. But if you‘re up for the challenge, it‘s an unparalleled way to level up your development abilities.

4. Untrusted

Do you dream of being an elite hacker, able to manipulate any system at will? Then you‘re going to love Untrusted, a sci-fi puzzle game that casts you as a rogue AI trying to escape a secure facility.

The twist is that to progress through each level, you must modify the actual JavaScript code running the game, altering variables and functions to bypass obstacles and take control. It‘s like coding your own exploits!

Some of the programming tricks you‘ll employ in Untrusted include:

Manipulating data types and variable scope
Redefining functions to change behavior
Exploiting language quirks and edge cases
Utilizing browser APIs and web security holes
Thinking outside the box to solve meta-puzzles

Untrusted is more than just a game – it‘s a devious test of your JS coding abilities that will push your problem solving skills to their limits. I love how the game encourages you to "break the rules" and rewards creative coding.

Best of all, Untrusted is completely free, open source, and playable in any web browser. While certainly challenging, it‘s accessible to anyone with a basic understanding of JavaScript.

5. TIS-100

For those who really want to get low-level, TIS-100 is an assembly language programming game that‘s as challenging as it is addictive. Developed by Zachtronics, the game puts you in the shoes of a software engineer debugging a faulty computer system.

The TIS-100 is a fictional 1970s computer featuring a unique 12-node architecture. To fix the system, you‘ll need to rewrite corrupted segments of assembly code governing the communications between nodes.

The programming concepts you‘ll wrestle with in TIS-100 include:

Low-level memory management and pointers
Parallel and asynchronous processing
Interprocess communication protocols
Processor-specific instruction sets
Code optimization and resource constraints

Fair warning: TIS-100 is not for the faint of heart. Assembly is a difficult language to pick up, and the game‘s puzzles are deviously challenging. I definitely lost quite a few hours plumbing the depths of the TIS-100 architecture.

That said, if you‘re a veteran developer looking to expand your low-level programming skills, or a computer science student eager to learn assembly in an engaging way, TIS-100 is a one-of-a-kind experience. It‘s available on Steam for $6.99.

Why Every Adult Learning to Code Should Play Coding Games

As a full-stack developer who‘s gone through the learning process myself, I firmly believe that coding games are one of the best resources for adults learning programming. No other method I‘ve come across provides the same combination of hands-on practice, engaging challenges, and real-world skill building.

But don‘t just take my word for it. A recent study published in the Journal of Educational Computing Research found that students who learned programming through coding games showed a 33% greater improvement in their coding abilities compared to those who learned through traditional methods. The study‘s authors concluded that "coding games are an effective and engaging tool for teaching programming concepts, particularly for novice learners."

Another study, this one published in the International Journal of Computer Science Education in Schools, surveyed adult learners who had used coding games to learn programming. An impressive 88% of respondents said that the games helped them understand coding concepts better, while 92% found the games to be a fun and engaging way to learn.

So if you‘re an adult looking to learn to code, I wholeheartedly recommend giving coding games a try. Start with some of the options on this list, but don‘t be afraid to branch out and explore the many other coding games out there. With so many great options to choose from, you‘re sure to find ones that fit your interests and skill level.

Bonus Tips for Getting the Most Out of Coding Games

To wrap up, I want to share a few tips I‘ve learned for getting the most educational value out of coding games:

Don‘t just play through once. Revisit games multiple times to fully internalize the concepts and challenge yourself to find better solutions.
Take breaks to research the concepts you‘re learning. Whenever you come across a programming idea in a game that you don‘t fully understand, take a few minutes to look it up and solidify your knowledge.
Experiment with the code. Most coding games allow you to view and edit the code controlling the game. Take advantage of this to play around, break things, and test your own ideas.
Connect with other players. Many coding games have active player communities where you can ask questions, share solutions, and learn from more experienced programmers.
Apply your skills on real projects. As you gain knowledge from coding games, look for opportunities to utilize those same concepts in your own software projects. Solidifying your skills through practical use is key.

With these practices, you‘ll be well on your way to mastering coding with the help of coding games. I look forward to one day seeing the software you create!