The Pack - NYSCI

Made by the New York Hall of Science, The Pack - NYSCI is a coding/algorithm puzzler in the form of a game where players take care of and expand an ecosystem. Set on the world of Algos, where water and food are scarce, the game challenges players to locate seeds and expand water resources to help fix the environment. Despite the dystopian-sounding premise, the graphics are beautiful, and players have no time limit for completing levels, allowing for free exploration. They can't venture too far from water sources, however. For that, they need help; members of their Pack can travel to dry areas.

Players start alone, but as they gather food, they'll soon encounter potential members of their Pack. After feeding these beings food, the beings join the Pack. Each type of being has a special skill that can be used, alone or in combination, such as digging up seeds, moving boulders, grabbing items, or repeating instructions, all of which take additional food. Food regularly replenishes itself, so if players run out, there's always more to gather. After a player's Pack includes more than one type of member, players can create algorithms where members of the Pack do tasks in combination to solve more complex problems. 

There's a mini-map on the screen as you play, and there's a larger map where players can see the whole explored world, helping with navigation and planning. Players tap and drag the screen to move around, but the interface is a bit clumsy, and it's hard to move with any finesse. Also, it's easy to lose track of an algorithm already in progress that players have forgotten to end. Options to access, edit, or stop algorithms that are still running are difficult to find in the game. The game includes a screen with player achievements and a travel log, keeping track of the stats.

The Pack - NYSCI teaches combinational and computational thinking, encouraging novel solutions and allowing for more than one way to solve problems. Its open-ended nature will appeal to students who like to explore.

There are few instructions on how to play the game; students must intuit most of what to do. There's the occasional bit of guidance, reminding players to keep looking for seeds or suggesting which Pack members might be helpful in the next algorithm. There are no instructions for how to construct the algorithms, however, so players with no coding experience might use up quite a bit of food while experimenting. But there's always more food to gather, so they can keep trying. Frequently used algorithms can be saved and named for future use.

While this game is great for middle and high schoolers, younger students might have difficulty figuring out what they're supposed to do without a lot of guidance. The game would be improved with a better movement mechanic and additional explanations of what each of the Pack members can do. Teacher resources could extend the learning outside the game.