codeonline for classrooms

Teach coding by making games — in plain English. No installs, no logins required, works on the devices you already have.

Try it now Open the tutorial Command reference

Why it works in a real classroom

Nothing to install

Runs in any browser — locked-down school Chromebooks, lab PCs, or student phones. It’s also an offline app (PWA) and an Android APK, so spotty Wi-Fi won’t stop a lesson.

Reads like English

move player with arrows, when player picks up any coin. The syntax wall that stops most beginners is gone — great for younger students and English-language learners.

Instant, visual feedback

Type a line, press Run, see it move. Built-in sprite, sound, and map editors mean students make something they’re proud of in one period.

Multiplayer built in

Tag, Light Cycles, Online Pong and more — two students, two phones, same room. A ready-made group activity that no other beginner tool offers out of the box.

FreeNo account to codeOffline-capablePhone + ChromebookAges ~8+

Lesson 1 — “Make your first game” (45 minutes)

Goal: every student leaves with a tiny game they wrote and can share.
You need: one device per student (or per pair), a browser, the URL codeonline.io. No setup, no accounts.

Warm-up (5 min)

Open codeonline.io on the board. Open the Light Cycles (or Tag) demo, play 30 seconds, then click into the editor and show them: it’s just English. Change one word (a color) and Run.

Build together (15 min)

Have everyone type this and press Run:

player is {x: 60, y: 60, image: "hero"}
coins is list of 6 sprites {image: "coin"}
coins are pickups
score is 0

when player picks up any coin
  add 1 to score

to update
  move player with arrows
to draw
  clear screen to dark blue
  each coin in coins
    draw sprite "coin" at coin.x, coin.y
  draw sprite player at player.x, player.y
  write "score {score}" at 2, 2 in white on hud
run game with update and draw

Walk through it line by line — it reads like a description of the game. Click the screen, use the arrow keys, collect coins.

Make it yours (15 min)

Challenge cards — students pick one or more:

Change the hero and coin sprites (open the pixel editor).
Add a time limit: time limit is 30 seconds and when time runs out → show “TIME UP”.
Add a sound on pickup: play sound "coin".
Make the coins more or change the world size.

Share (10 min)

Each student copies their share link (or, signed in, hits 🌐 publish) and trades with a partner to play. Quick gallery walk: a few volunteers show theirs on the board.

Extension / next lessons: enemies you avoid (hostile tags), a title screen and menus, a two-player multiplayer game, scoring and high-score saving. The reference has a runnable example for every command, and the tutorial is a self-paced path students can follow independently.

Privacy & safety

No account is needed to code. Programs run locally in the browser; students can learn and build without signing in or giving any personal info.
Sign-in is optional — only to save your games to the cloud or publish to the community gallery. The published gallery is moderated (anyone can report; authors and admins can remove).
Coming for schools: a no-account classroom code mode — students join a class with a code and a display name, no email, no personal data — so it fits COPPA/FERPA expectations out of the box.

Want it for your school?

A classroom dashboard (rosters, progress, a private class gallery) and a full curriculum are on the roadmap. If you’d like to pilot codeonline with your class or school, get in touch: Kevin Long.

Start with your class →

codeonline.io — a free, plain-English fantasy console for learning to code by making games. Made by Kevin Long.