Game centered on building nontrivial computer programs

Abstract

A game in which players modify a nontrivial computer program. Players with competing objectives are given the option of appending instructions ( 6 ) to the program, as well as performing special actions ( 5 ) such as inserting, deleting, or moving instructions. As the players modify the program, the program executes, modifying variables and potentially moving players closer to or further from their objectives. In addition to serving as a source of enjoyment, the game may be used in an educational context to teach and reinforce computer programming concepts such as conditional branching, looping, and multithreading.

1 . A game, with the following features:
 moveable representations of computer instructions (such as assignment instructions, conditional instructions, and looping instructions), whether physical or virtual, that may be arranged to define a computer program, and   a system, whether manual or automated, for executing the computer program   
     
     
         2 . The game of  claim 1  wherein one or more modifiable counters are used to record the current values of variables used in the computer program. 
     
     
         3 . The game of  claim 2  wherein players have the option of appending instructions from an available set of instructions to an existing program. 
     
     
         4 . The game of  claim 3  wherein players have the option of taking actions from an available set of special actions such as inserting instructions into the middle of the program, deleting instructions, moving instructions, or directly modifying the values of variables 
     
     
         5 . The game of  claim 4  wherein the instructions, counters, and special actions are implemented as physical cards comprising a deck of cards. 
     
     
         6 . The game of  claim 4  implemented as an application running on a computer system wherein the instructions, counters, and special actions are depicted visually on the screen. 
     
     
         7 . The game of  claim 4  implemented as an application running on a mobile device wherein the instructions, counters, and special actions are depicted visually on the screen. 
     
     
         8 . The game of  claim 4  implemented as a web application, wherein the implementation of the game exists on a web server and players play the game on devices remotely connected to the web server. 
     
     
         9 . The game of  claim 4  wherein the actions of the players and the execution of the program occur in a consistent, ordered sequence, i.e. players take turns and program execution is triggered by player actions. 
     
     
         10 . The game of  claim 4  wherein the actions of the players and the execution of the program are not synchronized, i.e. execution of the program is not suspended while a player is deciding upon his or her next move. 
     
     
         11 . The game of  claim 4  wherein the instructions and special actions available to each player are determined by chance, for example by drawing such options from a deck of cards. 
     
     
         12 . The game of  claim 4  wherein the instructions or special actions available to each player are drawn from a predefined set. 
     
     
         13 . The game of  claim 4  wherein the program is executed as a multithreaded program, i.e. multiple pointers point to a next instruction. 
     
     
         14 . The game of  claim 4  wherein the set of available instructions includes the ability to perform a function call, and multiple counters are used to store values for a single named variable, allowing simulated program to effect a call stack.