Hi – Posted earlier about my confusion, and I thought I had figured things out. According to the student subscription page, a free subscription gives access to 145+ basic levels across 5 worlds.
However, the CS1 course on the teacher’s page only lists 21 levels. I would like my students to also be able to work through all 37 levels in CS2 and all 27 levels in CS3.
Are all of these levels that show up on the teacher’s page actually free to students? That would be fantastic.
Thanks!
Aaron
Hello,
No. Only the levels in the Introduction to Computer Science course are free. All levels in the additional courses (CS1 through CS5, as well as our Web and Game Development courses) require a Student License to access them.
If you’d like to know more about Student Licenses, please contact schools@codecombat.com or fill out our Demo form.
When the graphic on the student subscription page says that the free subscription gives access to “145+ basic levels across 5 worlds,” what does this mean? I only count 21 levels in the introductory course. I’m referring to this part of the subscription window:
http://transmedia.trinity.edu/code-example.png
I can require my students to subscribe for a month. It seems very reasonable to pay for the use of this excellent resource. But you might want to take a look at the messaging on the student subscription window linked above.
Hello again,
It looks like we’re mixing up the two CodeCombat products.
The Classroom product is designed to make it easier for schools to use CodeCombat in classrooms and schools (we’ve heard some coding camps have used it successfully as well). The individual campaign is designed for individuals who are learning on their own or at their own pace.
Your screenshot is from the individual campaign. In the individual campaign, there are indeed more than 145 free levels across the 5 worlds, but they won’t all be tracked in the Teacher Dashboard (except for the handful that are both in the courses and in the individual campaign) and students won’t be able to access them from their courses page.
If you were to subscribe your students to the game for a month, they would have access to all the levels in the individual campaign, but they still wouldn’t be tracked in the Teacher Dashboard, as the Teacher Dashboard only tracks levels in the courses and not all levels are included in the courses. For example, some levels in the campaign are designed to be extra difficult challenge levels that we feel would be inappropriate for students in courses.
CodeCombat’s Classroom product (which includes the courses) is designed to be more streamlined, with fewer potential distractions: for example, we hide experience point and gem rewards, as well as manage student inventory so that CodeCombat Classroom students never have to worry about forgetting to equip a sword with the cleave function or switching to a hammer so they can build something. The Classrooms also will not have ads.
So, for the Classroom version of CodeCombat, you are paying for the streamlined game, teacher’s guides (which include solutions and additional resources, such as curriculum, printable hints for students, in-class activities, and more), Classroom only levels, like those in the new Web and Game development courses, and the Teacher Dashboard for tracking student progress and managing student accounts (including password control for students with no email address).
The individual campaign version of CodeCombat does not include the solutions, additional resources, or Teacher Dashboard, but does include the gems for use in purchasing items. Ads may be added to the individual campaign version of the game at a later date.
The subscription version of the individual campaign is $10 per month per student, and grants access to additional hero types (rangers and wizards, once unlocked), plus all of the bonus levels, 3500 bonus gems each month, and the ability to create and join private clans (all members must also be subscribers). Subscribers will also not have ads.
For Classroom Student License purchases, one of our specialists works with each organization to customize a plan based on their use case and budget.
I hope that clears everything up. Please let me know if it does not!
Hi Maka – This does help clear things up! For my purposes, it sounds like the individual accounts make more sense. I will only be using the product for about 10 days, and I’m working with adult learners between the ages of 19 and 24, so they all have their own e-mail addresses. I won’t really need the teacher’s guides (which sound awesome), any of the online monitoring features, or the ability to track student accounts in a way that controls passwords. Thank you for explaining this.
(Context: This is part of a course on game programming and animation. In the past, I experimented with Code Academy for the same length of time, and I’m looking for a different vehicle for introducing these concepts. We’ll also be playing the game else.heart.break() to provide exposure to a different scripting language so we can talk about the larger, meta-concepts that transcend individual languages.)
I still have a few questions:
If I have the students create individual campaigns, do they need to buy and use gems in order to advance across the five worlds?
In the individual campaign, do they get exposure to CS1, CS2 and CS3?
Where do I find a list of the 145 game levels that would be available to individual accounts?
Are the subsequent game worlds unlocked through completion of the previous level, ormust they be purchased with gems? When I access Code Combat via an individual account, I see a map that shows many levels as “locked,” and I don’t know if they are unlocked simply by completing the previous level or if those levels need to be purchased with gems/cash.
If I decide that the students should purchase the student account for one month, is it a recurring charge until canceled or does it stop automatically?
This seems like a great product! Your explanation is very helpful, and it might be worth foregrounding the difference between teacher, student and individual accounts on the site – perhaps in the FAQ and perhaps in some other prominent place. The home page doesn’t mention the possibility of individual accounts; it just pushes the user toward teachers/students. Even after you told me there were individual accounts, I had to hunt for a bit to find them.
Thanks for your help.
Hello again Aaron,
I’m glad that helped, but I see there’s still some confusion. Let me answer your questions first.
- If I have the students create individual campaigns, do they need to buy and use gems in order to advance across the five worlds?
I’m assuming you mean if they create individual accounts or if they play the individual campaign, but in either case, they do not need to buy or use gems to advance. They will find it easier because they can by better equipment but in some cases, this will actually cause more confusion. For example, users sometimes buy weapons that do more damage, but those weapons might not have the “Cleave” ability, which some levels require.
- In the individual campaign, do they get exposure to the [Classroom’s] CS1, CS2 and CS3?
No, but some of the levels in the individual campaign are also in Classroom’s CS1, CS2, and CS3 courses.
- Where do I find a list of the 145 game levels that would be available to individual accounts?
It’s possible someone has created that list in these forums, but we don’t maintain one that’s accessible to the public. However, in the individual campaign, those levels have red dots. Levels that require you to be a individual campaign subscriber have blue dots with stars in them (though they will just be blue very soon).
These levels are spread out through the 5 worlds of CodeCombat, the Dungeon, Forest, Desert, Mountain, and Glacier.
- Are the subsequent game worlds unlocked through completion of the previous level, ormust they be purchased with gems? When I access Code Combat via an individual account, I see a map that shows many levels as “locked,” and I don’t know if they are unlocked simply by completing the previous level or if those levels need to be purchased with gems/cash.
You do not need to use gems to purchase access to levels. Gems only allow you to purchase items, and if you are an individual campaign subscriber, additional unlocked heroes. Gems will make CodeCombat slightly easier for users, as they’ll be able to buy better equipment, allowing them to do more damage and have more hit points with their heroes (CodeCombat is still a game!).
The Forest unlocks when you’ve completed the last level of the Dungeon, Kithgard Gates, or the skip-to-Forest level, Kithgard Mastery. The Desert unlocks when you’ve completed the last level of the Forest, Siege of Stronghold.
For Classrooms, the instructor controls when the next course unlocks, by assigning courses to students. Each level in a course is unlocked linearly. You must beat level 1 of CS2 before you can play level 2 of CS2.
- If I decide that the students should purchase the student account for one month, is it a recurring charge until canceled or does it stop automatically?
It is a recurring charge, but users could subscribe, pay for the first month, and then immediately unsubscribe so it won’t renew. We can also sell you prepaid codes that you can give to students to use to get a non-recurring subscription that lasts a month. These are sold in minimum bundles of 3 (1 3-month code or 3-1 month codes), so your students wouldn’t be able to purchase them for only 1 month.
Also note that if your users pay for the subscription (either as regular subscribers or using the prepaid code), they will have access to more than 300+ levels (I believe an engineer told me we were over 325 now).
This seems like a great product! Your explanation is very helpful, and it might be worth foregrounding the difference between teacher, student and individual accounts on the site – perhaps in the FAQ and perhaps in some other prominent place. The home page doesn’t mention the possibility of individual accounts; it just pushes the user toward teachers/students. Even after you told me there were individual accounts, I had to hunt for a bit to find them.
Thank you! We think we’ve got a great product too! We’re focusing a lot more attention on the Classroom because we’ve found that otherwise, some students start playing on their own and this causes a great deal of confusion in the real world classes as instructors try to figure out why some students seem to have different programming languages or levels and other possible sources of problems.
If you would like to purchase prepaid codes, you can use our prepaid page or I can issue you an invoice. Email me if you would prefer an invoice or if you want to talk about your specific use case for CodeCombat.
Maka
Customer Advocate
Thanks for the explanation, Maka. This all makes sense. My students will pay for a one month subscription to Code Combat, and we will be sure to immediately unsubscribe so it won’t renew.
Hi, My students are getting locked out of level 8, level 14, level 16. Can someone tell me why this keeps happening? Why are some students able to get around it?
Welcome welcome @Dawnette_Brenner to the forum! It is a lovely place where you can share all kinds of stuff (appropriate of course), share bugs, and even get assistance for code! We suggest that you review this topic which shows all essentials of this board! And we suggest you review this topic which shows how to post your code correctly! Thanks!! 
Lydia
HI @Dawnette_Brenner, Welcome to the Discourse 
!!
I don’t think @maka is active anymore, I apologize I can’t solve this issue. Hopefully, @Deadpool198, @Chaboi_3000, or @dedreous can help you.
Charlie
Hello @Dawnette_Brenner,
Unless things have changed a lot, your best bet is usually to create a new topic, but I see that @Chaboi_3000 has already flagged this for support, so someone should get back to you soon.
Hello @Lydia_Song and @weary. You are both correct. I no longer work for CodeCombat. Warning people that reaching out to me won’t work is useful, but you don’t need to @maka when you do it. 
I’m trying to sleep over here!
Hope everyone is well!
Maka
Should I say Welcome back! or Aww… I’m sad that you’re leaving CoCo! ?
I’ll just say both!
Welcome back!
Aww… I’m sad that you’re leaving CoCo. 
Sorry for pinging you so much!
Lydia
maka! Welcome back. It’s nice to see you.
Hi maka, Welcome back !! And Have a good sleep 
Hello and welcome @Brandon_Williams to codecombat discourse! This is a cozy forum where you can share ideas, share fan art, get assistance for code, etc! Before you proceed, we hope that you review this topic, which shows all essentials of this board! Thanks!
Yes you will keep your items.
you will???
20 chars
Yea you will.
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