Rabbids Coding Adds Winning Design-Competition Levels and New Languages

The team behind Rabbids Coding – a free, educational game with which players can
learn basic coding skills while cleaning up a Rabbids-style mess in space –
recently held a worldwide level-design competition in partnership with
Bibliothèque Sans Frontières, and have
added the winning levels to the game with today’s update, along with five new
languages to allow even more people to learn the fundamentals of programming.
The competition was open to students from around the world, drawing over 300
participants and bringing to life 70 different level designs, and the eight
competition winners represent nine universities and five countries.

“At Ubisoft, we believe that games are an ideal playground for children to learn
and grow,” said Mickaël Newton, project manager for Corporate Social
Responsibility. “By inviting students to develop new levels for Rabbids Coding,
we hoped to not only continue our mission to bring accessible coding lessons to
kids around the world, but also to inspire the next generation of video game
developers to put their skills to use for a positive initiative.”

Students’ backgrounds were a diverse mix, with some students enrolled in degree
programs specifically related to coding, while others entered without much
experience, but with a passion for games. One winning participant, Michelle Liu,
chose a university program in animation at NTU’s School of Art, Design, and
Media in Singapore. Though her team would ultimately be announced as winners for
designing level 35 of the game, she wasn’t so sure of her chances in the
beginning.

“At first, I didn’t think I had what it takes to participate,” said Liu, “as I
had little confidence in my coding skills.” However, with the encouragement of
her boyfriend, she decided to team up with some of her more experienced friends,
while at the same time contributing her own expertise and learning along the
way.

Another winner, Mattia Beffa, is a former programmer, IT technician, and current
game design student at the Italian Academy of Video Games. According to Mattia,
he has wanted to work in the videogame industry since playing his father’s
PlayStation 2 when he was younger. For Mattia and his team, the challenge was to
create a level which “reflected the vibe of Raving Rabbids; something different,
confusing at first, but clear once you’re in it, and above all a little crazy.”
After working on several different drafts of their level, Mattia and his team
still felt something was missing.

“We thought it was good, but we were missing the casual and fun dimension of the
Rabbids,” said Beffa. “So we turned the maze into a club, with colorful tiles
and Rabbids running around the path.” Finally, he said, they felt they had
succeeded.

Teams from all around the world entered the competition, and choosing the
winners was tough, but starting today, you can try out all of their levels in
the game. Check out the full list of competition winners and try out their
levels now:

Full list of competition winners:

• Arnaud Gicquel and Stévan Garreau; L'Institut Supérieur des Arts Appliqués,
  France

• Ben Thompson, Jacob Bas, and Josh Thompson; Staffordshire University, United
  Kingdom

• Giacomo Scoppola, Lisa Toria, and Mattia Beffa; Accademia Italiana
  Videogiochi, Italy

• Martin Douet; Isart Digital Paris, France

• Michelle Liu, Bryce Tan, and Joel Wong; Nanyang Technological University and
  National University of Singapore, Singapore

• Miguel Antonio Penalver Zayek; George Brown College, Canada

• Murray Smith; University of Toronto, Canada

• Ophélie Foucault; Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, Canada

In addition to adding the winning level designs, Rabbids
Coding can now be played in
five new languages, including Arabic, Catalan, Japanese, Portuguese, and
Spanish.

Rabbids Coding doesn’t require any previous coding experience, and it has an
easy-to-understand visual display. By simply dragging and dropping blocks of
code, the player manages the actions of a Rabbid wearing a mind-control device.
The goal in each level is to provide the simplest possible instructions for the
Rabbid to complete their assigned task. You can check out Rabbids Coding for
free on PC through Ubisoft Connect, or through your mobile device’s app store.
And for the latest news on all Ubisoft games, keep your eyes on the Ubisoft
News Hub.