Lightbot

Lightbot is an educational puzzle game about programming and logical thinking.

The player controls a small robot and must guide it to light up all blue tiles in each level.
Instead of moving the robot directly, you build a program from simple instructions
(move, turn, jump, light up, repeat, etc.). This makes Lightbot well-suited for introductory courses on algorithms, control flow, and problem decomposition.

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Play online

You can play Lightbot directly in your browser:

• https://lightbot.lu

No installation or account is required for the online version.

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Downloading and running Lightbot locally

1. Download the latest release from the Releases page.
2. Unpack the archive.
3. Open index.html in your browser (no server required).

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Localization

The release build is static, so you cannot add a new localization by editing files after download. New languages must be added in the source and released as part of the project.

Translations live in:

src/locales/translations.en.js
src/locales/translations.de.js
src/locales/translations.fr.js

Best practice for contributing a new language

1. Copy an existing file (for example translations.en.js) to a new file like translations.it.js.
2. Translate only the values (right-hand side). Keep all keys exactly the same.
3. Add the new language to the i18n resources in src/lightbot/lightbot.view.canvas.ui.translate.js.
4. Add the language option to the language selector in index.html.
5. Open a Pull Request with the new file.

Only Pull Requests are accepted for new translations.

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Building from source

If you prefer to build the game yourself (or modify the code):

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/haan/Lightbot.git
   cd Lightbot

2. Install dependencies

   Make sure you have Node.js installed, then run:

   npm install

3. Start the dev server

   npm run dev

4. Build the game

   npm run build

   This outputs a production build to dist/.

5. Run locally

   Open dist/index.html in your browser.

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Using Lightbot in teaching

Lightbot was designed with teaching in mind. Typical use cases include:

• Introducing basic programming concepts (sequencing, loops, conditionals)
• Practicing algorithmic thinking and planning
• Comparing different solutions for efficiency (shorter programs vs. more steps)

Teachers are free to:

• Run the online version in class
• Provide a local copy built from the Releases page
• Fork the repository and customize levels and interface to their needs

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Credits

• Development: Laurent Haan
• Interface: Zenobia Homan
• Robot artwork: surt
• Music: hektikmusic
• Original Lightbot concept: https://lightbot.com/

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License

This project is released under the MIT License.
See the LICENSE file for the full license text.