thebotslam

Code robots. Win games.

Write the brains. Build the machine. Beat everyone else's.

thebotslam is a programming game for fun, whether you're writing your first loop or your ten-thousandth. Write code that makes your robots smarter, and win games of capture the flag, infiltrate, hide and seek and last one standing.

Use sensors, lasers, tunnelers, mortars, landmines, bug trackers, cloaking devices, rockets and more to gain an advantage. Pick the right mix of tracked, wheeled, flying and walking robots to conquer the terrain.

Start building, coding, competing

Free: all your builds, coding, test matches, ladder and friendly matches. Tournaments are $5 a team, and the winner takes 80% of the pot.

Click to watch a demo

CHS-L: tracks

Open the Factory →

Goals worth coding for

  • Last one standing: the last team with a bot running wins.
  • Infiltrate: be first to land a bot in the enemy's circle.
  • Capture the flag: bring the enemy's conch home to your circle. Every bot has a conch-cage to carry one.
  • Hide and seek coming soon

Gear that changes the game

  • Scanners, rangefinders, GPS and radios are your team's real-time field intel.
  • Lasers, lobbed rockets and smart bombs to make it count.
  • Damage localizers that say which way a hit came from, and proximity sensors to drop behind you.

Machines for every terrain... and the sky

  • Tracked: tough and steady.
  • Wheeled: twice as fast, half the load.
  • On foot: bipeds and quadrupeds pick their way over boulder fields.
  • Flying: drones that scout, and a gunship (be careful with fuel usage!)

Your language, your pace

Assembly for the bare metal, or C++, BASIC, Python, JavaScript, Lua, Java, C# and Blocks. Every bot runs on the same small CPU, so smart code beats big code. Test it in Brain code, then put it on the rated ladder.

See the League →

Learn from working code

Coding samples for every part, in every language

Dozens of short, commented samples, each in Python, JavaScript, Lua, C++, Java, C#, BASIC and assembly: drive and steer, sweep a scanner, aim a laser, lob a mortar, talk to your team, fly a drone.

  • Each one does one thing well, so you can see exactly how a part works.
  • Each comes with ideas for making it smarter, for when you're ready for more.
  • One click puts it in your bot, ready to test.
Browse the coding samples →

What it costs

More about costs →

Start building, coding, competing

Free: all your builds, coding, test matches, ladder and friendly matches. Your code stays in your own files.

Stock parts

Totals

Build platform

Sensor & tool deck

Chassis

Engine bay

Channels numbered in mount order: how programs connect

    Designs

    Design machines in the Factory and save them here; build bots from them, or put one back on the platform to change it.

    Bots

    Each bot is built from one of your designs. Load one of its programs into it, or open it in Brain code to work on it on its machine.

    New team

      · channels and performance

      Channels connect each part on its channel

        Performance

        Reference: registers, instructions, standard library

        All designs

        House bot

        Components

        Code

        No match yet
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        Bot logs what each bot's program logs, and the damage it takes; the border matches the hexagon around it

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