Welcome back to the Game-based Learning Review! We kick things off with a tough round of Filament Fours, puzzling over classics like Super Meat Boy, Dr. Mario and Dr. Brain. Next, the Filament Pitchdle explores the order of operations as a point-and-click adventure, and we make the case for Factorio and Balatro as two of the best examples of math-driven mechanics in games. From there, we return to our completionist run of RoboCo.

Dan shows off a motor controlled by a custom Python script before we take on the final secret in the Bistro level: standing up a chair. We spend half an hour engineering a robot to flip chairs upside down onto tables, with plenty of broken physics and exploding furniture along the way. In the final minutes, we discover the secret only asked us to set a fallen chair upright on the floor. Perseverance pays off!

Episode Outline:

• [0:00-4:30] Intro: We welcome viewers and share our plans to bring Python scripting and intermediate automation into future robot builds.
• [4:31-15:20] Filament Fours: We work through a puzzle that groups video games by shared title keywords like “Super” and “Doctor,” and a 90s edutainment franchise stumps us at the finish.
• [15:21-22:15] The Filament Pitch: We brainstorm a game that teaches the order of operations (PEMDAS) to new corporate hires, with a detour into viral YouTube math puzzles.
• [22:16-29:00] RoboCo Scripting Preview: Dan demonstrates a prototype robot with a microcontroller that reads and displays motor RPM using a custom Python script.
• [29:01-57:20] The Chair Challenge: We attempt the Bistro level secret by placing chairs upside down on tables, cycling through claw redesigns as the chairs fly apart.
• [57:21-1:01:09] The Solution and Wrap-Up: Past tournament footage reveals that “standing up a chair” means setting it upright on the floor. We complete the challenge, unlock a beret and sign off.

Links:

• SimTower: The classic PC simulation game Dan correctly guesses during Filament Fours.
• Super Solvers: The Learning Company’s 1990s edutainment series, set in Shady Glen, Wisconsin, and the final answer in our Filament Fours puzzle.
• Factorio: The factory simulation game we discuss as a stronger mechanical fit for teaching the order of operations than a narrative adventure.
• Balatro: The roguelike deckbuilder whose scoring multipliers reward careful thinking about the order of operations.
• FIRST Global RoboCo Challenge: The 2021 global virtual robotics competition built in RoboCo, whose footage solved the chair secret for us.