The Kitronik ZIP96 is a fully programmable feature-packed retro-styled handheld gaming solution for the Raspberry Pi Pico. It offers the new coder an inspiring environment on which to learn and it offers everyone a fun way to get to grips using microcontrollers.
To highlight the fantastic learning potential of the board we devised three sets of free lesson plans. There are 11 lessons per game (10 for Reversi) and the lessons include curriculum mapping, practical exercises, a linked PowerPoint presentation, a PDF handout, and a completed code example. The lessons are aimed at students aged 14+ but can be used whenever your students are typically introduced to the Python programming language. Each of the 3 sets of lesson plans start in a similar way by covering basic game design concepts, before then applying them to game at hand. If you only plan to use one game, this means everything you need is in included in the documentation.
Lesson Plans - ZIP96 for Pico - Overview:
The three sets of lesson plans have been developed specifically for teachers and contain everything required, other than the hardware, to put together and deliver engaging and focused lessons. No purchase is required, the lesson plans can be downloaded in their entirety for free, from here or from the Resources section of the product page. This allows you to get to grips with the material and to even plan out lessons before the hardware has been obtained. Let's take a look at each of the three sets of lesson plans;
Lesson Plans - 1 - ZIP96 for Pico - A-mazing Game:
For the a-mazing game, students will create a maze-based game where the player runs through a maze collecting gems – collect all the gems to win. Trying to stop the player from wining are three enemies, if an enemy catches the player a life is lost. Lose all three lives and the game is lost and the player must try again. The game writing process has been divided up over 11 detailed lessons.
The first lesson begins with the basics; ZIP96 introduction, the brief for the game, and an introduction to the software design process. Each subsequent lesson builds on the lesson before it, introducing more key coding concepts, until the final lesson when each student has a completed game that can be played and enjoyed.
Lesson Plans - 2 - ZIP96 for Pico - Battleships:
For the battleships game, students will design and code a two player strategy guessing game. In the game, each play puts their ships onto the board and they each take it in turns to guess where the other players ships are. Each play has 4 types of ship on the board, each comprising a different number of squares. A ship is sunk once all of its squares have been hit and the game is won when one player sinks all of the other players ships.
Lesson one breaks down the process for creating the game, and then each of the 10 remaining lessons take you step by step towards the completed game.
Lesson Plans - 3 - ZIP96 for Pico - Reversi:
The Reversi game is a strategy game for 2 players that is played on an 8 x 8 board. The players take it in turns to place a disk of their colour onto the board. Each player tries to trap their opponent’s discs between two of their own. When a disk is trapped the colour flips and a game is over when one player can no longer move or the board is full.
The first lesson contains the design brief and basic game design, each subsequent lesson introduces the students to addition concepts until they complete the process of producing the finished game.
ZIP96 - All Links & Resources:
| Resource/Location: | Link: |
|---|---|
| ZIP96 product page. | |
| MicroPython repo. | |
| Two-player game design | |
| Add PyPi modules in Thonny. | |
| ZIP96 Datasheet. | |
| Lesson Plans 1 - Maze Game. | |
| Lesson Plans 2 - Battleships. | |
| Lesson Plans 3 - Reversi. |
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