About Kodu Kup Norway
The Norwegian Kodu Cup 2014 finals took place in the Kongsberg Maritime technology park in the Municipality of Kongsberg. Over a hundred people, both young and old, gathered to celebrate Norway’s youngest and most promising game designers. This year’s finalists came from all around Norway, from Trondheim and Hallingdal, Lier, Oslo, Skedsmo, Bærum and Kongsberg.
Ten different teams, ten different games – competing for four different prizes! Kodu-cup Norway ( www.koducup.no) has not been a mere event, but has gone from a small classroom experiment to a national school development project. The focus is much broader than just getting kids into programming. A computer game can be a piece of art, literature, sport – almost anything. Working with Kodu engages students to work on multiple subjects at one time, meaning that the best approach is cross-curriculum. The Norwegian Kodu-cup has four prizes in four different categories: storytelling, coding, artwork and Kodu master.
At a first glance, Kodu might look oversimplified and too streamlined for an experienced programmer or game developer, but this is not the truth at all. There is almost no limit to what one could create in this platform, and there is nothing better than releasing the creativity of young students without experience, time or resources to create a “professional” game. This year’s finalists had actually managed to create games with a professional touch. No other tool out there can do that at this level.
Go to the Norway Kodu Cup Page.
Get to know the team!
The student team that managed to do well in all categories (storytelling, coding, artwork and Kodu master) won the main prize. This year, the game “Trials Kodu” designed by two bright boys, Ole Lassesen Ekern, 14 years old, and Kristoffer Moe Lundquist, 14 years old, from Ringstabekk School ( www.ringstabekk.net ) claimed victory. Their game is all about challenging your friends in epic tracks designed for endless hours of fun.
Watch their video!
![OysteinNorwayteam[1]](https://news.microsoft.com/wp-content/uploads//2015/03/OysteinNorwayteam1.png)
Øystein Imsen
Lecturer and CodeWeek ambassador
“Coding is wonderful, it can be fun – but a professional programmer is a very dedicated and focused person. As a language, coding is important – but you only need a smattering if you want to be successful in the 21st century. There is a much bigger picture here. Seek beauty, not efficiency!
What kind of success are we talking about anyway? Not everyone dreams of being a specialist with high salary, and what kind of society would overpaid engineers create for themselves? Did the grassroots movements of coders and makers arise because somebody wanted the cogwheels of society to move faster?
Coding does not really concern the individual. A hammer does not motivate the carpenter to build a house. We do not want another school subject like traditional math – loved by the few and hated by many.
We must focus on the beautiful things we can create with code. There is no need for a digital revolution based on the paradigms of the industrial society. Instead, we must give way for a digital renaissance of literature, music, software, robotics and games – new concepts of art that humanity has never experienced before.”
