thebotslam

Code robots. Win games.

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

thebotslam is programming 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 and rockets to gain an advantage, and pick the right mix of tracked, wheeled, flying and walking robots to conquer the terrain.

Start building, coding, competing

Free: all test matches, and your first 3 matches with other builders.

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 in the Workshop, then put it on the rated ladder.

See the League →

Start building, coding, competing

Free: all test matches, and your first 3 matches with other builders. Your code stays in your own files.

Stock parts

Build platform

Sensor & tool deck

Chassis

Engine bay

Channels numbered in mount order: how programs connect

    Totals

    Designs

      Built bots

        Machine Factory →

        Channels connect each part on its channel

          Performance

          Reference: registers, instructions, standard library

          Test

          Testing new

          The tab you're testing plays Blue (two bots, both running its program on its machine). House bots run on their own machines (the seeker carries a GPS); your saved bots use theirs, as last saved. Bots start at random spots for each seed, or at your fixed starts if you set them in the Arena.

          Scrimmage on the server

          Your draft against a real ladder bot. Private to you, unrated, and your draft isn't stored.

          All designs

          You

          Live now public matches play in real time; watch with a 3 s delay

          Ladder one ladder per game and language · Glicko-2; the server plays rated series within each ladder

          Rated series

          Friendly matches challenges are unrated · everyone can watch every match; nobody sees anyone else's code

          No match yet
          —
          Loading…

          Bot logs what each bot's program logs, and the damage it takes; the border matches the hexagon around it