Part of learning programming skills is not so much the mechanics but learning the language and memorizing it. If you already feel you have a mild grasp of some of the basics of coding, then it is time to start searching coding sites for free games that help improve your programming skills. Here are just a few of the free games the Internet has to offer.

VIM Adventures

https://vim-adventures.com/

There is a highly configurable editor called VIM, and it is frequently used by programmers. It has a slew of shortcuts that make programmers more efficient (hopefully). However, learning these shortcuts requires a lot of experience with the program, and even then, you often forget the shortcuts you don’t use all the time. That is why this game exists. You work your way through the in-browser adventure game, and the shortcuts will stick in your memory so that they may help you when you are coding using VIM.

Cyber Dojo

https://www.cyber-dojo.org/creator/home

The Cyber Dojo tool is a true example of a coding practice platform. It allows you to practice Ruby, JavaScript, PHP, and Python through a series of exercises. What’s more, you select the exercises based on what you want to learn. They have separated out a series of problems that you can learn and solve to improve your coding in a very specific area, be it something like aligning columns to finding the number closest to zero.

FlexBoxDefense

http://www.flexboxdefense.com/

This is a free browser game that helps you practice your CSS skills. Enemies move towards your defenses, and you have to hold them off by positioning your guard towers. You position them using CSS commands, which are given to you from the starting screen, so you don’t have to know them right away. As you progress through the game, you are given more detailed instructions, all of which help you defend your base from enemies. The trick to the game is learning and memorizing the different CSS commands so that you may progress through the game.

Robocode

https://robocode-dev.github.io/tank-royale/

There is Robocode that allows you to build a bot and take on other tank bots. If you understand a fair amount of Java or .NET, then you can dive in and start having some fun with this game. If you wish to move on a little, you could try the Tank Royale section, which is still newbie-friendly but sets out the platform and tools in a more user-friendly and intuitive way. 

Code Wars

https://www.codewars.com/

This platform hosts a number of different coding games, many of which were created by the community. It allows you to play games using 55 languages, though the most popular languages have the most games. Check your progress as you play, and find answers as you play, allowing you to learn as you go. Most of the games are free if you sign up.

Elevator Saga

http://play.elevatorsaga.com/

This game allows you to practice your JavaScript. It gives you a simple objective at the top of the screen, and you have to enter the programming code beneath to achieve the target. Look at the objective, enter the code to achieve it, and then press the start button. It will activate the code and start the timer. There are solutions on the Wiki if you get stuck.