Learning logic through play: where to start
You don't need to know what a transistor is to get started. Here is what we suggest doing on the site, in order and for free: circuits to discover the gates, one challenge a day to keep going, lessons to understand, and Bit's Journey to go further.
1. The 10 free circuits
This is the best way in. On our home page, you tap a box to place a gate, flip the switches, and the lamp lights up once every row of the table turns green. There is no account to create and there are no ads. The circuits open one after the other: the first six each bring in a new gate (AND, OR, NOT, NOR, NAND, XOR), and the last four combine them, up to a half adder.
One tip: before flipping a switch, say out loud what the lamp is going to do. Getting a prediction wrong teaches you more than getting it right by luck.
2. The daily challenge
The daily challenge offers one circuit a day, the same for everyone. You solve it, you can share your score, and a streak counts the days in a row. It is short: enough to keep up the habit without eating into your evening.
3. The 6 lessons
When a gate puzzles you, or to put into words what the circuits showed you, the Learn section has one page per topic, in English:
Each page gives the truth table, real-life examples, a small circuit to play and four quiz questions with instant feedback. Your score stays on your device; nothing is sent. The logic gates guide sums up the first four on a single page.
4. Bit's Journey
To go further, Bit's Journey follows Bit the robot through 12 chapters and 150 circuits, from the simplest to the most devious. It's free if you're patient: 10 circuits on the first day, then 3 new ones every day, with no lives and no ads. Your progress stays on your device. The whole game is in English, stories and hints included.
When a circuit won't budge
It happens, and it is often where you learn the most. First, reread the story line: it nearly always states the rule, with its “and”, its “or” and its “unless”. Then go through the table row by row and look for the one that stays red: what should the lamp do for those switches? Each box only offers a few gates; trying them one by one is nothing to be ashamed of (at worst it costs you a star or two), as long as you work out afterwards why the right one works. If a gate is still hazy, its lesson goes over it again with an everyday example.
For teachers and club leaders
The Teacher Pack brings together six one-hour lessons and an introductory session on logic gates, ready to run, with answer keys and assessments; our page for teachers describes it.
A few habits that help
- Little and often: one challenge a day beats a whole afternoon once a month.
- The day after you solve a circuit, do it again without looking. If it still works, you've got that gate.
- Fill in a truth table in pencil now and then. Writing out the eight rows of a three-input circuit makes you check every combination.
- Play in pairs: whoever explains understands twice over.