SO, WHAT IS ROBOT TURTLES?
As Seen On:
Robot Turtles:
Frog Friend
About the Inventor
I’m a software guy who’s been programming since my dad taught me how when I was 7. I invented Robot Turtles as I pondered these questions in the shower one morning:
- Why are kid games either pure luck (Candyland) or a frustrating exercise in trying to lose on purpose, without the child noticing (Tic-Tac-Toe)?
- How old does a child need to be to learn to program? (Do they even need to read?)
- What’s something cool I can do with my kids this afternoon?
I got out of the shower, printed out some generic robot clip art, and told my 4-year-old twins that I had a new game for us to play. We started experimenting with the rules. The kids couldn’t get enough of it.
I got so excited about this game that I took a leave of absence from my job at Google and spent the summer working full time to develop it.
I talk about games, technology, and startups a lot. You can reach me on Twitter or see what interests me on Google+. or check out my blog at danshapiro.com .
About the Publisher
ThinkFun was founded in 1985 by husband and wife team Bill Ritchie and Andrea Barthello. Bill was a born puzzler, so defining his dream company was no challenge, but the 80’s were a tough time for toy companies. Retailers were moving away from games, and the Rubik’s Cube, which had broken through in the mass market, was losing popularity.
No stranger to a challenge, Andrea vividly remembers the day she pulled up in their driveway and declared, “We can do this!” In the early years, Bill and Andrea’s basement served as assembly line, home office, and distribution center, and our first product, the Hexadecimal Puzzle, was born right out of that basement!
Despite humble beginnings, Bill and Andrea founded ThinkFun, originally called Binary Arts, with a noble mission, “To translate the brilliant ideas of the craziest mathematicians, engineers and inventors into simple toys that can be appreciated by boys and girls around the world.” We still believe this today.
Over the years, we have strengthened our commitment to creating products that naturally inspire learning, spark creativity, and build problem solving through play. We continue to push into new frontiers with mobile apps, online games, global education programs, even brain research… all this and we’re STILL creating incredibly fun, innovative new games!