Teacher note
Enter the teacher password to see the answers and testing tools.
How it runs
- Teams of 3 or 4 share one Chromebook. The game tells them to pass the mouse after every puzzle so everyone gets a turn to drive.
- Plan on 60 to 75 minutes (it can be split over two class periods with progress codes). Students explore 10 places in the Gizmo Works robot factory, help 9 crew members, and collect 9 clues for Master Control (Chief Engineer Nova gives a 10th at the start). The finale is coding: they build a program from FORWARD, LEFT, RIGHT, GRAB and DROP commands, then press Run and watch Bolt the robot follow it live on screen, step by step.
- The factory opens up as they go: Mateo's Keycard opens the Tech Wing, June's Safety Goggles open the Test Lab, and Otis turns the power back on for Master Control.
- Skills: binary numbers (lights worth 8, 4, 2 and 1), sorting with a Venn diagram, gear ratios (teeth and turns) and gear direction, IF and THEN logic gates (AND, OR, NOT), complete and broken circuits and conductors, line symmetry, debugging programs with turning commands, angles (acute, right, obtuse, quarter turns and degrees), and meters and centimeters.
- The finale: three clues give the grab order, three clues say which crate holds which part (students figure out the fourth), and three clues explain how Bolt's commands work. The crates only show question marks, so teams must use the clues. LEFT and RIGHT turn Bolt in place, just like in Remy's debug puzzle. When the program runs, each block lights up as Bolt runs it. Bolt stops at the first mistake, stays on that square, outlines the bad block in red and says what went wrong, then waits 20, 40, then 60 seconds before the next run, so planning beats guessing. The Build Notes grid helps teams keep track.
- Wrong answers on the other puzzles lock that puzzle for a short wait (15 seconds, then 30, 45, 60). Hints: 3 per puzzle (Master Control has 3 too), one every 45 seconds.
- Bonus: 11 gold bolts are hidden in the rooms. The count prints on the award.
- Progress codes: after every puzzle the team gets a 10 letter code (like
KDHTM-7XQMP), also shown on the side. Have one student write the newest code on paper. If a browser resets or the team switches Chromebooks, they type it on the start screen and get back their team name, every solved puzzle (in any order), open areas, items, hints and time. Made-up codes do not work, and after 3 wrong tries the box makes them wait 20 seconds. Typing their own code again on the same computer keeps any wait that is still running, so reloading the page cannot skip a wrong answer wait. A code always brings its own team name, and that name prints on the award. - The "Left this page" counter on the side goes up every time someone switches to another tab or window. It does not stop the game. A high number can mean someone went looking for answers, for example by taking a screenshot to an AI helper, so it is worth a quick check in.
- Everything in this room (the factory, the robots, the characters and the story) is original, so it is safe to share. The facts on the clickable spots are real.
Timer
Minutes until the delivery truck leaves: (teams can keep playing in overtime; the award says "Solved in overtime")
Answers
- Light Panel, Zara: panel A is 11 (8 + 2 + 1), B is 6 (4 + 2), C is 15. To show 13, turn on 8, 4 and 1. To show 9, turn on 8 and 1.
- Sorting Bay, Leo: Blue only: blue square panel, blue triangle plate. Round only: red wheel, yellow button. Both: blue washer, blue wheel. Neither: green spring, orange chip.
- Gear Room, Mateo: 3 turns, 12 turns, 2 turns (6 times 12 teeth is 72, and 72 divided by 36 is 2), B turns counterclockwise, E turns clockwise. Gives the Keycard.
- Logic Lab, Aiko: 1 AND (ON, OFF) OFF, 2 OR (ON, OFF) ON, 3 NOT (OFF) ON, 4 AND (ON, ON) ON, 5 OR (OFF, OFF) OFF, 6 AND (ON, OFF) is OFF, then NOT makes it ON.
- Circuit Shop, Sol: A lights up, B stays dark (gap in the wire), C stays dark (open switch), D stays dark (both wires on the same end of the battery), E lights up (closed switch). A metal paper clip lets electricity flow.
- Design Studio, June: paint the right side as a mirror of the left (the right column copies the left column, and so on). The letter with a line of symmetry down its middle is A. Gives the Safety Goggles.
- Debug Desk, Remy: Program 1, step 4 should be RIGHT. Program 2, step 3 should be FORWARD. Program 3, step 6 should be FORWARD. Each program has only one fix that works.
- Arm Lab, Nadia: 90, A is right, B is obtuse, C is acute, 270, 90.
- Measuring Bay, Otis: 120 centimeters, 35 centimeters taller, 1 meter 20 centimeters, and No, it is too tall (150 + 60 = 210 centimeters, but the door is 200). Turns on Master Control.
- Master Control: grab order legs, body, arms, head. Crates: legs red (C1), body blue (E2), arms yellow (E5), head green (B4). Build Pad A5. Machines block B2, D2, C3 and C4. One working program (24 steps): FORWARD 2, GRAB, FORWARD 2, LEFT, FORWARD, GRAB, FORWARD 3, GRAB, LEFT, FORWARD 3, LEFT, FORWARD, GRAB, RIGHT, FORWARD, RIGHT, FORWARD, DROP. Other correct programs also work.