The Creators of Arma and DayZ are Teaching Children to Code. Their Platform Turns Gaming into Learni

Bohemia Interactive, the world-famous game studio, is launching a new space game, Cosmo Tales, as well as the educational platform Engu, which teaches children to create their own games rather than simply playing them passively. Project lead Zdeněk Kvasnica explains why creativity cannot be measured in a table and what digital creation has in common with a sandcastle.

What convinced you that your know-how belongs in schools as well, not only in the gaming world?

At Bohemia Interactive, we have been making games for more than twenty years – from the Arma series to DayZ and our latest projects. Over time, we realised that the world we create for players also has enormous potential as a space for learning. Games today are not just entertainment – they can tell stories from history, science and general human knowledge in a way that traditional teaching can hardly replicate. It felt natural to us to make full use of this potential and help students take away more from gaming than just the experience itself – ideally, a passion for creation, technology or perhaps even a future career in the gaming industry.

When teachers or parents watch a child working in Engu, what are they observing at that moment?

It depends on what the child is doing at the time. If they are playing one of the prepared lessons – and we have dozens of them across different subjects – teachers and parents can observe how students move through the game and whether they are taking away what they were meant to. In addition, every lesson comes with methodology for teachers. But the second mode, which I personally find much more interesting, is creating their own games. Here, almost nothing can be measured, and that is actually the point. Every output is different; every student shows their own way of thinking, their own imagination, their own logic. The role of the teacher or parent is then to talk about that creation, to ask questions and to help with the next step. Creativity simply cannot be captured in the form of a table.

How can we tell that, thanks to Engu, a child has not only “played”, but has actually learnt something?

With structured lessons, we can tell quite precisely, because we can track how the child progressed through the lesson, where they got stuck and what they managed to complete. With creation, it is a different discipline. It is not about the result, but about the process – whether the child encountered a problem, looked for a solution, tried things out and searched for a way forward. The best sign that something is happening? When the child comes over on their own and wants to show what they have created. That is a better metric than any test. In the future, we plan to implement specific measurement tools into the platform that will help with monitoring and evaluating both the learning curve and competences.

Is there any signal that shows a child is ready to create their own digital content?

The ideal starting age is around nine or ten – at that point, children can usually work with a mouse and keyboard, which is practically the only technical prerequisite. Otherwise, we do not have a fixed age limit, and we do not want one. Creation is natural for everyone – first we play, then we build with blocks, make sandcastles and, later, perhaps digital worlds. It is a continuum that begins at birth. The signal of readiness? When a child stops waiting for instructions and starts experimenting on their own.

What is the difference compared with other educational apps or platforms that are on the market?

Our main advantage is the full 3D space and the breadth of what can be done within it. It is not just about creating games – a child can focus on camera work and composition, the basics of CGI, code logic or game design as such. We are trying to design the platform so that it covers the widest possible range of the entertainment industry – games are part of it, but they are far from the only one. Other educational platforms are usually narrow in terms of subject area or work only in 2D. We want a child to be able to open ENGU and go in any creative direction they choose.

Alongside Engu, you are also behind the game Cosmo Tales, which focuses on financial literacy. Why this topic in particular?

Here, the order needs to be reversed: Cosmo Tales is first and foremost a game. Specifically, it is a roguelite with a space story that can shift between dimensions, and with a visual style inspired by the retro sci-fi of the 1970s and Pixar films – a game for the whole family, from young players to experienced ones. We are aiming for Early Access on Steam in the third quarter of 2026. The educational element – and specifically financial literacy – comes into it thanks to our collaboration with Česká spořitelna, for which we are very grateful. But it is an additional layer, not the foundation of the game. We are still fine-tuning the details and will certainly communicate them before launch.

What should children today learn as the absolute foundation of digital literacy?

The foundation is learning to verify information. Today’s digital environment is full of inaccuracies, and it is surprisingly easy to believe them. But even more important than knowing a specific tool is having the right mindset – being open to new things, while also being critical of them and looking for the best way to use them. This applies to children just as much as it does to parents and teachers. Education is not about learning one specific thing once – it is a lifelong attitude. I hope today’s generation will somewhat correct the way society behaves towards the digital world. So far, as a whole, we are not doing particularly well.