Jay Is Games recently posted about Free Rider 2, the newest version of the famous Line Rider online game.

From the time I first saw it, I thought Line Rider was a cool game (how could one not think that?), but I couldn’t really figure out a way it could be used as an effective English language development activity.  This new version, however, makes it possible for English Language Learners to benefit from playing it.

In Line Rider, you basically draw a virtual line on the screen, which then becomes a roadway for a motorcyclist to drive on. Believe me — if you haven’t played the game yet it’s a whole lot more fun than it sounds.

In Free Rider 2 you can do the same thing.  In addition, you can choose different backgrounds and different motor vehicles.  It’s also a whole lot easier, though a little complicated, to save the code for the game you’ve created so others can see it (I’ll explain how to do that in a minute). 

English Language Learners can design a game, post the code, and describe what they’ve created.

To get the code you click on the “floppy disk” sign on the toolbar.  You’ll see your game’s code.  You can then copy and paste it in a blog or online journal, along with a written description.  Then, you can go back to the Free Rider 2 game link, click on the “folder” on the toolbar, and paste a game code in the pop-up to see it again, or to see another person’s game.  It’s really quite easy, though students might need to be shown how to do it the first time.

I’ve placed the link on my Examples of Student Work under Student Free Riders.