Roblox is an electronic gaming platform that allows users to design their own games and game worlds and to play games created by others. An electronic gaming platform is a set of computer programs and other technology used to play electronic games . Roblox is a massively multi-player online platform, meaning that thousands of users can explore and play Roblox games together via the Internet . The name Roblox refers in part to the platform’s graphics (visual elements), which initially resembled toy building blocks similar to LEGO bricks. Roblox has become an important tool for young people interested in designing electronic games. It allows them to test their ideas and helps them to learn the basic principles of game design. Roblox is also incredibly popular with game players, particularly children and teenagers. Millions of players access Roblox each month via personal computers , video game consoles , and mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers.
Users can design their own Roblox games using a computer program called Roblox Studio. It allows them to select from premade elements, graphics, and game mechanics—_the “rules” of the game. Special patterns called _templates help the user to create a particular type of game. Some templates are based on a particular style of gameplay, such as racing, capture the flag, or “obby” (obstacle course). Other templates are designed around a particular “theme” or setting, such as a castle, a modern city, or the Old West. Users can also learn simple coding (programming) sequences to build their own custom game or world.
Creators upload their games to the Roblox website. There, users can play them alone or with other players online. Popular user-created games vary greatly in theme, from the cops and robbers game “Jailbreak” to “Work at a Pizza Place,” a game about cooking and delivering pizzas. User-created games are often simple, but they can be customized to become richly detailed and complex.
Roblox was created by the American software developers David Baszucki and Erik Cassel. Cassel worked at a software company founded by Baszucki, which developed an educational computer program called Interactive Physics (1989). Interactive Physics is a two-dimensional physics simulator—a program used by students to model collisions and other physical interactions in two dimensions. Baszucki and Cassel were impressed by the creativity students showed in developing their own models using Interactive Physics. They later decided to create a richer, three-dimensional creation platform. They released a test version of the platform in 2004, briefly called Dynablocks. Baszucki and Cassel founded Roblox Corporation in 2006 to market and support the game and the Roblox Studio tool. Roblox is free to play. The Roblox Corporation makes money through the sale of advertisements and by selling Robux, a special currency used to purchase in-game upgrades.
