Code World
Greatly recommended if you are learning Python and already know the basic stuff. You inspect code and look for dependencies to figure out the puzzle - just like in real life. Music is relaxing and I like the concept a lot.
If you don’t know any programming language it is pretty hard, though.
Unfortunately, the game doesn’t support the German keyboard layout, so entering special characters like [] () = or : is a bit cumbersome.
– Real player with 29.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best Automation Education Games.
This game does not touch upon object-oriented programming, nor does it implement try/except blocks. And that’s perfectly acceptable, since I can only imagine the hassle of trying to add those. But once I found out that things like:
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string slicing
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concatenation via multiplication (str * int)
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the ‘break’ keyword
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elif
are not supported, my eyebrow finally raised. Then there are the things that are partially implemented (ie. maimed) - tuples and dynamic typing. The Python in here is extremely barebones and so is the interpreter. It provides zero feedback on what went wrong, only that it did. And if you’re not careful and don’t use the Ctrl+C clipboard to store the latest version of your script, a syntax error will wipe all of your progress (by automatically restarting the level).
– Real player with 26.8 hrs in game
Monster Logic
One of the best programming games I’ve played. Lots of levels and a variety of interesting ways to solve each one.. Competitive leaderboards, the top score in some of these puzzle are already pretty crazy. You are going to have to be super creative in order to match them. There are three categories for the leaderboards and your best score in each category for the puzzle is automatically saved. (Zachtrnoics take note please)
I have played almost every programming game on steam and this is probably my second favorite. With my favorite being EXAPUNKS
– Real player with 86.9 hrs in game
Read More: Best Automation 2D Games.
First off, I was a beta tester and received the game for free.
It might be scary for those who are not particularly into programming to look at the store page and see stuff like “Based on esoteric programming languages Befunge and Trefunge”. It could make you think this game is “too niche” and not for you.
Now, I don’t know whether you’ll actually like it or not, but let me tell you this: I had never even heard of Befunge or Trefunge before playing this, and I’m not a programming enthusiast or anything. I just looked at it as a fun puzzle game with cute monsters and animations and tried to solve the levels as best I could using good old logic.
– Real player with 54.5 hrs in game
Move Code Lines
Only partially through the second level but OMFG this “game” is actually incredible and I’m learning so much already I can’t imagine what I’ll learn by playing all the way through. DEFINITELY recommend if you’re interested in programming or learning about programming. The interface is really relaxing, one of the color themes is the old QBASIC editor theme xD and the music is super chill.
– Real player with 15.1 hrs in game
Read More: Best Automation Education Games.
Stylishly executed game, with pleasant musical accompaniment. From the main screen greets you with its core mechanic, namely the ability to move the lines of the name of the game.
Programming language is a little bit similar to Python and to C++, but… in reality you do not need to program, just read a code lines and sort it to the right position for solving the puzzle.
At the initial stages, everything looks very simple, the solution of the issues can be found faster than you reading, intuitively bugs hunting. But the further you move through the list of levels, the more difficult it gets.
– Real player with 7.2 hrs in game
Cyborg Earthworm
Cyborg Earthworm is a “Snake” automation game. The worm follows the rules of the famous Snake game, and you can program it. Develop a strategy and let the worm follow it without your involvement.
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Solve and optimize 20+ areas, each of which contains a virtually unlimited number of procedurally generated levels.
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Watch the worm dominate the levels automatically without having to pilot it.
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Reach the maximum possible length, filling all free space.
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Use a variety of tools like paint spray for leaving marks in the soil and internal worm memory for tracking things.
EXAPUNKS
The best “Zach-like” game yet. Even if it is by Zach.
Another excellent puzzle game from Zachtronics. If you’ve never played a game like this before, this is an open-ended puzzle game. By “open-ended” I mean there is a problem you are trying to solve, and you are given tools (in this case a programming language for what appears to be tiny robots) to solve it as you choose. You build a solution to the presented problem. You win if the solution works but how you get to a working solution is up to you. There are limits to your freedom both by the language and what the “little robots” can accomplish at one time. The puzzle here revolves around writing little program fragments that unfold through parallelization into pretty impressive results. It is a complete programming language (although a very simple one) and even has a little test-bed where you can make your own creation without a specific goal.
– Real player with 107.5 hrs in game
The first Zachtronic game I found myself being able to complete and with extremely minimal help, more so due to that some puzzles are difficult to understand rather than writing the code itself. Even though the game does get hard, it does an excellent job of preparing you for the difficulty ahead. Even without any programming knowledge, you’ll be able to overcome the challenges this game poses. You can always see the exact end state the game wants you to leave the board in at any time, which serves as an excellent guide in what you’re meant to do.
– Real player with 87.6 hrs in game
Dreamjob: Programmer
Dreamjob: Programmer is a super easy and fun way to get you started with programming. With hundreds of missions, each one carefully adjusted to your level of expertise with coding, you will get into the shoes of a real programmer! Soon you will know how to create and monetize enough assets to buy a home, an exclusive yacht, or even a private island! Each place can be decorated by items you buy in a sim-shop and many of them may be enchanted by your code, making them uniquely interactive. As your programming skills keep getting better, you can change your life - earn more money, perform more difficult tasks, and become a real IT guy!
Making a long story short - if you are looking for a good coding learning game, Dreamjob: Programmer is the perfect match!
Learn programming from zero!
Start your adventure with the simplest approach to programming ever created: Visual Scripting Editor. Place and connect the proper blocks to create programs. The concepts you learn here will help you learn real programming in languages like Python, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, and more! Smooth and fun gameplay in our coding game will make you have a great time while learning.
Gain XP and learn new skills!
Starting with the legendary “Hello world” program, you will solve more and more complex tasks and acquire new skills that will let you understand real programming concepts like:
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Math and logical operations
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Conditional statements
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Loops
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Arrays and dictionaries
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…and many, many more!
Upgrade your hardware
Earn lots of cash by solving more and more prestigious jobs. Upgrade your computer, monitor, mouse, seat, desk, and the whole place you live in! All this to play and learn even more efficiently.
Program anything!
Have a hot coffee every day at 8 AM, program a toaster to give you fresh toasts at 10 AM, and make lights turn red when someone is approaching your home! In Dreamjob: Programmer game you can change the world around you.
Get some actual Python source code working!
Besides solving tasks with the visual editor, you will have the opportunity to try yourself with the actual Python source code. And, by doing so, to launch a rocket to outer space. How cool is that? Our coding learning game has two endpoints - teach you to program and keep you entertained!
Why should you give Dreamjob: Programmer a shot?
In today’s world, the work of a programmer is associated with prestige, performing interesting tasks, and good money. No wonder so many people want to learn to code. After deciding to give it a shot, they often ask themselves - how to start? Buy an expensive course? Enroll in college? Well, there is a much cheaper and easier way. Dreamjob: Programmer will let you understand the world of programming. Thanks to our coding learning game you will understand how it works - starting from simple, basic issues, ending at complex, rewarding tasks.
Dreamjob: Programmer is a programmer’s career sim / code learning game. Inspired by The Sims, Monument Valley, and Minecraft.
Hardwork Simulator
That didn’t work for me. I got caught and got fired for it. They put a younger, prettier assistant in my place. But I doubt she types as fast as I do. They were the ones who lost
– Real player with 3.7 hrs in game
On the one hand, I really want to give the game a thumbs up for a creative and somewhat neat idea for a really cheap price.
On the other hand, though, I really must give it a thumbs down for not offering much at all, even at this price level plus thirty percent off; because in the end, cheap does just not justify bland.
I do enjoy any just semi-rewarding grinding game for a while, but looking at the short time invested here, I had rather counted cars drive by my window - even if the game had been for free. Where the game mechanics in any way challenging or rewarding, it would be a different story. However, it is random key bashing in it’s dullest form.
– Real player with 0.9 hrs in game
Turing Complete
Fantastic Game. It scratches an itch I didn’t even realize I had. This contains the essence of a university level introduction to Computer Hardware course, disguised as a game. In fact, it surpasses it in some ways. I never actually did get to build an entire functional computer in University, but you do here. In university we built some circuits, and had to use our imagination how it would fit into a complete architecture, and then jumped to learning to program the already existing Motorola 68K. In this “game”, not only do you build a fully functional computer (vitually, of course), but you also design the instruction set and assembly language that goes with it. And once you’re done with the in-game challengese, you still have the sandbox and all the components to do something on your own… like build an actual Motorola 68K.
– Real player with 180.1 hrs in game
I’ve been a professional software developer for almost a decade, and I’ve never been more proud of anything I’ve ever built than when I wrote a program to solve a maze in an assembly language that I encoded on a computer I built from scratch in this game. I feel like for the first time I REALLY understand how a computer works, and it is incredibly gratifying.
I’ve been playing games like Factorio, Infinifactor, Shinzen I/O, TIS-100, Astroneer. Minecraft, “While True: Learn()”, etc., but it turns out that this is the itch I was trying to scratch the whole time. And in the sense of scratching that itch, this is the best game I’ve ever played.
– Real player with 100.3 hrs in game
TIS-100
TL;DR: 4/5 - Give it a try, especially if you like optimising and fiddling with code.
I’ve played a fair bit now and, to me, this is one of the best puzzlers I’ve ever played.
A few words about the gameplay in case you wonder: The game consists of 48 levels, each a programming task. Looking at the first screenshot here on Steam should show you the level SEQUENCE COUNTER. In the upper left corner you have your task. The 12 squares that take almost all of the screen are “nodes”, independent CPUs that you can program freely with up to 15 instructions each. The arrows between them are “ports” that allow you to move data between nodes. There are also input and output ports at the top and at the bottom of the screen, respectively. Your program has to stand four tests, three with predefined inputs and one with random values. You can see the given inputs and expected outputs on the left in the screenshot.
– Real player with 656.7 hrs in game
This is my second review on Steam and I felt that this game deserved it. I’ve just completed this game with 100% achievements and I’ve spent more hours on this game than obtaining 100% achievements for Dark Souls 1 & 2, but quite a number of it was probably spent falling asleep. The only thing these games have in common is that you’d be on the verge of giving up but you know they are solvable problems because many before you have done so. I studied electrical engineering and I do a fair bit of coding in my work so the workings of assembly wasn’t entirely foreign to me, and I knew the basics of debugging and using pseudo-code to formulate solutions. I’ve a few tips below:
– Real player with 172.9 hrs in game
Crypto Mining Simulator
Can’t really recommend this game. Seems to be pretty poorly constructed. I’ll try to point out some of the design flaws.
Game crashed and dupped the rig I was working on. I broke the game and I wasn’t even trying
UI is pretty confusing. You can’t tell what is buttons and what isn’t.
Inconsistent UI, i.e. you can sell Eth from the escape menu but have to go into the market to sell BTC.
Outside of the tutorial, which is short, there’s really nothing to do but let money accrue. Might as well be an idle game.
– Real player with 30.4 hrs in game
Before I slam this game for all the problems it has, I will say I’d be willing to revisit this after they fix the issues and make some enhancements moving forward.
Pros -
1. Fairly easy to move forward with mining and building
2. Allows one to redesign there room
3. Offers a sandbox environment.
Cons - (there are a lot!)
1. Customer builds never seem to work, After accepting a task, building to spec, placing in customer pickup area …nothing happens.
2. Sometimes buying a rack comes completely assembled
– Real player with 16.7 hrs in game