4 ms·

For really good non-programming puzzle games, I'd recommend Snakebird[0] and Stephen's Sausage Roll[1]. Try out Snakebird first, it's cheaper and works great on

For really good non-programming puzzle games, I'd recommend Snakebird[0] and Stephen's Sausage Roll[1]. Try out Snakebird first, it's cheaper and works great on mobile devices. Don't let the cute art fool you, it's a monstrous game. If you get through most of Snakebird and still don't hate yourself, look into SSR. It's much more hardcore, but has some mind blowing puzzles. As far as programming puzzle games go, Zachtronic basically has the market cornered. [0] http://snakebird.noumenongames.com/ http://snakebird.noumenongames.com/ [1] http://www.stephenssausageroll.com/ http://www.stephenssausageroll.com/

wolfgke 10y ago
> As far as programming puzzle games go, Zachtronic basically has the market cornered. I wouldn't say that: There is at least - Human Resource Machine and if you look a little bit more around (programming games that are not programming puzzle games in the purest sense) there is - Else Heart.Break() - Glitchspace - Hack 'n' Slash There also seem to be (I don't know this game, but it seems plausible to me that they fit the list) - Cyber Sentinel
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- KirinDave 10y ago
  It's true, but all of those games are... well... Zachtronics doesn't pull any punches. Their games are amazing. Even the deceptively simple Infinifactory is actually full of amazing and beautiful opportunities for elegant programming concepts (the first time you realize, "I can... I can make a clock with controllably variable periodicity!? What?" And TIS-100 resembles programming in a stripped down Erlang-like mode. HRM is a great starter into the Genre, it's sure. But Spacechem is on a totally different level of complexity and beauty and depth.
  - empath75 10y ago
    Not to mention the game that inspired Minecraft.
    - jbpetersen 10y ago
      Along with Dwarf Fortress
  - qwertyuiop924 10y ago
    If TIS-100 is erlang, than Spacechem is C. Enjoy the fun of continually worrying that you forgot a sync/mutex.
  - esoteric_wombat 10y ago
    What I should have said is that Zachtronics has the market cornered on programming puzzle games for programmers. I could suggest Human Resource Machine to someone who has never programmed before, but I would never do that with TIS-100. Making a TIS emulator in Elixir sounds like a fun and useless project.
    - qwertyuiop924 10y ago
      Somebody's already done one in C: https://eviltrout.com/2015/06/29/an-emulator-for-tis-100.html https://eviltrout.com/2015/06/29/an-emulator-for-tis-100.htm... And according to Zach, the intended market wasn't just programmers (which is why he explicitly killed bit manipulation, and the largest number a TIS-100 register can hold isn't a power of two), and I've heard tales of non-programmers enjoying it. Then again, if you like Zachtronics games, especially TIS-100, then have I got a hobby for you...
  - swah 10y ago
    Do you think those games can make you better at some kinds of programming?
    - qwertyuiop924 10y ago
      Of course. They're effectively excercises for the parts of your brain that you use most while programming.
  - Kabie 10y ago
    The model of TIS-100 is more like the blocking channels in Go.
    - KirinDave 10y ago
      Nah, it's really not! I think the author even mentioned the actor model in an interview about it. And Go certainly has never desired to be associated as "the actor model." It lacks many of the tools required.
- maxander 10y ago
  Else Heart.Break() has definite aesthetic charm, but the programming required (as far as I played, at least) is pretty shallow- geared towards clever highschoolers, I suspect. A collaboration between them and Zachtronics would be lovely.
  - dmd 10y ago
    Grade or middle school, really. "Clever highschoolers" are writing their own bare-metal OSes these days.
    - wolfgke 10y ago
      > "Clever highschoolers" are writing their own bare-metal OSes these days. Perhaps you are even right since advanced Arduino programming (which many "Clever highschoolers" should be able to do) is in some sense like writing a really simple RTOS. :-)
      - qwertyuiop924 10y ago
        And of course, let us not forget that a clever highschooler wrote Babel.
      - lmitchell 10y ago
        Or, well, there are the highschoolers who are actually writing OSes - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10045254 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10045254 :P
    - qwertyuiop924 10y ago
      And us stupid highschoolers are writing IF engines in Scheme. And yes, I did write one. It totally sucked, but it did work, mostly.
      - esoteric_wombat 10y ago
        Heck, if you're doing anything substantial with Scheme in high school then you're on a great track.
- musha68k 10y ago
  A good friend of mine is totally into hackmud: https://www.hackmud.com https://www.hackmud.com It looked neat but I have the same problem as with music games like Guitar Hero etc - I'd rather continue programming on one of my many pet projects or practice playing actual guitar... I may be missing out though - I wouldn't know because I actually never invested more than 30 minutes in any of those games (also bought TIS-100 last year, never actually played it once). Incidentally - are there any music games (rhythm, composition, etc) that are similarly "hardcore" as a TIS-100 that anyone would recommend? I finally might be giving TIS-100 another shot as it is Sunday and all :)
  - thekodols 10y ago
    There's Rocksmith. It's essentially Guitar Hero just with a real guitar. So you do actually learn to play the instrument.
    - musha68k 10y ago
      Rocksmith looks really cool, I will check it out - thanks a lot for sharing!
    - dancek 10y ago
      Yep. My favorite games are pretty much: anything by Zachtronics, Rocksmith 2014. Rocksmith does have its annoyances at times, though (the note recognition isn't perfect, so if you don't play absolutely perfectly it's going to miss notes occasionally, making the more difficult songs very hard to 100%).
  - musha68k 10y ago
    Just found this article by coincidence, linking here for future reference: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/10/03/can-video-games-teach-you-programming/ https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/10/03/can-video-games-...
gallerdude 10y ago
+1 for Sausage Roll
eridius 10y ago
Snakebird was excellent. Some of the puzzles there were quite fiendish and many had to be put down and and left to percolate in my brain. At least once I woke up with a solution, and I solved several in the shower. I managed to finish all of the normal puzzles, but haven't made much headway on the cloud puzzles.
tetrep 10y ago
I'd say Quadrilateral Cowboy is a notable exception. http://blendogames.com/qc/ http://blendogames.com/qc/
tgb 10y ago
Also try Jelly no Puzzle: http://qrostar.skr.jp/index.cgi?page=jelly&lang=en http://qrostar.skr.jp/index.cgi?page=jelly&lang=en
em3rgent0rdr 10y ago
snakebird is tough!

wolfgke 10y ago

> As far as programming puzzle games go, Zachtronic basically has the market cornered. I wouldn't say that: There is at least - Human Resource Machine and if you look a little bit more around (programming games that are not programming puzzle games in the purest sense) there is - Else Heart.Break() - Glitchspace - Hack 'n' Slash There also seem to be (I don't know this game, but it seems plausible to me that they fit the list) - Cyber Sentinel

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
KirinDave 10y ago
It's true, but all of those games are... well... Zachtronics doesn't pull any punches. Their games are amazing. Even the deceptively simple Infinifactory is actually full of amazing and beautiful opportunities for elegant programming concepts (the first time you realize, "I can... I can make a clock with controllably variable periodicity!? What?" And TIS-100 resembles programming in a stripped down Erlang-like mode. HRM is a great starter into the Genre, it's sure. But Spacechem is on a totally different level of complexity and beauty and depth.
- empath75 10y ago
  Not to mention the game that inspired Minecraft.
  - jbpetersen 10y ago
    Along with Dwarf Fortress
- qwertyuiop924 10y ago
  If TIS-100 is erlang, than Spacechem is C. Enjoy the fun of continually worrying that you forgot a sync/mutex.
- esoteric_wombat 10y ago
  What I should have said is that Zachtronics has the market cornered on programming puzzle games for programmers. I could suggest Human Resource Machine to someone who has never programmed before, but I would never do that with TIS-100. Making a TIS emulator in Elixir sounds like a fun and useless project.
  - qwertyuiop924 10y ago
    Somebody's already done one in C: https://eviltrout.com/2015/06/29/an-emulator-for-tis-100.html https://eviltrout.com/2015/06/29/an-emulator-for-tis-100.htm... And according to Zach, the intended market wasn't just programmers (which is why he explicitly killed bit manipulation, and the largest number a TIS-100 register can hold isn't a power of two), and I've heard tales of non-programmers enjoying it. Then again, if you like Zachtronics games, especially TIS-100, then have I got a hobby for you...
- swah 10y ago
  Do you think those games can make you better at some kinds of programming?
  - qwertyuiop924 10y ago
    Of course. They're effectively excercises for the parts of your brain that you use most while programming.
- Kabie 10y ago
  The model of TIS-100 is more like the blocking channels in Go.
  - KirinDave 10y ago
    Nah, it's really not! I think the author even mentioned the actor model in an interview about it. And Go certainly has never desired to be associated as "the actor model." It lacks many of the tools required.
maxander 10y ago
Else Heart.Break() has definite aesthetic charm, but the programming required (as far as I played, at least) is pretty shallow- geared towards clever highschoolers, I suspect. A collaboration between them and Zachtronics would be lovely.
- dmd 10y ago
  Grade or middle school, really. "Clever highschoolers" are writing their own bare-metal OSes these days.
  - wolfgke 10y ago
    > "Clever highschoolers" are writing their own bare-metal OSes these days. Perhaps you are even right since advanced Arduino programming (which many "Clever highschoolers" should be able to do) is in some sense like writing a really simple RTOS. :-)
    - qwertyuiop924 10y ago
      And of course, let us not forget that a clever highschooler wrote Babel.
    - lmitchell 10y ago
      Or, well, there are the highschoolers who are actually writing OSes - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10045254 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10045254 :P
  - qwertyuiop924 10y ago
    And us stupid highschoolers are writing IF engines in Scheme. And yes, I did write one. It totally sucked, but it did work, mostly.
    - esoteric_wombat 10y ago
      Heck, if you're doing anything substantial with Scheme in high school then you're on a great track.
musha68k 10y ago
A good friend of mine is totally into hackmud: https://www.hackmud.com https://www.hackmud.com It looked neat but I have the same problem as with music games like Guitar Hero etc - I'd rather continue programming on one of my many pet projects or practice playing actual guitar... I may be missing out though - I wouldn't know because I actually never invested more than 30 minutes in any of those games (also bought TIS-100 last year, never actually played it once). Incidentally - are there any music games (rhythm, composition, etc) that are similarly "hardcore" as a TIS-100 that anyone would recommend? I finally might be giving TIS-100 another shot as it is Sunday and all :)
- thekodols 10y ago
  There's Rocksmith. It's essentially Guitar Hero just with a real guitar. So you do actually learn to play the instrument.
  - musha68k 10y ago
    Rocksmith looks really cool, I will check it out - thanks a lot for sharing!
  - dancek 10y ago
    Yep. My favorite games are pretty much: anything by Zachtronics, Rocksmith 2014. Rocksmith does have its annoyances at times, though (the note recognition isn't perfect, so if you don't play absolutely perfectly it's going to miss notes occasionally, making the more difficult songs very hard to 100%).
- musha68k 10y ago
  Just found this article by coincidence, linking here for future reference: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/10/03/can-video-games-teach-you-programming/ https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/10/03/can-video-games-...

gallerdude 10y ago

+1 for Sausage Roll

eridius 10y ago

Snakebird was excellent. Some of the puzzles there were quite fiendish and many had to be put down and and left to percolate in my brain. At least once I woke up with a solution, and I solved several in the shower. I managed to finish all of the normal puzzles, but haven't made much headway on the cloud puzzles.

tetrep 10y ago

I'd say Quadrilateral Cowboy is a notable exception. http://blendogames.com/qc/ http://blendogames.com/qc/

tgb 10y ago

Also try Jelly no Puzzle: http://qrostar.skr.jp/index.cgi?page=jelly&lang=en http://qrostar.skr.jp/index.cgi?page=jelly&lang=en

em3rgent0rdr 10y ago

snakebird is tough!