Games like Human Resource Machine
Updated 26 Oct 2026
Human Resource Machine (Tomorrow Corporation, 2015) teaches programming without saying so. Your office worker picks up boxes from an inbox, does something to them and drops them in an outbox, following a short list of commands you drag into place. By the end you've written loops, conditions and pointer arithmetic, and it never felt like a lesson.
Games like it share three traits: they assume nothing, they're visual, and they grow harder slowly. Here are the best next steps, sorted by where you want to go.
More of the same, a step up
- 7 Billion HumansPaidThe sequel: many workers run your program at once, so you learn to think in parallel.
- Blockly GamesFreeFree, in the browser, block-based puzzles that end by showing you real JavaScript.
- CodeCombatFreemiumAn RPG where you type real Python or JavaScript to move your hero. Free to start.
Ready for real code
When dragging commands starts to feel slow, these let you type a real language, still with a game around it.
- The Farmer Was ReplacedPaidPython-like code for a farming drone; calm, with steady new ideas.
- UntrustedFreeFree. A JavaScript adventure where you escape each level by editing the game's own code.
- Elevator SagaFreeFree. Program elevators in JavaScript and watch the queues build up.
- WarriorJSFreeFree. Write JavaScript for a warrior climbing a tower, one floor at a time.
If you liked the assembly part
Human Resource Machine is secretly an assembly game. These lean into that.
Questions
Is Human Resource Machine good for kids?
- Yes, for older kids who enjoy puzzles; it has no reading-heavy story and the commands are visual. Blockly Games is a good free companion.