Games like TIS-100

Closest to TIS-100

The same studio and the same spirit: assembly for imaginary hardware, with histograms that tell you how your solution compares.

• Shenzhen I/OPaidAdds circuit design: you wire microcontrollers on a board and pay for every part. The best next step.
• ExapunksPaidLittle agents that move between hosts and files; more forgiving, with a strong story.
• SIC-1FreeFree. A computer with a single instruction, so every program is a puzzle in itself.

Go lower: build the machine

If the hardware side of TIS-100 was the fun part, these start from logic gates and end with a CPU you then program.

• Turing CompletePaidFrom NAND gates to a working computer, then your own assembly language on it.
• MHRDPaidHardware description language in a terminal: build the CPU one component at a time.
• Silicon ZeroesPaidWire adders, latches and multiplexers to make processors that pass the tests.

Same feeling, different form

No assembly, but the same loop of building a machine, running it and optimising.

• Opus MagnumPaidAlchemy machines built from arms and tracks; the most polished Zachtronics optimiser.
• SpaceChemPaidRoute molecules through reactors with two waldos running in parallel.
• Human Resource MachinePaidGentler assembly with office workers; good to share with friends who don't code.

Pick by budget or difficulty

Free: SIC-1. Easiest way in: Exapunks or Human Resource Machine. Hardest: Shenzhen I/O's late puzzles, or MHRD if you want to fight the hardware. For more, see TIS-100 vs Shenzhen I/O vs Exapunks and all programming games for PC and Steam.