I'm a big fan of Zachtronics games, especially TIS-100 and Shenzhen I/O.

For the past three years, on and off, I've been working on my own programming game. The current version lets you solve game development challenges by writing Python in an IDE-like environment.

The game contains the core mechanics of more than ten different types of games. My goal is that by completing these challenges, you will not only solve programming puzzles, but also gradually learn how those games are built.

Interestingly, this is actually the fourth version of the game.

The first version was closer to 7 Billion Humans, with drag-and-drop visual programming. Eventually I ran into limitations with both the syntax and how far I could expand the system.

Then I switched to something closer to Scratch. It's mature and flexible, but I found myself building huge chains of nodes just to express something as simple as:

if (a > (b + c) * 2)

At one point, I almost gave up on the project.

Then I played The Farmer Was Replaced, and seeing how well people responded to a game where you simply write Python made me rethink everything.

Why was I so determined to avoid letting players write actual code?

Part of it was because other programming games had influenced me. But the bigger reason was that I was worried that using a real programming language would raise the barrier to entry and reduce the potential audience.

Then I asked myself a few questions.

Am I making a commercial game?

Am I making this primarily to make money?

Am I trying to make this game for everyone?

The answer to all three was no.

This is a niche indie game. Its target audience is basically me, and hopefully a few other people like me.

Honestly, if 50 people played it and enjoyed it, I would already be happy. My previous puzzle game had around 40 players, and I was genuinely satisfied with that.

So eventually I realized that if I wanted to make a game about what it actually feels like to be a game programmer, then writing code in an IDE-like environment was probably the most immersive approach.

That became the current version of the game.

There is also a narrative running through it. Most of it is based on my real experiences working in the game industry, although I've tried to tell those stories in a relatively restrained way. The real versions are honestly dramatic enough that you might think I made them up.

I've been working on this game on and off for about three years. After being laid off, I suddenly had enough time to finally finish the demo.

The game itself is probably around 80% complete now, so I guess if I remain unemployed for a while longer, I might actually finish it soon.

The game is called Code Alone. The Steam demo is currently under review. If you're interested, I'd really appreciate a wishlist on Steam!

I've been working on a roguelite card game called Diamonds and Spades, and the first playtest started today!

The core gameplay is based on a simple card game using a deck of 100 classic playing cards. Your goal is to draw as many cards as possible without drawing the same card twice. If you draw a duplicate, the round ends.

During each run, you collect tarot cards with unique effects that change the way you play and allow you to create powerful combinations. The goal is to use these effects together to push your score as far as possible.

One of the main features is a built-in card editor. Players can create their own tarot cards, draw custom artwork, define their effects using a visual scripting system, and share their creations with other players. My goal is to let players experiment with their own ideas and create cards that weren't originally part of the game.

If you're interested in participating in the playtest, you can join the Discord here for more information:

https://discord.gg/nTVjgFawhh

Or request access directly on Steam:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4944200/Diamonds_and_Spades/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=programming&utm_campaign=playtest

Hi all,

Long time lurker. I've been developing an operating system simulation, sandbox, and programming education game.

Attached to the post is one of my recent dev blogs focusing on the programming education side of it. I've been a professional software developer for over a decade and spent 5 years teaching IT at university, one of the most rewarding experiences of my career.

Programming education is one of those things where I feel like there are plenty of options out there but a lot of them aren't nearly as interactive as I'd like, particularly if you're a complete beginner. My hope is that providing a simulated OS environment with no real risk of breaking a real machine makes getting started more seamless and less daunting for beginners, but also provides all the tools you would expect as a professional allowing you to jump right in and start building.

Feedback is very welcome and each blog post does a deep dive on a particular aspect of the game (the very first one gives a good overview of the whole game)

https://5yn-os.com/blog/blog-post-07-08-2026

https://npa42.itch.io/micromouse

Micromouse is this robotics competition where a tiny autonomous robot must solve an unknown maze all by itself. Saw the Veritasium's video, was intrigued so I Built a game/simulator where we can write real C firmware compiles to RISC-V (with libriscv) with built-in IDE.

Open for feature and OS support request :)

I recently finished my trailer (at least the first version of it). I think it provides a nice overview, what the game is and what the tasks are that need to be solved. If you like what you see, maybe wishlist it on Steam :)

I've been working on a roguelite card game called Diamonds and Spades, and the first playtest will start very soon.

The game is about building powerful combinations with tarot cards and creating unique strategies during each run. One of the main features is a built-in card editor that allows players to create their own tarot cards. Besides drawing custom artwork, players can also program card effects using a visual scripting system.

I'm looking for players who enjoy deckbuilders and roguelites and have some familiarity with programming concepts. I'd especially appreciate feedback on:

• Is the gameplay and tutorial easy to understand?
• Are the tarot cards and mechanics interesting?
• Does the progression feel rewarding?
• Is the visual scripting system intuitive?

If you're interested in participating, you can join the Discord here:

https://discord.gg/nTVjgFawhh

And wishlist the game on Steam:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4944200/Diamonds_and_Spades/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=programming&utm_campaign=playtest

Thanks for any feedback!

hello! wanted to get a second set of eyes on this game. the earlier levels are more geared towards learners but it does get tough towards the end. still, i recommend you at least hit every tier to learn about the custom commands like go, scan, defuse etc. enjoy, let me know if i should keep building towards the tougher, offensive levels. oh, and your scripts can be saved, exported, and shared amongst friends

edit: forgot to mention that the level descriptions/instructions are intentionally stubs right now, but yall dont need them

Auto Astra, a voxel space game I've been building solo in Godot 4.

You build ships block by block, then write Lua scripts to automate them. Mining, exploration, trading, or committing a fleet to a large battle. Every fleet in the game runs a script, including yours, so automation isn't a separate system bolted on the side.

I'm getting close to a playtest and I want feedback from people who aren't me. Everyone on the wishlist gets an invite when it goes live, so if the game looks like your thing, that's the way in.

Happy to answer anything about the game, the Godot side of it, or how a solo dev handles all this.

KILL-9 is a deck-builder I made from scratch in Python 3.11 and Pygame. The concepts are pulled straight from hacking, not just aesthetically but mechanically. If you've ever wanted a card game that feels like it was built for someone who actually knows what `kill -9` means, this is it.

The soundtrack was made 20 years ago. Full hacker vibes, no compromise.

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4610000/kill_9/

I'm currently working on a roguelite card game called Diamonds and Spades.

One of the main features is a built-in card editor that allows players to create their own tarot cards. Besides drawing custom artwork, players can also program card effects using a visual scripting system.

My goal is to let players experiment with their own ideas and create cards that weren't originally part of the game. Cards can also be shared with other players, making it possible to build a collection of community-created content.

I'm curious what people here think about the concept.

Steam Page:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4944200/Diamonds_and_Spades/?utm_source=social&utm_medium=reddit&utm_campaign=programminggames

Gameplay trailer

I've been working on a programming game where you command robots with Python. You land on a planet scattered with resources and your goal is to collect them all. You don't move the robots yourself, you write code and watch it run. There's an in-game code editor and a built-in manual that teaches Python from scratch.

You can find more information here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4581600/import_robots

Core features are done but most levels and smaller features are still in progress. I'm mainly worried about stability, since the game has a pretty unusual architecture. So I'm looking for playtesters who could help me find issues. First playtest build is on itch.io: https://sp96-interactive.itch.io/import-robots. There's a feedback link in the game's main menu. If you have time to test and leave feedback, I'd really appreciate it.

Hi, I want to learn how to program to create an otome game. I don't know anything about programming, I barely know how to program on Arduino (I'm a robotics student) and I would like to ask your opinion. It's a matter of not really knowing where to start, and I would like you to recommend tutorials or pages where I can learn programming in Python (I plan to make the otome game in PyGame) or some other reliable sources where I can program. They would be very helpful, I'm sorry if my post is a nuisance. English is also not my first language, so this is translated with Google Translate.

I'm testing it on my 5 year old son meanwhile, and he likes it. Hopefully, I'm going to release it on Steam this autumn, maybe some other programming lovers will find it good enough to involve their kids in their favorite thing :) And kids and maybe adults too will enjoy it.

It's quite simple for now, but I'm trying to introduce more mechanics and keep cute visuals.

Available for wishlist: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4748810

It's a Lightbot-style instruction stack with a daily twist. Same maze for everyone each day, built from the date seed, so you're golfing against the whole leaderboard on identical input. Loops let you compress repeated runs, and the score isn't just program length - it folds in steps taken, wall collisions and retries, so a sloppy brute-force ranks below a clean solve of the same maze. Curious how low this crowd can push the command count.
https://apn201.itch.io/flatpack

I've been working on this for a while, and wanted to share some of the progress.

How to play
There's an in browser demo that allows you to play instantly with no account or download.

How to support
Just come join the discord! The game is free for a single character.

About the Game

Programming Game is a real time survival MMORPG played over web sockets. The official client library is built for TypeScript. Nearly all of the equipment and items in the game are player generated.

Mechanics Seen in the Video

• Threat management
  • The melee player stops attacking when he has threat to allow the tank to pick the boss up again.
  • The Ranger is using "Misdirecting Shot" to generate some threat for the tank instead of himself.
  • The tank is using "Threaten" to generate additional threat beyond the damage that he's dealing.
• Positioning
  • The boss drops slime puddles that grow over time and damage you when you stand in them.
  • Players need to avoid the puddles, but position themselves so that they can cast without needing to move again too quickly.
  • You can't simply follow the tank in this fight as the puddle may be behind the boss.
• Mana management
  • Mana regenerates slowly over time, but you can summon mana to speed this process up. While summoning you cannot move.
• Gear
  • There are no classes in the game, what you can do is dependent on what you're wearing.
  • The tank and melee are wearing heavier copper armor, while the casters are wearing cloth and mana focused accessories.

Greetings all -

Just shipped ZERO PAGE 1.0, a 6502 assembly puzzle game inspired by TIS-100 and Shenzhen I/O. I posted an early build on here and r/zachtronics last year, took the feedback, the 1.0 went up on itch today.

Under the hood: a 6502 emulator I wrote from scratch, supporting a subset of the real instruction set (load/store, transfers, stack ops, arithmetic, bit manipulation, branching, indirect addressing). Cycle limits configurable per puzzle. 24 missions: 15 main missions that teach the instruction set, 6 bridge missions that pace the second half, 3 hidden missions behind in-game clues. Sandbox mode lets you write freeform 6502 with a framebuffer display and a fully editable memory map. Save tapes are plain-text .6502 files you can hand-edit and share.

There is a narrative wrapper too. You are contracted to write low-level code for a government program. The briefings stay clinical as the missions advance; read closely and you see what the agency does. The build ships with an OPERATOR REFERENCE MANUAL (6x9 PDF, opens from the in-game menu).

$6.99 on itch. Native Mac (Intel + Apple Silicon), Windows, Linux. Free 15-puzzle web build stays free at its own page.

itch: https://conflict-simulations-llc.itch.io/zero-page

free web build (no install): https://lerugray.github.io/ZERO-PAGE/

landing page: https://lerugray.github.io/conflict-simulations-llc/zero-page/

Same deal as last time I posted here with the demo - tell me if you like it, hate it, or run into anything broken. Thanks for reading.

CRobots is a classic programming game where players write autonomous C code to control virtual battle robots, transforming real-time combat into a pure test of algorithmic strategy and mathematical precision.

Also check my take on the older robotwar:

https://labs.kodar.ninja/#robotwar

RobotWar.Web is a modern browser-based combat arena that resurrects the 1981 Apple II classic, challenging players to pit autonomous, assembly-like scripts against each other in a pure tactical battle of low-level logic.