TIS-100

I bought this game in 2017. 9 years ago as of writing this review. I just started computer science in high school and thought: "I like programming! I should play games that teach that!" And boy was I in for it. The game took me by shock.. suddenly there's no easy commands, no easy debug. It's low-level madness! Assembly! For some kid that liked Java arrays! I stepped away and didn't touch it again. Until.. 2023. I wanted revenge. I wanted to shame that kid that walked away from a challenge. But that kid's instincts weren't too far off - this game is indeed a coding challenge. Got through about half the game, and started playing it on and off, going back to challenges and rethinking them until I solved each and every one. No help. No AI. Only me and the manual. And that 1 steam friend that finished the game ages ago but had better score than me on each level. I am 2 years into my CS degree, and this game made the assembly course a piece of cake. Paid off! What a trip. Challenge complete. I recommend it - but beware, this isn't Assembly. This is just enough Assembly to make things work, but make you work for it more than you'd expect. edit: So apparently I only finished half the game lmao, there's plenty of challenges left in a menu category I neglected to give any meaning to. I hope I won't take 9 more years to finish those..

I like this a lot as a person get more into computer concepts. These make for interesting thought exercises as one puzzle leads to the next. The documentation (player manual) is a bit difficult to parse through early on, but starts to make sense after a few reads and solved puzzles.

If you love coding then this is an awesome game. It's kinda like coding in assembly honestly. For Linux users: This is completely playable and it works well. Game meant for programmers, if you don't like coding, you probably won't enjoy the game. There is a manual in the game that explains how to "play it".