TIS-100 (2015)

This game turns primitive 70's-era computer programming into a minimalist puzzle game to great results. I've wanted to play it for a long time, but never quite felt in the mood for it since, well... programming is my actual job and it takes up a lot of my time and energy. Also in my first year or two of college, we had to recreate Tetris with an old Assembly language similar to that used in the game, which was the 2nd hardest and most miserable homework assignment of all time (we don't talk about the 1st hardest...).

Programming has come a long way in the last 45 or so years and is now substantially easier than the literal, abstraction-free code used in this game. It just goes to show what a fine line is being walked here. It's hard, but the developer has carefully tuned the progression of levels, each its own bite-sized problem with clearly defined expectations that sets you loose with a ton of freedom to figure it out yourself, but just enough constraints that you don't make it harder than it needs to be and still have to be creative. A game like this could easily be totally overwhelming, but it's not at all thanks to the nice, simple design.

I can easily recommend this game to any current computer science students, programming hobbyists, logic puzzle fans who don't mind a learning curve, or professionals who want a fun logical challenge.

TIS-100: I love how unashamedly ugly this game is. It's so clunky, and the interface is very offensive and unwieldy. I love it. I'm very proud of myself for making it so far, although I probably won't get much further, I doubt I have the skill to ever complete this game (without looking up hints). Here's my solution for the Sequence Peak Generator, one of the more difficult ones. The code (written in the squares) is in the TIS-100 assembly language. It takes input sequences and then finds the maximum and minimum and outputs them to Out.I and Out.A respectively.

I have 4 puzzles left until I've finished the game. I've had a little crack at the prime detector but I have no idea where to even start..

Oh my god, I cannot believe I actually solved the 'SEQUENCE PEAK DETECTOR' puzzle. I've been working on it for days and I finally had a breakthrough a couple hours ago. I did it!

This game is so addictive, I can't put it down. I don't think I've ever had to think so hard and so intensely during a game before, it's really heavy going. I only have 3 more puzzles to go and then I'm on the final row.

The coolest feature of this game is the sandbox element. Each of the puzzles can be solved using millions of different approaches. I can see from my scores that I definitely don't have the "best" solutions, but I am just pleased (and surprised) that I've made it so far.

It's funny; in this game I feel like the effort and process of solving the puzzles is more complex than the game itself. Usually in games there's a whole lot going on on-screen and you have basic inputs (jump, shoot, walk forward, etc.). In this game it's the opposite: nothing is happening on the screen and the input in the complex element.