If you're interested in this type of games… Look at any game from Zachtronics: http://www.zachtronics.com/ . Plus maybe Human Resources machines: https://tomorrowcorporation.com/humanresourcemachine
I'd say it's more about assembly language than general programming. You never (really) get enough power, with the 9 opcodes it gives you, to set up subroutines or functions. And many of the monstrosities that end up solving the problem would probably horrify Dijkstra in his grave. :)
Also, most of these games actually look like you could learn something from them, while having fun...
I beat the first 5-6 levels and got stuck. I should go back to it. I did beat the solitaire game though.