1) Hmm, this game is a lot like programming. A lot like it.
2) Maybe I should just program? That is real work & I can get done more work done, be more productive.
3) [stopped game, started programming]
Plus without the inevitable bullshit that's coupled to any real work.
I am an artist; I flirted briefly with Minecraft for a while, then looked up from a flawed first attempt at an underwater glass dome at 3AM, decided I would much rather exercise my creativity in a realm where I can show it to other people and maybe make some money from it, and uninstalled Minecraft forever.
The Sequence, The Sequence 2, by One Man Band:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/dev?id=640940791858937636...
I have the same problem with the various Japanese logic puzzles (Soduku, Nurikabe, Hashi, etc): 1) This is fun! 2) Hmm, I'm using the same algorithms to solve every puzzle 3) I could probably write a solver 4) Don't write solver. Move on to something else.
It is more about physical layout and queuing than programming.
With Factorio for me, I always reach a point where I know how I'm going to scale up, and then I lose interest in actually doing so. Just knowing that I could do it is satisfying enough.
I started it, but never finished it.
On the one hand, it is a vastly better debugging experience. You can see the entire state of the machine, and easily step through the execution.
In contrast, with my day job, I'm dealing with incomplete documentation, poorly designed and very large libraries without adequate comments or organization, subtle bugs that only occur in unidentified situations, etc.
But at the end of the day, TIS-100 felt more like work or a hobby project, so I'd be better off doing one of those.
I was frustrated by TIS-100 for exactly the opposite reason: it wasn't enough like programming to interest me.
It's really a puzzle game, not a programming game. Its similarity to programming is just window dressing.
Still I enjoy the absolutely insane creations of some people in those games. I'll never forget the Doom-style 3D engine[0] someone created inside Factorio, with (iirc) a clever configuration of trains as a huge graphical display.
Some are more programming-like than others.
The man's rich enough to be swimming with whales or partying in space and he's sitting in his basement playing Satisfactory.. there must be something to it
It's a lot of fun. I'm not much for optimizing every little detail of production, but its a lot of fun to build and work out supply chains.
Mindustry has a little programming if I recall correctly -- mostly it is tower defense and resource gathering, though.
EDIT: As you can see, everybody was excited to bring up Zachtronics. Really neat developer.
minecraft (redstone/technical farms get quite sophisticated)
astroneer
Some of my favorite modpacks are Enigmatica 2: Expert, Omnifactory, and one I just started recently, Divine Journey 2.
They all have a similar process of starting with nothing but a book full of quests to guide your progression, and end up with you automating everything from farms to quarries to mob grinders in order to produce items that have comically difficult "recipes" to craft.
Scratches the same itch as Factorio, Zachtronics games, Satisfactory, etc. but often has some fun side goals such as making your factory look beautiful, exploration, fighting bosses, and best of all, getting your friends hooked on the game and playing on a server in a group!
One of the first public posts about it was on the industrial craft forums: https://forum.industrial-craft.net/thread/8845-factorio/?pos...
The be fair the 3 last are more programming than like :)
Some lesser-known recommendations:
Bitburner (a game in which you use javascript to "hack" computers... not really hacking, but really using your javascript skills)
Screeps (use real programming languages to harvest and compete for resources... sort of like an RTS, but where you program your units instead of directly telling them what to do)
Neon Noodles (use a simple visual programming language to program robots to make sushi... super innovative game, with a free demo on steam... highly recommended)