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Comment by raccomandoo | Hacker News Reader

TIS-100 is a fun little game where you have a sort of pseudo-assembly and solve puzzles with it. I find it can help scratch that itch.

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I would also recommend TIS-100's "sequel", Shenzhen I/O. TIS-100 is a bit 'dry', with the puzzles being entirely abstract. In SI/O, you roleplay as a developer emigrating to China for work, so all the puzzles are framed as real products you are developing for your company. One of the earlier puzzles, for example, is programming the equipment for a lasertag place.

I second the Shenzhen I/O recommendation, because apart from only assembly programming, the game also has other constraints in the form of having to spacially arange various chips on a limited "enclosure" for the product you're building and connect them. It also rewards optimization both in terms of assembly and chip usage efficiency. Is a wonderful game, really.

It also has a really cool solitaire game-in-game as an... addition? Ornament?

I will reveal that I have played far more of Shenzhen solitaire than Shenzhen I/O itself. Zachtronics made a stand-alone version of the game[1], but there's also a fanmade version here:

https://shenzhen-solitaire.tgratzer.com/

Which I find more enjoyable, both because it's online so it's easier to reach from anywhere, and also because I feel like the version of the solitaire inside the game is a bit... heavy feeling. Like there's some sort of input delay? Anyhow, I must have around 3000 completed games of solitaire across my devices.

[1]https://store.steampowered.com/app/570490/SHENZHEN_SOLITAIRE...

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