it's a Zachtronics game; he / they own the programming puzzle game catagory and if you are a fan of TIS-100, this game will not disappoint. Out of the Zachtronics game library, this one seems most like TIS-100, but with more variety.

If you already played SpaceChem and want more from the same developer, play this game. If you liked TIS-100 and want more, play this game. If you haven't played any of them, I'd tell you to play SpaceChem first, then this one, and if you like this one, to go back to TIS-100. There are other Zachtronic games that are good and all are worth trying, but I'm pointing out the two that had the most impact on me. Infinifactory and Ironclad Tactics are good, but Ironclad Tactics is completely different, and the graphics / UI / control of Infinifactory made it more cumbersome to play (I still played a lot of it though).

Out of all the Zachtronic games, the interface of this one feels the most polished.

ESCAPE ESCAPE ALT DELETE!!

With our powers combined:

This is one of those cases where I really wish there was a more neutral option for recommendations, as it pains me to bring down the score of a Zachtronics game, and for people who already know how to code this is a game I would 100% recommend. Personally I found it overwhelming in the extreme, because the way in which the manual is written assumes you already have a base level of competence with programming, and there is absolutely no effort made within the game to familiarise you with practical implementations of the functions the manual describes. If you're after a game that might teach you a bit about programming, this is not it.

Spacechem is my favourite game of all time, and Infinifactory is not far behind, but if Zach intends to make his future projects as unwelcoming and opaquely explained as TIS-100 and SHENZHEN I/O, this is simply a path down which I cannot follow him. I very much hope that his next game might cut neophytes like myself some slack, otherwise I guess I'm done with my favourite developer.

Edit: I deliberately kept my playtime low to keep the possibility of a refund open (one I've since taken up), however I spent at least an hour poring over the manual before even booting the game up, and closed and restarted the game many times after consulting the manual to try and come up with a solution. I gave it much more than 30 minutes of my time, but it just didn't click with me.

And before giving this a thumbs down, please keep in mind that 'Did you find this helpful?' is not synonymous with 'Do you share this person's assessment of the product and find that the level of enjoyment they derived from it closely matches your own?'

This game is fantastic. I've never been disappointed by a Zachtronics game yet, and Shenzhen I/O adds elements from several other Zachtronics titles while still feeling like a completely fresh and awesome experience.

If you've ever taken a Computer Architecture class or know anything about Assembly or Computer Engineering, Shenzhen I/O is a gamified version of it. The puzzles involve creating a program that runs across several microchips; you are given digital inputs, program requirements, an empty board, and several different types of microchips, and then are tasked with matching the outputs with their expected values.

The manual is basically a requirement; I got the limited edition, which comes with a physical copy of the manual in a fancy little binder. If you get the digital copy, it still comes with the manual, but I'd strongly recommend printing it out. It's very nice to just have it in front of me because I've had to refer to it / flip through it frequently.

If you like Puzzles, Hacking, Low-Level Programming, Hardware, Raspberry Pi's or Arduinos, Reading Manuals, Circuitry, and/or challenging games, definitely check it out.

Did you like TIS-100, Spacechem, or Infinifactory? Play this.

goty

Looking for SpaceChem 2? Look no further, this is it. It's also very difficult like SpaceChem was. 10/10, buy it.

Still reading? Okay, here's some extra info.

Printing the manual: Like with TIS-100 this is just enhancing the feeling but actually NOT required. If you read the manual on a computer you can search within it with Ctrl+F, which is useful.

Early access: What early access? Certainly doesn't look like one.

this is the big brother of TIS-100, very nice!
the game is quite polished already;
contains acute dangers of:
+ trying to optimize your solution until daybreak
+ believing the harmonic maximization formula
+ getting addicted to trying to replace a quite fine MC6000 with a cheaper MC4000
+ head-2-desk moments
+ developing a longing for the old days of doing assembler

This is a puzzle programming game. you basically have to design circuits with micro processors wirrintg code and doing some circuit connections. It's very clever and getting the perfect score on the histograms can be baffling.

But once you have been thinking about a problem for some time, and then it works, its very gratifying and why this game works out.

The ambience of the world is very neatly done. At first I was puzzled why I would read so much text, but now it's just part of the job. And it's enjoyable and you learn new things.

The game is not for everyone. Is it for you? Well, if you like to solve puzzles or are interested in programming this game is for you.