"BUILD CIRCUITS. WRITE CODE. RTFM. - Build circuits using a variety of components from different manufacturers, like microcontrollers, memory, and logic gates. - Write code in a compact and powerful assembly language where every instruction can be conditionally executed. - Read the included manual, which includes over 30 pages of original datasheets, reference guides, and technical diagrams. - Get to know the colorful cast of characters at your new employer, 深圳龙腾科技有限公司 (Shenzhen Longteng Electronics Co., Ltd.), located in the electronics capital of the world. - Get creative! Design and test your own games and devices in the sandbox. - Engineering is hard! Take a break and play a brand-new twist on solitaire."
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i refuse to play this game until i get a printer capable enough to print out the entire manual so i can fully immerse myself. until then what the fuck am i doing
Shenzhen I/O is my 4th Zachtronics game, after SpaceChem, TIS-100 and Opus Magnum, and it shares obvious similarities with each of those titles. In addition to the emphasis on programming and refining solutions that all Zachtronics games have, SI/O has a structure strongly reminiscent of Spacechem, a programming language almost identical to that in TIS-100, and a high level of polish with an overall narrative framing device like in Opus Magnum. These similarities end up being both a strength and a weakness, but the headline here is that I really enjoyed Shenzhen I/O, and I'd say it was second only to Opus Magnum.
The game that SI/O has the closest ties to is definitely TIS-100; both games have you using an artificial machine language to programme a machine to solve something approaching a real world problem. In TIS, the problems you solve are pretty fundamental to computing (multiply something by n, sort this list of numbers, etc), whereas in SI/O you are making some product behave in a way specified by the client, sometimes with no further justification. And I have to say I much preferred the problems in TIS; something about solving these classical problems was a lot more satisfying than making a sneaker light up in a given pattern, or something similar. But I think the actual puzzles are probably stronger in SI/O; the ability to place and programme multiple components massively expands the space of possible approaches to each puzzle. The presentation is strong and simple enough that it's still clear what your solution is doing at any given time (this was not true in the similarly structured Spacechem and it was a huge issue), although it can be extremely frustrating when you get a solution you know will work but simply can't rearrange the board to make everything connect up. Moving pieces on the board in general is a bit of a pain in the arse in SI/O, and I can't help but feel this could have been more streamlined.
Something else to note about SI/O is it's very bloody hard. It's incredibly satisfying, sure, but I felt no desire to go back in to improve my solutions once I got something that worked; I was just relieved to have passed that level. I much preferred Opus Magnum's philosophy of not being that difficult to get *a* solution, where you could set your own difficulty by deciding how refined you want all of your machines to be. I'm also not a fan of SI/O hiding a lot of its instructions and requirements in a big 'ol PDF file outside of the game. TIS-100 did this as well, but it's much more egregious in SI/O and I ended up having to tab out to it an awful lot more. The game strongly recommends printing out the PDF to have next to you when playing but... c'mon now, that thing is 47 pages long. I'd really rather there was just a way for me to look at it in game...
But overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this one. It was very satisfying to play, and the moment I got the puzzle completion jingle was always pretty much pure ecstasy. It's bloody hard but not too insane like Spacechem (mostly... I took a look at SI/O's bonus campaign and noped right outta that), and the nice presentation and high degree of polish just make the whole experience more pleasant. It doesn't reach the heights of Opus Magnum, but otherwise this is a strong recommend for weirdos like me who like this kinda shit.
The game that SI/O has the closest ties to is definitely TIS-100; both games have you using an artificial machine language to programme a machine to solve something approaching a real world problem. In TIS, the problems you solve are pretty fundamental to computing (multiply something by n, sort this list of numbers, etc), whereas in SI/O you are making some product behave in a way specified by the client, sometimes with no further justification. And I have to say I much preferred the problems in TIS; something about solving these classical problems was a lot more satisfying than making a sneaker light up in a given pattern, or something similar. But I think the actual puzzles are probably stronger in SI/O; the ability to place and programme multiple components massively expands the space of possible approaches to each puzzle. The presentation is strong and simple enough that it's still clear what your solution is doing at any given time (this was not true in the similarly structured Spacechem and it was a huge issue), although it can be extremely frustrating when you get a solution you know will work but simply can't rearrange the board to make everything connect up. Moving pieces on the board in general is a bit of a pain in the arse in SI/O, and I can't help but feel this could have been more streamlined.
Something else to note about SI/O is it's very bloody hard. It's incredibly satisfying, sure, but I felt no desire to go back in to improve my solutions once I got something that worked; I was just relieved to have passed that level. I much preferred Opus Magnum's philosophy of not being that difficult to get *a* solution, where you could set your own difficulty by deciding how refined you want all of your machines to be. I'm also not a fan of SI/O hiding a lot of its instructions and requirements in a big 'ol PDF file outside of the game. TIS-100 did this as well, but it's much more egregious in SI/O and I ended up having to tab out to it an awful lot more. The game strongly recommends printing out the PDF to have next to you when playing but... c'mon now, that thing is 47 pages long. I'd really rather there was just a way for me to look at it in game...
But overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this one. It was very satisfying to play, and the moment I got the puzzle completion jingle was always pretty much pure ecstasy. It's bloody hard but not too insane like Spacechem (mostly... I took a look at SI/O's bonus campaign and noped right outta that), and the nice presentation and high degree of polish just make the whole experience more pleasant. It doesn't reach the heights of Opus Magnum, but otherwise this is a strong recommend for weirdos like me who like this kinda shit.
This is a pretty unique game on paper, where the challenge is to solve the puzzles by forcing yourself to write code and examine manuals. Super fun at first to just give them a go to get some "sea legs" with the coding needed, and how to solve each puzzle, but then the game becomes really challenging. It starts throwing more complicated coding, requiring multiple new pieces of equipment, that were just too difficult for me to put together myself. After I finally looked up the solution for two puzzles, I decided I was defeated and I was done with the game. I did enjoy it, and what it was going for, but without a background in coding, it got too complicated for me to really understand. The final puzzle I attempted that I looked up, the solution worked, but didn't really make sense to me, which is why I knew I was done.
I have no idea what I'm doing but I made the blinky lights do it right
If you've ever wanted to feel like a hardware programmer working in a small Chinese office, then this is the game for you.
The game largely consists of programming challenges that act very similar to coding in Assembly. It's a very novel idea that plays out in interesting ways as you're required to program increasingly complex specifications and working with different hardware. Each device has its own unique set of features and functions to work with and requires you to read a hardware manual which is as tedious as it is immersive.
The games by Zachtronics fall into that weird space between work and play but I think you have to really enjoy programming or at least the logic puzzles that lay within coding for this sort of game to really be enjoyable. I eventually hit a difficulty wall where it started to feel more like work than play and looking at where things go I'm fine stopping where I did.
The game largely consists of programming challenges that act very similar to coding in Assembly. It's a very novel idea that plays out in interesting ways as you're required to program increasingly complex specifications and working with different hardware. Each device has its own unique set of features and functions to work with and requires you to read a hardware manual which is as tedious as it is immersive.
The games by Zachtronics fall into that weird space between work and play but I think you have to really enjoy programming or at least the logic puzzles that lay within coding for this sort of game to really be enjoyable. I eventually hit a difficulty wall where it started to feel more like work than play and looking at where things go I'm fine stopping where I did.
trop bien