Human Resource Machine

坐电梯坐得双脚离地了，聪明的智商也占领高地了

8/10 别的都还好，jump to这个习惯养成了可不好。

This is quite literally a Sokoban game, and certain psychological traps operate on that exact same wavelength. --- I put 166 total hours into this ♥♥♥♥ and managed to hit both optimization goals with a single program on every level where it was possible. On Level 41, the insertion sort I wrote cleared both challenges instantly, though looking back at the data, the maximum sample size is only 24, so a simple in-place selection sort would have done the trick. It is a perfect reminder of Donald Knuth's advice that you cannot judge an algorithm purely by its asymptotic complexity; you have to look at the actual constraints of the problem. For me, the absolute cursed levels were Level 35 (Duplicate Removal) and Level 40 (Prime Factory). The optimization trick for Level 35 is incredibly non-intuitive, and the benchmark is brutal. With Level 40, seeing prime numbers made my brain short-circuit for a second, and I honestly wondered if it was even doable in a crippled assembly. The limits ended up being pretty forgiving, though. I managed to get it down to 28 instructions and 271 cycles, but there is definitely a better balanced solution out there.

I just finished all the levels in *Human Resource Machine*. I definitely recommend this game, but with one important disclaimer: it probably isn't for everyone. If you enjoy mathematics, programming, or automation, you'll likely have a great time with it. If not, it might end up being more frustrating than fun. What I found especially interesting and exciting about the game is that it doesn't just cover basic concepts like `if-else` statements and loops. It also introduces lower-level programming concepts such as pointers and linked lists in a surprisingly accessible way. The UI is excellent, and some of the puzzles are genuinely challenging. For me, the hardest level was **Prime Factor**. It took me more than two hours to finally beat it, but the sense of achievement afterwards was incredible. My biggest complaint, however, is the execution speed. Even when running at full speed, programs with a large number of steps can still take a long time to finish. There were many situations where I already knew the earlier part of my solution was correct and only needed to debug the later sections, but every time I had to sit through the entire program slowly executing the previous steps before I could test the part I wanted to fix. That waiting time added up and made debugging feel unnecessarily tedious. As for optimization, I think the game could have included another challenge category based on **floor efficiency**. Besides optimizing for instruction count and execution speed, it would be interesting if players were also encouraged to complete levels using a limited amount of floor space or meet a target floor-space requirement. I think that would add another layer of strategy and significantly increase the replay value of the game.

Human Resource Machine is another one of those games that is secretly — or maybe not so secretly — about programming. What makes it special is how approachable and playful it feels. Instead of throwing code at you directly, it teaches assembly-like logic through small office-themed puzzles, simple commands, and a very charming presentation. At first, everything seems easy and almost toy-like. You move boxes, follow instructions, and slowly learn how the game’s logic works. But the further you go, the more demanding the puzzles become. Finishing the whole game definitely requires some effort, patience, and a willingness to think like a programmer. I can easily imagine that people with no programming background might bounce off after a few levels, especially once the puzzles become more abstract and complicated. That said, the moment when your solution finally works is extremely satisfying. Watching your little worker execute the exact sequence you built, especially after struggling with a tricky problem, gives the game a really rewarding feeling. It manages to make low-level programming concepts surprisingly fun. I played Human Resource Machine quite a long time ago, so I do not remember every detail perfectly, but my overall impression is very positive. It is clever, funny, educational, and genuinely challenging. It may not be for everyone, but if you enjoy logic puzzles, problem solving, or programming — even just a little — this is absolutely worth trying. [b]Verdict:[/b] a smart and satisfying programming puzzle game that teaches you assembly-style thinking in a fun and accessible way.

很有意思的游戏，前面的关卡很简单，最后几关优化的想吐，最后一关实在受不了就去看了攻略，结果看见别人用了比我少十几行的情况下还能满足步数要求，差别就在我是处理完一个字符串再一起输出，试了一堆算法，他是边处理边输出，改用他的思路我也双星了。释怀地似了。

AI GONNA REPLACE ALL OF US

Puzzles that remind me of writing code in assembler.

이런 사람에게 강력하게 추천합니다: 나는 포인터의 쓸모를 모르겠다. 나는 goto문을 좋아한다. 나는 변수명 짓기가 싫다. 나는 프로그래밍이 쉬워보인다. 나는 단순한 규칙이 좋다. 나는 바이브 코딩이 어렵다. 나는 내 컴퓨터가 왜 느린지 알고싶다. 나는 변태다. 나는 마조히스트다.

好玩，图形化汇编（