
Use real Python code to automate machines, robots, drones and more: Program self-driving vehicles; crack passwords; apply machine learning; automate logistics; use image processing to guide missiles. Gain real coding skills and solve exciting bite-sized programming challenges.
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About
JOY OF PROGRAMMING - Software Engineering Simulator is an immersive 3D programming puzzle game about automating and controlling realistic machines, robots, drones and more using real Python code. Build actual coding skills while playing, solve exciting bite-sized programming challenges and progress to unlock new programming features and improved machinery. Prior programming knowledge recommended.
Automate logistics to quickly transport items Stabilize robots with control feedback (PIDs)
Write navigation code for cars Crack passwords with brute-force
Solve classical algorithms and data-structures Accurately control sniper rifles
Use image processing to count coins Apply computer vision to guide missiles
Get it now and dive into your programming adventure!
JOY OF PROGRAMMING is not a casual game. In fact, it is one of the most difficult games on Steam. It offers the real programming experience: Lots of thinking, hard work, gathering information, debugging and some frustrations. But you will also learn new skills, become a better developer, and most of all enjoy that sweet sensation of finally cracking a hard problem.
Tutorial levels to get you started with the programming concepts in JOY OF PROGRAMMING
Create your own puzzles with the included level-editor
Find collectible factsheets with interesting computer-science tidbits
Earn stars by completing levels and use them to unlock new programming features
Work towards achieving many different certificates for completing all levels in one category
Real programming: No pseudo code, no imaginary language. Instead, fully functional python code with your favourite packages like numpy, pandas, scipy, pillow, sklearn and more. Some basic prior programming knowledge (in Python or otherwise) and a strong interested in programming is recommended.
In-game IDE: A codemirror based in-game Python IDE offers syntax highlighting, auto-completion, docstring tooltips, debugging, auto-indentation, code-folding, copy/paste and undo/redo. Advanced users can also opt to use external IDEs like VSCode or PyCharm instead.
Realistic challenges: From robotics to abstract algorithms and creative coding - the full breadth and depth of computer-science awaits.
Open puzzle design: Each level has many different valid solutions.
Clear goals: Each level has one mandatory goal and up to three optional goals.
Immediate feedback: Never wonder whether your code is working. Get immediate, incremental feedback on each good (or bad) step towards a working solution.
Performance metrics: Compare your best solution anonymously with others with respect to speed, memory usage and code length.
No hard locks: Never get stuck on a single level, there are always several open challenges available.
Optionally submit your solution and your code to the leaderboards and share it with the world.
The game is developed primarily by a single developer, who also happens to be a computer science professor. An accompanying Youtube series by the developer provides example solutions for several of the levels and walks through them step-by-step.
An innovative Python based level editor allows creating and scripting entirely new levels with exciting new challenges. Optionally, these new levels can also be shared with the community via the game's Workshop.
Happy Coding and get JOY OF PROGRAMMING now!
Genres
Stats
All-time low is the lowest price we've recorded for this game since we started tracking it.
Languages: English, French, German, Spanish - Spain, Russian, Simplified Chinese
Engagement
Hours played at review time, across 41 reviews with recorded playtime.
Reviews
Themes across 41 recent reviews and how positive each mention is. A keyword signal, not full sentiment analysis.
positive critical· bar length = how often the theme comes up
Reviews
лайк поставил, потому что игр про реальные навыки ЕДИНИЦЫ, а жаль. Но если вы думаете что тут вас будут учить Питону - НЕТ! Я программирую немного на Си , и питон вообще другой язык и нифига непонятно даже в самом начале, как и что работает. Короче, это НЕ УЧЕБНИК, это - Контрольная работа после реального изучения дома Питона. В этом аспекте - топчик. Даже возврат не буду делать, поддержу автора, хоть и не уверен что буду изучать питон (хотелось попробовать именно в виде игры конечно)
This is a very interactive and immersive simulator. It helped me get motivated again to pick up programming. It offers a fun/gamified way to getting through each module with solutions available if needed and an assistant chat that's programmed on the game. You set your pace and just hit the ground running. Don't want the tutorials, go straight to the sandbox (recommended for users with existing python experience)
The game got stuck and even after various walkthroughs and LLM chats I still wasn't able to progress outside of the built in functions, which is a shame because I really wanted to play this game, not interact with a coding lecture. I'm literally a software engineer, so I think it's the fault of this game unfortunately. It needs better documentation.
I can see the effort and the good intention in the game. But even if I have seen some basic coding back in my days and have messed around with macros in Excel a bit, I'm utterly lost in trying to figure out what the correct syntax is for anything in Python. I suspect the developer found it to be obvious, as for him it really is just that. For me however, it was not exactly a joy inducing experience trying and failing for twenty minutes to figure out if I should or shouldn't have a space or dash or whatever between two characters in my code. There are some confusing elements even in the tutorial, like at first it wasn't even clear that I was expected to achieve the speed setting of the conveyor belts via writing code, because it can be done manually, so I assumed the goal was to see how to control a conveyor belt with various speed settings on the slider and the game accepted it as a solution. As such I probably skipped right past some coding basics. Eventually I'll redo the tutorials instead of refunding the game on the spot, but even if I manage to figure it out, I'll be well past the refund limit. With all that in mind, I suppose this can be a good learning game because you get positive reinforcement and a visual feedback of machinery functioning based on your code, but I would only recommend it to people with some coding experience or a lot of time on their hands, when the game is on a heavy discount. Personally I would be refunding it if I wouldn't have picked it up at a 50% discount.
Интересная игра для изучения языка. Очень затягивает.
In my opinion the best programming game I have ever played on steam my only concern is that there are not solutions for every level
se voce entende de programaçao ou é masoquista, eis um bom meio de começar. aqui fala que tem tutoriais, acredite, nao tem. voce esta no escuro. se quer aprender programaçao ou automaçao. vai de outro lugar.
Нема значення, вивчали ви пітон чи ні, ви все одно ніхера не зрозумієте. Шоб грати у це, вам треба декільки місяця вивчати мову, і тіко потім ви впораєтесь з навчальними рівнями. Підказок нема, пояснень нема, нічо нема. Типу, показують вам, відосик з тим, як процює цикл та виключення(ну, типу зовсім для малечі), а потіп - хуяук, і ти на єкрані бачиш класи, методи і т.д. У грі дійсно є програмавання, але радості ніякої нема... може якомусь мазохісту це зайде. Усі інші проходимо повз. Шкода витрачених коштів.
This is fun, but I had previous experience with python, if you have no idea of programming, you might want to search for a course on pythons basics, sometimes it doesnt tell you how to use what you will need and gets harder and harder to guess a solution without previous knowledge. This can be used as a teaching tool however needs a teacher to explain the concepts to be used before trying the lvl. In general I think its very fun and challenging, I think it needs many more lvls to each section. Needs a programming tutorial for beginners.
Great simulations and I love that there is a solution provided with each scenario. Especially for those times I get really stumped on something. My only complaint is that it crashes a lot. The good thing is, even if it crashes, the code is saved so no edits are lost. It's more an annoyance to have to restart the game each time it happens. Still a great game and I've learned a lot from it so far.
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Trends
Modeled estimate over time, reconstructed from Steam's monthly review histogram.
Audience
Estimated from the language of this game's reviews — a proxy for where players are, not official Steam demographics.
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