Prime Mover

Really nice programming/puzzle game. I need to get better at timing and using nested components, mind you.

This is definitely a programming zachlike. But it differs from a lot of other programming games by not being completely low level (you get integers instead of binary signals) but also not high level (only very simple tools, e.g. you only have an increment tool and not an adder), so you're solving low-level problems, but different ones than you might be used to. It has a good ramp up on difficulty--reasonably challenging but in the end doable (took me ~40 hours to 100%). For the final puzzle I needed a page or two of notes to complete it, but the others were all solvable by editing in game. There are harder versions of a lot of the puzzles that are quite challenging compared to the easy puzzles, but still not as hard as the last puzzle. The art and music are fun and do not detract from the game (about all you need in a zachlike IMO). On the other hand, the controls are limited and not that great. There is a copy/paste tool but I found it to be clunky to use, not always forming the right connections, not letting you replace circuits on their own, and no single-key vertical mirroring. It would have also been great to have some way to mark breakpoints for debugging to pause when a number went on a specific spot (or even just pausing at a specific cylce count without timing it yourself). A large scale erase tool would have also been nice, or an option to cut instead of copy. It's fun to try to solve things in limited space because there are some tools that can be combined to make compact setups. However, this challenge is not that necessary nor incentivzed beyond a couple of the early hard mode levels with very limited space. Overall, it was a nice game with some good challenges that were a bit different from the standard "design a cpu" puzzle game. But it could use some QoL upgrades. 8/10.

It is pretty fun, but the difficulty ramps up way too fast and the game doesn't give you enough tools to easily make modular programs, which it clearly wants you to do.

I preferred Turing Complete, where the signals are instantaneous. There's something about the Zachtronics style "things move in lockstep" that my brain doesn't wrap around quite right. YMMV.

The most AMAZING zachlike. It introduces merely 8 functional components (and they are ALWAYS available - no gimmicks!), yet you build whole freaking memory and processing chips that run actual algorithms like finding prime numbers (it gets really challenging!) ✓ solving straightforward problems ✓ solving constrained challenges (optional) ✓ solving problems that build on previous problems (previously made chips inside chips inside chips) ✓ solving previous problems again because you want them to adhere to your new standards ✓ optimising throughput ✓ optimising shortest critical path/minimal delay for final operation ✓ optimising component count ✓ optimising all over again because your friend beat you ✓ charming ✓ mysterious ✓ banger ✓ juicy

The best puzzle game I've played. There's a bit of a learning curve but it is extremely satisfying. Another review put it best: "It introduces merely 8 [exceedingly simple] functional components (and they are ALWAYS available - no gimmicks!)." i.e. no lazy level design where a tool is removed to increase difficulty. Building something like an indexable array or max function from just these simple tools, and watching it come to life in the games juicy art style, is so fun. If your having trouble just spam some circuit boards and I promise something will start coming together. Also try to make your designs not rely on the timing of the wires until you optimize :)

Fiddly and un-fun. Not Zach-like at all.