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[More_Badass]

http://tomorrowcorporation.com/posts/announcing-human-resource-machine

Human Resource Machine is a puzzle game for nerds. Use your little workers to solve each level’s puzzle, and get promoted up to the next floor. Repeat. Each level is one year.

Self improvement tip: Our previous games have all taken 2-3 years to build so far. This one took only 9 months – as much time as it takes to build a new human – and it’s felt exciting and liberating the whole time. We hope you have as much fun with it as we have!

Trailer and more info in a few days…

 

[NewFresh]

wow, this is a pleasant surprise. Loved world of goo and Little Inferno.

 

[frankie_baby]

Hopefully it'll come to Wii U (guessing it probably will), proper loved little inferno, I'm certain this'll be amazing too

 

[Pacotera]

Its been a while since little inferno

Loved both that and world of goo

Anxious for this one

 

[jholmes]

I didn't love World of Goo the way everyone else seems to but I really dug Little Inferno so I'm certainly intrigued.

 

[Jeels]

Sounds like an interesting game. I will definitely be looking out for this one.

 

[axisofweevils]

Thanks. Really looking forward to this. Little Inferno was extremely clever and gets more relevant with every passing year.

 

[TheGreatMightyPoo]

Brilliant developer, will keep an eye on this.

 

[takoyaki]

World of Goo on Wii was fantastic. Can't wait to find out more about the game.

 

[Colombo]

I loved World of Goo and Little Inferno so I expect nothing but another great game.

 

[bryehn]

Almost looks like a Little Inferno sequel, I'm in for this one.

 

[HadesGigas]

http://tomorrowcorporation.com/humanresourcemachine

https://youtu.be/428R_oEjGGI

About the Game
Human Resource Machine is a puzzle game. In each level, your boss gives you a job. Automate it by programming your little office worker! If you succeed, you'll be promoted up to the next level for another year of work in the vast office building. Congratulations!

Don't worry if you've never programmed before - programming is just puzzle solving. If you strip away all the 1's and 0's and scary squiggly brackets, programming is actually simple, logical, beautiful, and something that anyone can understand and have fun with!

About the Game: For Expert Nerds
(You don't actually need to know any of the below, but if you're already a computer pro, you might find this "behind the scenes" peek into the machine interesting! If not, don't let it scare you!)

Your office is a simple computer. You have an inbox and an outbox (inputs and outputs), and a few slots on the floor to store stuff for later (memory). Your little office worker can hold exactly one box in his or her hands at a time (like an accumulator). Boxes (data) display letters or numbers.

In each level, your boss gives you a task, like "Take everything from the INBOX, and put it in the OUTBOX!" Automate it by programming your little office worker with simple drag n' drop commands. You start the game with just 2 commands, and gradually earn more as you're promoted. The entire language contains only 11 total commands - but they're enough to simulate almost any computer algorithm in the world!

You might describe this machine as Harvard Architecture with a single accumulator.
Already an expert? Each level comes with Optimization Challenges - difficult (and optional) challenges that test how well your solution optimizes for program size and execution speed.

Do a good job, and have fun! Management is watching.

 

[More_Badass]

I think someone over at Tomorrow Corp really likes Zachtronics games

 

[epmode]

I think someone over at Tomorrow Corp really like Zachtronics games

They clearly have good taste. I may have to get this.

 

[theJohann]

I very much enjoyed their previous games, so I look forward to this one.

 

[Social]

anyone bought this yet? It's out on GOG

 

[Falk]

Thanks for the heads up, launch would have slipped under radar otherwise.

Getting this later today.

 

[qko]

Was super excited to see Tomorrow Corp come out with a new game. But after seeing some Let's Play's the game look waaaaay too intimidating since I don't program.

Will still be getting it, just don't know if it will be as fun as their previous work.

 

[Social]

Was super excited to see Tomorrow Corp come out with a new game. But after seeing some Let's Play's the game look waaaaay too intimidating since I don't program.

Will still be getting it, just don't know if it will be as fun as their previous work.

I think it will nicely ease you into it!

 

[Falk]

I love puzzle games to death (went completely nuts with Steam Workshop for infinifactory) and I loved World of Goo, but this is quickly getting tedious rather than fun.

If anyone else has this, does it get better? I'm at the second fork's optional level.

 

[Caesar III]

I saw Tom Francis play it on Youtube yesterday and HAD TO buy it ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMdRL3env14 )

Game is really lovely. There's a nice story around it again like in Little Inferno

 

[dk_]

Oh god my head hurts so much.

 

[d00d3n]

Anyone who would recommend this game? I am a big fan of World of Goo, but Little Inferno was not for me. Is this more of a real game than Little Inferno?

 

[Falk]

I... actually refunded this. :|

I loved WoG, and Tommorow Corp are good guys, but I think the asking price was simply too high for something that began to feel more and more like academic exercises. I was waiting for it to eventually open up like Spacechem, etc. but it just got a little too tedious, since I pretty much -knew- right off the bat how to solve things, and more time was spent debugging mistakes rather than actually finding a solution. And I really REALLY don't fancy debugging.

Maybe on a sale. I'd definitely pick this up for $5. I felt that something like Lara Croft GO was much more satisfying as a brainteaser. (Yes I'm aware they're apples and oranges; talking in terms of value)

edit: FWIW, Steam's reviews are "Very Positive", and you can get it and try it out and see if it clicks for you. No harm except (up-to-a-2-hour) time investment thanks to Steam refunds.

 

[d00d3n]

I ended up buying it.

This is a puzzle game that asks you to solve simple low level programming challenges. The game is quite similar to TIS-100, which was released a couple of months ago. Human Resource Machine is a bit more fleshed out when it comes to graphics, music and the setting (all have a lot in common with World of Goo), but TIS-100 had a better user interface and more complex puzzles due its weird multi core architecture.

It is a lovely little game, but if I had to recommend one "programming game" in 2015, it would probably be TIS-100. There is something ingenious about how TIS-100 encourages you to learn all important tools (except stack memory, I guess) and sets you free to use all of them from the very first puzzle. In comparison, Human Resource Machine feels more "gamey", with clearer restrictions and a gradual introductions of tools.

In conclusion, I would still recommend this game for fans of the increasingly popular programming puzzle genre, and possibly also for fans of World of Goo.

 

[Makai]

Wow, I really think this game will become a popular teaching tool because of how well it removes the barriers to entry for intro computer science students. It has everything, even a debugger!

 

[TriangleOfCorruption]

Bought about an hour ago after watching half of the Giant Bomb quick look and am having so much fun with it.


I have no programming experience and it's super intuitive and doesn't treat you like an idiot. You can solve puzzles using logic and then it's super easy to translate that from your head to the game's language. I just finished the Fibonacci level and this is satisfying in the way only the best puzzle games are.

 

[DangerMan]

Just got it on Wii U and it is well worth the $10.99 CAD I paid for it. It is easily as good as World of Goo and is more educational in terms of programming, but maybe less educational in terms of architecture and physics. Everything is presented in a way that is intuitive enough for a grade 6 student with no programming experience to perfect. Those who do have programming experience will still get a good challenge and more than enough smiles.

Anyone with an interest in programming should pick this up regardless of age or existing programming experience. Tomorrow Corporation, I look forward to what you'll be releasing next!

EDIT: I am on year 12 or so with having completed every challenge thus far, can't wait to get access to new commands. Got stuck on one level/year for a little while due to me having misread the requirements. Make sure you read the requirements over again if you get stuck on something.