Games Like Alan's Automaton Workshop

Learn CPU architecture with puzzles

Why similar: Programming 31.6% ★, Automation 19.4%, Education 13.2%, Logic 11.2%, Building 9.1%

Why You'll Like It: A deep dive into computer architecture where you build a functioning computer from basic logic gates.

BUILD CIRCUITS. WRITE CODE. RTFM.

Why similar: Programming 53.1% ★, Automation 18.2%, Logic 8.4%, Education 8.2%, Puzzle 4.9%

Why You'll Like It: A classic Zachtronics game focused on building circuits and writing assembly code to solve complex engineering challenges.

Opus Magnum is the latest open-ended puzzle game from Zachtronics, the creators of SpaceChem, Infinifactory, and SHENZHEN I/O. Design and build machines that assemble potions, poisons, and more using the alchemical engineer’s most advanced tool: the transmutation engine!

Why similar: Programming 42.4% ★, Automation 22.1%, Puzzle 9%, Steampunk 8.8% ★, Logic 8.1%

Why You'll Like It: An open-ended automation puzzle game where you design machines to assemble chemical products.

TIS-100 is an open-ended programming game by Zachtronics, the creators of SpaceChem and Infinifactory, in which you rewrite corrupted code segments to repair the TIS-100 and unlock its secrets. It’s the assembly language programming game you never asked for!

Why similar: Programming 71.1% ★, Puzzle 6.8%, Logic 6.2%, Education 6%, Automation 5.5%

Why You'll Like It: A challenging, minimalist assembly programming game that forces you to optimize code within strict memory constraints.

Zachtronics is back with an ambitious new design-based puzzle game. Take on the role of a Reactor Engineer working for SpaceChem, the leading chemical synthesizer for frontier colonies. Construct elaborate factories to transform raw materials into valuable chemical products!

Why similar: Programming 53.1% ★, Puzzle 14.6%, Automation 14.1%, Logic 11.4%, Education 3.1%

Why You'll Like It: The foundational automation puzzle game that requires complex logic and timing to manipulate chemical bonds.

Program little office workers to solve puzzles. Be a good employee! The machines are coming... for your job. From the creators of World of Goo and Little Inferno.

Why similar: Programming 58.6% ★, Education 14.8%, Automation 9.5%, Puzzle 7.4%, Logic 3.9%

Why You'll Like It: A visual programming game that uses office tasks to teach fundamental computer science concepts.

The year is 1997. You used to be a hacker, but now you have the phage. You made a deal: one hack, one dose. There’s nothing left to lose… except your life.

Why similar: Programming 57.2% ★, Automation 18.9%, Logic 8.9%, Puzzle 7.1%, Sandbox 3.6%

Why You'll Like It: A gritty hacking-themed game that tasks you with writing assembly code to control robots and infiltrate systems.

Infinifactory is a sandbox puzzle game by Zachtronics, the creators of SpaceChem and Infiniminer. Build factories that assemble products for your alien overlords, and try not to die in the process.

Why similar: Programming 36.8% ★, Automation 22.1%, Building 11.5%, Sandbox 10.1%, Puzzle 9.2%

Why You'll Like It: A 3D spatial automation puzzle game where you build factories to produce alien products.

Automate swarms of office workers to solve puzzles inside your very own parallel computer made of people. A thrilling followup to the award winning Human Resource Machine. Now with more humans!

Why similar: Programming 62.4% ★, Education 12%, Puzzle 7.4%, Logic 6.8%, Automation 6.4%

Why You'll Like It: The sequel to Human Resource Machine, introducing multi-threaded programming and parallel processing puzzles.

Set in a post-apocalyptic future, The Signal State puts your logic skills to the test with complex puzzles inspired by modular synthesizers. Repair machines, rebuild an abandoned farm, and be part of a revolution that will change the fate of agriculture once and for all.

Why similar: Programming 38.9% ★, Automation 22.4%, Logic 14%, Sandbox 10%, Puzzle 7.8%

Why You'll Like It: A modular synthesis-inspired puzzle game that requires complex logic and signal routing to solve.

You're a programmer. Your cat is a better one. Solve visual puzzles built from real machine learning ideas, from decision trees to neural networks, to create a cat-to-human translator. Take freelance jobs, upgrade your rig, gamble on startups, dress up the cat. No coding required, curiosity is.

Why similar: Programming 52% ★, Education 22%, Building 6%, Sandbox 6%, Puzzle 5.9%

Why You'll Like It: A lighthearted programming game that introduces machine learning concepts through puzzle-solving.

Manufactoria 2022 is a constructive puzzle game about pushing robots around. (It's okay, they don't complain.) Use simple parts to engineer solutions to open-ended problems, then rebuild 'em better! Take a company from your backyard to the soaring heights of success! How hard could it be?

Why similar: Programming 43.5% ★, Automation 25.7%, Logic 13.9%, Puzzle 7.8%, Simulation 4.1%

Why You'll Like It: A logic-heavy automation game focused on building machines to sort and process robots.

Program a crew of tiny robots to turn a frozen planet into a living world. Connect visual code blocks, automate crafting, and build a workforce that fuels itself. Keep the heat flowing, refine your machines, and watch your ideas come to life.

Why similar: Programming 37.1% ★, Education 21%, Automation 20.6%, Sandbox 10.5%, Puzzle 5.7%

Why You'll Like It: A survival-automation game that uses visual programming to teach robots how to gather and craft resources.

Build hardware. Solve puzzles. From the creator of Manufactoria, a new open-ended puzzle game set in Silicon Valley's first startup.

Why similar: Programming 59.1% ★, Education 18.7%, Simulation 10.8%, Puzzle 8.5%, Indie 2.1%

Why You'll Like It: A hardware design game that challenges you to build computer components while managing costs and efficiency.

Virtual Circuit Board is the sandbox drawing-based logic simulator where you can build, program, decorate, and simulate anything from simple monochrome circuits to complex and colorful computers. Play with digital logic in this sandbox-only experience.

Why similar: Programming 32.8% ★, Education 17.3%, Automation 16.6%, Logic 9%, Sandbox 7.8%

Why You'll Like It: A sandbox environment for building and testing complex digital logic circuits without constraints.

SOKOBOT is an open-ended puzzle game where you place down cute robots, give them commands, and create infinitely-looping assembly lines that combine shapes together!

Why similar: Programming 38.7% ★, Automation 20.5%, Logic 11.3%, Building 9.5%, Sandbox 9.3%

Why You'll Like It: An automation puzzle game where you program a robot to move and manipulate objects in a grid-based environment.

Build the most advanced operating system ever created! Can you master the fictional simulation language of this mind-bending machine? Design circuits, automate UBITS (coloured mobile data blocks), and optimize your system. The Admin is always watching, and he’s not what he seems.

Why similar: Programming 35.2% ★, Automation 18.2%, Education 14%, Sandbox 7.7%, Building 7.3%

Why You'll Like It: A programming-heavy automation game that emphasizes logic and sequence optimization.

MHRD is a hardware design game, in which you design various hardware circuits in a hardware description language. The hardware circuits you design get more complex as you go until you create a fully functional CPU design.

Why similar: Programming 60.4% ★, Education 21.5%, Simulation 9.2%, Puzzle 7.1%, Indie 1.9%

Why You'll Like It: A hardware design game that focuses on building a CPU from the ground up using logic gates.

Retrace the path of the Prime Mover to uncover the story of the Byte of Burden! Prime Mover is an open-ended puzzle game about designing circuit boards.

Why similar: Programming 66.1% ★, Education 13.5%, Puzzle 10.3%, Simulation 7.8%, Indie 1.7%

Why You'll Like It: A circuit design game where you optimize logic boards to solve increasingly difficult engineering tasks.

Kaizen is an open-ended puzzle automation game from the original Zachtronics team, set in 1980s Japan. Design, build, and optimize production lines to create iconic products, like calculators, camcorders, and arcade machines.

Why similar: Programming 37.7% ★, Automation 17.6%, Education 14.2%, Logic 9.7%, Building 6.7%

Why You'll Like It: A factory automation and optimization game that focuses on efficient production lines.

Robo Instructus is a puzzle game in which players manoeuvre a robot by issuing instructions via a simple programming language. As players progress through the game they unlock new functions to overcome new puzzles, each of which can be solved in multiple ways.

Why similar: Programming 52.5% ★, Education 18.6%, Logic 14.3%, Puzzle 8%, Simulation 3.4%

Why You'll Like It: A puzzle game where you write code to guide a robot through various spatial challenges.

Design increasingly complex computation units powered by high pressure steam. From switches to steam based computers, all in a world of analogue pressure devices. Use previous designs to solve further challenges, unravel the mystery of the missing steam and discover a new field of science.

Why similar: Programming 35.2% ★, Automation 20.2%, Education 16.8%, Building 9.9%, Sandbox 9.5%

Why You'll Like It: An automation and logic-based building game that challenges you to manage pressure and flow systems.

Use the MOLEK-SYNTEZ to create small molecules with various pharmacological effects from the comfort of your small Romanian apartment.

Why similar: Programming 51.9% ★, Automation 22%, Puzzle 10.8%, Simulation 9.3%, Logic 4%

Why You'll Like It: A chemistry-themed programming puzzle game that requires precise assembly code to build molecules.

In Autonauts you must build, create, and automate. Start by establishing a colony, crafting bots and teaching them via Scratch-style programming to build an ever evolving autonomous paradise of agriculture, industry and enlightenment.

Why similar: Programming 50.1% ★, Automation 28.6%, Sandbox 7.4%, Building 7.2%, Simulation 5.5%

Why You'll Like It: A game focused on teaching robots to automate tasks using a visual programming language.

Retro Gadgets is a sandbox where you build, code, and customize gadgets inspired by old-school electronics.

Why similar: Programming 24.7% ★, Automation 20.2%, Education 19.8%, Building 9.9%, Sandbox 7.8%

Why You'll Like It: A sandbox game for building and programming interactive, retro-style hardware gadgets.

A sandbox logic puzzle game with a nostalgic temperament. You can experience the endless fun of designing automata here.

Why similar: Programming 47.2% ★, Automation 25.9%, Building 12.6%, Puzzle 7.9%, Simulation 5.2%

Why You'll Like It: A cozy automation game that combines programming mechanics with building and simulation.

Invent a new computer! Logic World is a first-person sandbox simulation game that's all about digital logic. Play alone or with friends, design unique machines, build up layers of complexity, and experience the joy of circuits!

Why similar: Programming 31.9% ★, Automation 16.6%, Education 16.3%, Logic 10.2%, Building 9%

Why You'll Like It: A sandbox game that allows for the construction of incredibly complex digital circuits and logic systems.

Program and optimize a drone to automate a farm and watch it do the work for you. Collect resources to unlock better technology and become the most efficient farmer in the world. Improve your problem solving and coding skills.

Why similar: Programming 45.8% ★, Automation 18.6%, Education 15.8%, Logic 8.1%, Sandbox 5%

The Qubit Factory is an open-ended puzzle game incorporating real-life concepts from the cutting-edge field of quantum computing. Design and build logic circuits that manipulate bits and qubits (quantum bits) to solve devious computational challenges!

Why similar: Programming 40% ★, Automation 20.9%, Education 14.1%, Logic 10.9%, Puzzle 7.6%

OCTOPTICOM is an open-ended puzzle programming game about designing and optimizing optical computing devices. Use lasers, mirrors, filters and other components to read, transform and write sequences of colored squares.

Why similar: Programming 46.4% ★, Education 20.3%, Logic 13%, Puzzle 8.5%, Simulation 8.5%

Why You'll Like It: A logic and optimization puzzle game focused on routing and processing data signals.

Build, debug and optimize a computer network in an underground facility.

Why similar: Programming 42.9% ★, Automation 23.4%, Logic 14.8%, Puzzle 6.6%, Sandbox 6%

Comet 64 is a programming puzzle game. The year is 1984. All you got is a Comet 64 home computer and the operator's manual it came with.

Why similar: Programming 39.2% ★, Education 15.4%, Automation 12.2%, Building 7.7%, Sandbox 7.4%

Why You'll Like It: A retro-themed programming puzzle game that captures the feel of early computing hardware.

Replicube is an open-ended programming puzzle game/toy about writing code to replicate 3D voxel-based objects. Solve puzzles, pursue leaderboard glory, or just make art to share with the in-game community.

Why similar: Programming 69.7% ★, Sandbox 13.8%, Puzzle 9.5%, Simulation 7.1%

See the logic all of us obey. Design, optimize, and reverse-engineer real quantum algorithms in an open-ended Zachlike puzzle game. Solve 500+ visual puzzles and hack other players’ creations. No coding or physics background required.

Why similar: Programming 31.1% ★, Automation 16.8%, Education 16.4%, Logic 9.8%, Sandbox 8.6%

Design, build and wire up your own unique robot to complete challenging logic puzzles. LogicBots is a puzzle game where robots are used to complete the various levels.

Why similar: Programming 48.9% ★, Education 13.2%, Sandbox 11.8%, Building 9.5%, Simulation 8.4%

Design computational circuits which defy restrictions of our universe in this open-ended puzzle. Your completed creations become components to solve future challenges. As you design a circuit and can place your design within it, where there is a smaller you doing the same, and so on to infinity.

Why similar: Programming 40.5% ★, Education 18.1%, Logic 12.3%, Sandbox 10.8%, Building 9.2%

PLC Ladder Logic programming simulator.

Why similar: Education 40.4%, Automation 39.5%, Puzzle 10.3%, Simulation 7%, 2D 1.5%

World of Contraptions is a physics-based building game in which you build the most varied contraptions to solve the most diverse types of puzzles. Win dozens of levels with different types of obstacles. Design the best contraption for each challenge using a giant collection of blocks.

Why similar: Programming 27.8% ★, Automation 16.1%, Education 14.8%, Building 10.8%, Sandbox 10.4%

Dive into SirKwitz: a beginner-friendly edutainment game that makes learning programming easy & fun! Explore 28 puzzles across four topics to master the very core concepts behind programming and develop your problem-solving skills. Ideal for those that think coding & programming are scary words!

Why similar: Programming 37.7% ★, Education 24.5%, Automation 14.4%, Logic 11.1%, Puzzle 6.6%

Build, automate, & optimize production lines across sky islands with real spatial constraints. Every production line is an open-ended puzzle: which operators to use, how to route your belts and how to fit your factory into the landscape. Your solutions, like your factories, are uniquely your own.

Why similar: Automation 39.5%, Building 19.6%, Sandbox 17.9%, Logic 13.9%, Simulation 7.9%

Milling machine simulator will inspire novices and experts alike. Realistic physics and movements allow you to familiarize yourself with the machine in a 3D workshop setting. Enjoy playing around, learning and prototyping in Free milling mode. Or challenge yourself in Career mode.

Why similar: Programming 37.4% ★, Education 20.4%, Automation 17.5%, Sandbox 10.4%, Building 8.6%

Hard Chip is a 3D simulation/puzzle game about building processors focusing on realism. Explore the world of semiconductor chip design and delve into the intricacies of CPU logic, floor planning, and propagation delay.

Why similar: Programming 35.4% ★, Education 17.7%, Automation 15.8%, Logic 11.3%, Building 9.3%

Automate It is a factory-building puzzle game that challenges players to find clever solutions within size, power, and time constraints. Design, build, and share your own puzzles with other players. If you want to build it - choose Automate It.

Why similar: Automation 33.3%, Sandbox 19.4%, Building 14.2%, Logic 12.2%, Puzzle 9.8%

A minimalist programming puzzle game based on the esoteric language Brainfuck. Learn its rules, solve clever challenges, and even run your code in an external terminal.

Why similar: Programming 49.5% ★, Education 23.3%, Automation 18.7%, Puzzle 6.5%, Indie 1.4%

Automate, optimize, and build vast factories in a post-apocalyptic automation game for those who have evolved beyond conveyor belts. Command intelligent robots that obey your plain-text commands in any language, explore the ruins of a lost civilization, and rebuild humanity one machine at a time.

Why similar: Programming 37.7% ★, Steampunk 23.5% ★, Automation 22.9%, Building 10.7%, Simulation 4.5%

Build, cable, and automate. Assemble racks, servers, and switches, connect enough capacity for each app, earn money from processed data, and unlock gear and bigger customers with XP and reputation. Follow colored data packets as your center comes to life.

Why similar: Programming 28.9% ★, Automation 21.9%, Education 14.5%, Logic 11.7%, Sandbox 9.2%

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.

Why similar: Programming 36.9% ★, Automation 22%, Education 19.7%, Logic 12%, Puzzle 5.9%

Mechanica is a multiplayer open-world survival game involving building and programming. Create your own bases, defenses, manufacturing systems and more. Explore the map and expand the scope and complexity of your creations.

Why similar: Programming 50.3% ★, Automation 15.1%, Building 13.2%, Logic 10.3%, Sandbox 9.8%

A sci-fi management game where you build and optimize your computer's system from the ground up. Connect and configure interconnected nodes to efficiently download, process, and upload files. Manage your setup, solve system challenges, and become the ultimate system architect

Why similar: Programming 41.5% ★, Automation 34.2%, Logic 9.8%, Simulation 7.6%, Sandbox 5.8%

You’re the designer, engineer and architect if you can imagine it you can create it! Construct robots of any shape or size from eight-legged spider bots to eerie UFO contraptions.

Why similar: Programming 33.4% ★, Automation 16.3%, Education 15.5%, Sandbox 10.6%, Building 10.2%

U.V.S. Nirmana is a engineering puzzle game from Coincidence, the creators of Kaizen: A Factory Story and the inventors of the Zach-like. Set off on the Unreturning Void Ship Nirmana as it continues a journey of uncountable eons toward the edge of the universe.

Why similar: Programming 59.5% ★, Logic 14.2%, Automation 12.6%, Puzzle 8.5%, Simulation 2.3%

A=B is a programming puzzle game with only one instruction: A=B, which means replacing A with B.

Why similar: Programming 47.7% ★, Education 21.6%, Automation 17%, Puzzle 8.6%, Logic 3.5%

Word Factori is a word-building game where your only resource is the letter "i". Build a chain of factories to bend, rotate, reflect, and merge "i" into more complex letters. Discover secret letter recipes, unlock hidden word art, and optimize your factory chains for high scores.

Why similar: Programming 37.3% ★, Automation 20.8%, Logic 11.7%, Sandbox 9%, Building 8.8%

Bitburner is a programming-based incremental game. Write scripts in JavaScript to automate gameplay, learn skills, play minigames, solve puzzles, and more in this cyberpunk text-based incremental RPG.

Why similar: Programming 61.6% ★, Automation 21%, Education 7.1%, Sandbox 3.6%, Puzzle 3%

A rich and challenging physics-based puzzle /logic /construction /programming game! Master ballistics, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, chemical and nuclear reactions, use automation bricks, build structures, machines, vehicles, produce power, solve puzzles, pierce the fog and defeat CHR$!

Why similar: Programming 38.4% ★, Automation 28.1%, Building 12.9%, Logic 9.9%, Puzzle 6.6%

Dive into the world of Sixty Four, where you transform simple machines into a thriving factory.

Why similar: Automation 51.8%, Sandbox 15.2%, Simulation 10.8%, Puzzle 9.4%, Psychological Horror 6.7%

Build a factory for the galaxy's pickiest customers: cats. Automate production, route goods and cats to your stores, and grow across surface and underground layers. Experiment with machine learning to improve your business, with no enemies to interrupt your plans.

Why similar: Automation 34.8%, Education 31.2%, Sandbox 16.4%, Building 11.1%, Simulation 5.5%

Great Permutator is a puzzle. Hard and tricky. One in which you will have to build a complex system of conveyors and various devices so that the colored boxes can travel across the factory and arrive at right places and in right order. If you are into clever engineering puzzles, this game is for you.

Why similar: Programming 41.1% ★, Automation 23.5%, Building 11.5%, Logic 9.5%, Puzzle 7.3%

A game about building emulators! Implement your own NEEES core in JavaScript, get instant feedback with unit/video tests, build the graphics unit in real time, learn 6502 assembly, debug test ROMs, and have fun with the included homebrew games!

Why similar: Programming 52.6% ★, Education 21.7%, Logic 13.7%, Puzzle 6.1%, Simulation 5.1%

A sandbox adventure where every pixel is physically and chemically simulated! Build intricate, fully functional machines from the pixels around you. Harvest, react, and manipulate all 118 elements to craft everything from simple tools to complex systems.

Why similar: Education 43%, Sandbox 30.8%, Logic 11.9%, Simulation 10.8%, 2D 2.9%