Games Like Upload Labs

Learn CPU architecture with puzzles

Why similar: Programming 31.2% ★, Automation 30%, Hacking 13.5% ★, Logic 10.3%, Simulation 8%

Why You'll Like It: It offers a deep dive into building a computer from the ground up, mirroring the system architecture focus of the seed game.

BUILD CIRCUITS. WRITE CODE. RTFM.

Why similar: Programming 53.9% ★, Automation 28.9%, Logic 8%, Simulation 5.4%, Hacking 2.2% ★

Why You'll Like It: This game challenges you to build circuits and write assembly code, perfectly matching the logic and hardware-management themes.

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 33.9% ★, Automation 27.5%, Hacking 14.8% ★, Simulation 8.3%, Logic 6.2%

Why You'll Like It: It combines complex programming and automation puzzles with a sleek, minimalist interface that emphasizes logical flow.

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 39.7% ★, Automation 25.3%, Idler 15.1%, Logic 6.6%, Simulation 4.2%

Why You'll Like It: It masterfully integrates programming logic into an incremental automation loop, making it a direct thematic cousin.

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 44.2% ★, Automation 22.9%, Hacking 19.2% ★, Logic 6.4%, Simulation 5.5%

Why You'll Like It: You must write code to control agents in a networked environment, capturing the immersive hacking and system-management feel.

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 39.3% ★, Automation 21%, Idler 15.7%, Hacking 15.2% ★, Simulation 3.7%

Why You'll Like It: This terminal-based incremental game requires actual scripting to automate hacking and system management.

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 76.3% ★, Simulation 14.6%, Sandbox 5.1%, Logic 4%, Singleplayer 0.1%

Why You'll Like It: It uses visual programming to teach machine learning concepts, providing a similar 'logic-as-gameplay' experience.

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 67.9% ★, Hacking 12% ★, Automation 8.2%, Simulation 6.1%, Logic 5.5%

Why You'll Like It: A hardcore programming puzzle game that forces you to optimize code for limited hardware, much like the system challenges in Upload Labs.

An open-ended factory management game with RTS and tower defense elements.

Why similar: Automation 73%, Resource Management 14%, Sandbox 7.9%, Sci-fi 3.2%, 2D 1.6%

Why You'll Like It: It blends tower defense with complex automation and resource logistics, demanding a high level of system planning.

Industry Idle is an idle game that combines factory building, resource management and market trading. Design & build your base, expand & scale up your productions, improve & optimize your economy. Plus all the incremental game goodies: offline earnings, prestige to unlock more powerful upgrades.

Why similar: Automation 31.1%, Idler 21.6%, Incremental 13.6%, Economy 8%, Management 7.3%

Why You'll Like It: This game offers a deep, data-driven approach to automation and resource management with a strong incremental backbone.

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 45.2% ★, Automation 37%, Logic 8.1%, Simulation 7.7%, Sandbox 1.4%

Why You'll Like It: This automation puzzle game focuses on building complex, efficient machines to solve intricate manufacturing tasks.

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: Automation 24.1%, Programming 20.3% ★, Incremental 10.9%, Time Management 8.3%, Logic 7.7%

Why You'll Like It: It focuses on the management and hardware configuration of server infrastructure, directly echoing the theme of Upload Labs.

A incremental game about downloading files, uploading, and upgrading your setup. This is the official PC version of Upload Simulator.

Why similar: Idler 39.3%, Incremental 26.5%, Simulation 12.6%, Management 8.1%, Sci-fi 4.2%

Why You'll Like It: It shares the core thematic focus on file processing and system management within a sci-fi setting.

Factorio is a game about building and creating automated factories to produce items of increasing complexity, within an infinite 2D world. Use your imagination to design your factory, combine simple elements into ingenious structures, and finally protect it from the creatures who don't really like you.

Why similar: Automation 66.2%, Resource Management 11.1%, Management 8.5%, Sandbox 8%, Simulation 4.8%

Why You'll Like It: The definitive automation game, it requires constant optimization of interconnected systems and resource management.

Revolution Idle is a free idle incremental game with offline progress, prestige layers, and endless automation. Start simple, reach infinity and go further.

Why similar: Automation 28.7%, Idler 22.1%, Incremental 18.5%, Management 9.1%, Simulation 8.2%

Why You'll Like It: It provides a satisfying incremental experience with a focus on managing multiple automated variables.

A hybrid factory builder / incremental clicker game. Starting from humble beginnings, master the many crafting processes to build up resources and expand your factory. Then, using your newly automated production, unlock new technology and grow ever closer to your goal of spreading to the stars.

Why similar: Automation 34.6%, Incremental 21.1%, Idler 16.6%, Time Management 11%, Simulation 7.1%

Why You'll Like It: A casual incremental game that emphasizes the management and scaling of production systems.

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 56% ★, Simulation 22.3%, Hacking 21.2% ★, Singleplayer 0.5%

Why You'll Like It: You design hardware and logic circuits to solve processing tasks, aligning closely with the system-building nature of the seed game.

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 40.5% ★, Automation 36.2%, Simulation 9.7%, Management 5%, Resource Management 3.8%

Why You'll Like It: It combines base-building with a unique visual programming language to automate the lives of your robotic workers.

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 69.4% ★, Automation 17.7%, Simulation 7.2%, Logic 4.3%, Sandbox 1.1%

Why You'll Like It: This puzzle game uses visual assembly language to automate office tasks, mirroring the programming-heavy logic of the seed game.

Idle Research is an addictive, resource management, incremental game with both idle and active playstyles. Research and craft colorful Flasks and Tubes to earn as much Energy as possible! Big numbers guaranteed.

Why similar: Automation 28.5%, Idler 26.1%, Incremental 18.5%, Simulation 8.9%, Management 8.4%

Why You'll Like It: This game offers a complex, multi-layered incremental experience that requires careful resource management and planning.

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%, Management 11.8%, Simulation 10.8%, Logic 8.2%, Sandbox 6.6%

Why You'll Like It: It provides a robust simulation of factory management and logistics that rewards efficient system design.

Craft and automate an industrial empire from scratch! Experience a strategic game teeming with challenges as you manage resources, overcome hurdles, and optimize production chains. Are you ready to conquer the challenges of Incremental Factory? Your journey starts here... The Factory Must Grow!

Why similar: Automation 34.4%, Idler 23.9%, Simulation 8.7%, Economy 7.5%, Resource Management 7%

Why You'll Like It: This game bridges the gap between idle progression and complex factory automation mechanics.

shapez is an easy-going, minimalistic factory building game about the automation of shapes through extraction and satisfying production lines. Adapt to increasingly complex shapes and grow your factory across an infinitely expanding map. Your only limitation is your creativity!

Why similar: Automation 55.7%, Management 10.9%, Resource Management 10.1%, Sandbox 8.6%, Logic 6.7%

Why You'll Like It: A pure automation experience that strips away combat to focus entirely on the logic of supply chains and processing.

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 32.5% ★, Automation 26.6%, Hacking 18.1% ★, Logic 9.7%, Simulation 7.9%

Why You'll Like It: A sandbox game that allows you to build complex, functional digital logic circuits in a 3D environment.

A short incremental game about expanding a star-system wide factory to build giant megastructures in space. Deploy swarms of drones, mine resources, unlock upgrades and harvest the power of the stars!

Why similar: Automation 26%, Idler 19.5%, Incremental 15.2%, Mining 7.8% ★, Economy 7.2%

Why You'll Like It: It combines incremental growth with automation mechanics in a space-themed management setting.

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 71.6% ★, Automation 11.5%, Simulation 9.3%, Logic 7.3%, Singleplayer 0.3%

Why You'll Like It: It expands on programming-based puzzle mechanics by requiring you to manage multiple workers simultaneously through code.

Start in your bedroom in year 2010. Build rigs to mine Bitcoin, Ethereum and other crypto coins. Trade on the market to grow wealth. Expand your business into new offices. Hire skilled employees and assign tasks. Use cash from your mega farms to research new technologies.

Why similar: Automation 27%, Simulation 23.2%, Management 18.1%, Economy 15.5%, Mining 8.7% ★

Why You'll Like It: It focuses on the hardware management and economy aspects of running a computer-based operation.

Dive into a factory-building game with the focus on just that – building huge space factories! Design sprawling multi-level factories and satisfying production lines without limits. Tackle progressively challenging automation goals at your own pace, without the threat of enemies.

Why similar: Automation 47.3%, Management 15.4%, Logic 11%, Simulation 10%, Sandbox 6.8%

Destroy endless waves of alien ships that have all but wiped out humanity in this long form, unfolding, sci-fi idle game. Customize your ship with different weapons and defenses to defeat specific enemy types and utilize a ton of different systems to increase your overall power.

Why similar: Idler 35.8%, Incremental 22.9%, Automation 16.5%, Simulation 10.9%, Resource Management 6.5%

Hacknet is an immersive, terminal-based hacking simulator for PC. Dive down a rabbit hoIe as you follow the instructions of a recently deceased hacker, whose death may not have been the accident the media reports.

Why similar: Hacking 73.1% ★, Programming 16.1% ★, Simulation 4.6%, Logic 3.8%, Sci-fi 1.6%

Why You'll Like It: A terminal-based simulation that captures the immersive feel of navigating and manipulating computer systems.

Assemble your robot squad, construct their AI and send them in the battle arena to see your strategy play out. Iterate, improve and repeat until you outsmart all your opponents and friends online.

Why similar: Programming 63.3% ★, Automation 13.7%, Logic 10.8%, Simulation 10.4%, Singleplayer 1.7%

Why You'll Like It: You design the AI logic for your combat robots, focusing on pre-programmed behavior rather than real-time control.

Nodebuster is a short, experimental incremental game about busting nodes and destroying reality.

Why similar: Incremental 33.8%, Idler 27.3%, Hacking 12.5% ★, Management 10.3%, Simulation 10.3%

Upload Simulator Silicon is an incremental game about uploading, making money, hacking, and ascending as a powerful entity that controls the very laws of the universe using powerful technologies you discover throught your journey.

Why similar: Idler 36.7%, Incremental 29%, Management 8.5%, Simulation 7.8%, Sci-fi 4.8%

This is a beautiful "Idle", "Incremental" game based on spirals and mathematics. Your goal is to make the spiral grow farther and farther from the origin. The game is very simple, but it is very deep and can be enjoyed for a long time!

Why similar: Idler 26.3%, Automation 26.3%, Incremental 19.3%, Time Management 11.3%, Simulation 9.5%

An incremental game where you must make $1,000,000 to escape! Throw darts, drop pachinko balls, play scratch-off tickets, unlock automation, and discover powerful synergies as each new game affects all the others!

Why similar: Automation 30%, Idler 21.9%, Incremental 17.6%, Economy 9.3%, Simulation 6.9%

Idle Skilling is the ultimate Idle Game with years of content! Meant to be played for 5-10 minutes a day, you gradually unlock new skills like mining, fishing, pet breeding, crusading, potion-making, lab-research, construction, and more! With new updates coming, you'll never run out of stuff to do!

Why similar: Idler 37%, Incremental 24.8%, Simulation 13.3%, Resource Management 8.9%, Management 8.3%

Vacuum Warrior is a Free to Play incremental idle game. Listen to the crisp crackle of dust and debris entering your vacuum as you vacuum ridiculous amounts of dust. Upgrade your vacuums, idle gains, and robot vacuums, earn achievements, and explore numerous locations in the Vacuum Warrior universe!

Why similar: Automation 32%, Idler 26.7%, Incremental 19%, Simulation 9.5%, Management 4.2%

Idle Cave Miner is an idle game about crafting items, mining gems, and building your team of miners. Prestige, craft, and travel to other mines to increase your strength to dig deeper, and find what lurks below.

Why similar: Idler 32.3%, Incremental 22.7%, Mining 14% ★, Management 13.3%, Simulation 8.6%

Synergism is a free-to-play Idle game about... well, Synergy! Explore that concept through hundreds of upgrades, many reset layers and probably thousands of hours of content that allows both idle and active play.

Why similar: Idler 64.4%, Incremental 12.5%, Economy 11.8%, Resource Management 7.1%, 2D 3.9%

Train a commoner to become the greatest archer in this short incremental game! Increase your stats, gather wealth from quests, buy upgrades, and infuse your arrows with magic.

Why similar: Idler 33.9%, Incremental 30.5%, Economy 12.5%, Resource Management 8.8%, Simulation 6.6%

Start in a bedroom with one 3D printer and build a manufacturing empire! Manage filaments, upgrade machines, hire staff, and expand into a factory in this addictive semi idle tycoon game.

Why similar: Automation 29.5%, Idler 20.1%, Incremental 12%, Economy 9.2%, Management 8.2%

Craft a complex production line, earn idle cash and become an industrial tycoon!

Why similar: Automation 28%, Idler 21.3%, Incremental 16.6%, Management 8.7%, Simulation 6.9%

CivIdle is an idle/incremental game that allows you to lead your own civilization through thousands of years from ancient times to the modern era. Expand your territory, explore a vast tech tree, build various wonders, and trade with global players: empire must grow and numbers must go up!

Why similar: Automation 41.4%, Idler 31.1%, Management 11.6%, Simulation 7.4%, Resource Management 7.1%

Cube based incremental game that is simple but very deep!

Why similar: Idler 37.6%, Incremental 33.2%, Time Management 14.1%, Simulation 13.6%, 2D 1.3%

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

Why similar: Automation 31.9%, Incremental 20.9%, Idler 18.1%, Management 9.6%, Simulation 9.3%

A condensed incremental experience, where you build a colony to collect and merge bigger and bigger fruits. Combine game-changing technologies and special upgrades to find the best synergies and take your cash flow to another dimension.

Why similar: Automation 31.5%, Idler 20.7%, Incremental 18.8%, Economy 9.9%, Management 8.5%

An internet service provider simulation game. Design and build network connectivity and services to clients in an ever-expanding randomly generated tower. Configure and maintain equipment to ensure you meet the requirements of tower dwellers. Manage your spending for expansion and daily operations.

Why similar: Programming 30% ★, Automation 22.9%, Logic 9.5%, Economy 8.9%, Management 8.1%

A text-based incremental idle game with a ridiculous amount of unique content. Automate old stuff as you unlock new stuff to keep things interesting for hours and hours, no spam clicking necessary! Trimps is everything you love about your favorite games, distilled to their purest form.

Why similar: Automation 38.3%, Idler 32.6%, Management 10.7%, Logic 7.9%, Sci-fi 3.1%

Build a sophisticated robot factory optimized to perfection in an infinite voxel world. Mine and harvest resources, automate your production lines and manage complex systems while researching your way to become the galaxy’s leading robotics megacorp.

Why similar: Automation 55.5%, Simulation 14.5%, Resource Management 11.5%, Sandbox 10.2%, Sci-fi 7.6%

Build an Empire, From Scratch, in this Scratch Card Idle/Incremental game.

Why similar: Automation 30%, Idler 25.7%, Incremental 17.5%, Time Management 11%, Simulation 6.7%

Create an extrasolar efficiency utopia from scratch! In this sci-fi city builder you need to start mining operations, plan production, and lay down transportation routes to ensure a smooth supply chain.

Why similar: Automation 43.1%, Economy 13%, Management 12.1%, Simulation 9.8%, Resource Management 8.8%

Welcome to the resource management game where your creativity and logistics skills are put to the test! In this minimalistic simulation you will build interconnected chains of products and open new missions by completing various tasks to create the biggest system you can.

Why similar: Automation 37%, Management 13.6%, Logic 12.5%, Economy 11.4%, Simulation 10.7%

Earn antimatter through dimensions! Gain Infinite antimatter to collapse the universe!

Why similar: Idler 75.1%, Automation 17.9%, Resource Management 6.4%, Singleplayer 0.6%

An incremental unfolding game about feeding fuel into a reactor. Combine elements to produce energy, unlock exotic technologies and explore a strange galaxy.

Why similar: Incremental 37.4%, Idler 31.2%, Management 13%, Simulation 11.1%, Relaxing 2.9%

Idly gather and manage resources to repair what's left of a decaying world. Scavenge forgotten ruins, meet scattered survivors, and push back against the inevitable collapse. IDLE_DIRECTIVE is a grid-based inventory and resource management idle game.

Why similar: Idler 38.5%, Incremental 29.2%, Automation 12.7%, Simulation 12%, Resource Management 3.3%

Gridkeeper is an incremental game about managing "Grids" and using their power to run MineBots, research tech, and grow your mining empire by getting better Grids.

Why similar: Idler 29%, Automation 24.5%, Incremental 23.6%, Mining 7.4% ★, Simulation 5.1%

Build and optimize your industrial empire in this grid-based idle game. Place factories, power plants, and research labs strategically to maximize efficiency through adjacency bonuses. Upgrade your buildings, manage power consumption, and watch your profits soar while you're away.

Why similar: Automation 28.9%, Idler 21.3%, Incremental 12.5%, Time Management 11.8%, Immersive Sim 7%

NGU INDUSTRIES (sequel to NGU IDLE) is a Free To Play Idle game and Factory Manager! It's packed with weird humor, tons of upgrades, and many hours of content! If you want that sweet, sweet dopamine release that comes with making Numbers Go Up, NGU INDUSTRIES is your game!

Why similar: Idler 39.3%, Incremental 27.5%, Resource Management 11%, Time Management 10.4%, Simulation 5.4%

Build a biometric data harvesting empire from scratch in FACEMINER, the hardcore thriller clicker set in 1999. Classify data, upgrade mining infrastructure, and scale up your A.I. surveillance empire to obscene ends in this creepy narrative-driven incremental management sim with a dystopian twist.

Why similar: Idler 27%, Incremental 25.2%, Simulation 11.9%, Economy 11.1%, Management 9.3%

(the) Gnorp Apologue is the journey of the gnorps as you guide them towards their goal of delightfully excessive wealth accumulation.

Why similar: Incremental 33.7%, Idler 28%, Economy 10.2%, Management 9.5%, Mining 8.5% ★