The sequel to Human Resource Machine just came out: 7 Billion Humans.
I know Zachtronics (Opus Magnum, Infinifactory, etc.) has gotten some love here lately, but I don’t think anyone ever talked about Human Resource Machine: very similar programming flavor, but done by Tomorrow Corporation (same people who did World of Goo a ways back). I really enjoyed Human Resource Machine and am about to buy a copy of the sequel.
Looks like there’s a promotion for the rest of the weekend where you get the original game free if you buy the sequel. If you like programming games, it’s probably a sure bet. Human Resource Machine was a fair bit easier than a Zachtronics game, but it sounds like the sequel is stiffer and has an emphasis on parallel computing.
Somehow each new game made by the Tomorrow Company is bleaker than its predecessor
This one makes me very uncomfortable, with its post-scarcity, post-automation world where human work is no longer needed but humans still go kill themselves in completely useless made up jobs because, well, people gotta have jobs. It’s a lot, especially with me in a data job seeing people protesting the lockdown because they want to buy paint
I like the game, for all that it’s just Human Resource Machine 2. I get why they wanted to expand on that game, which felt like 35 tutorial levels, 5 ultra hard levels then one (bleak) ending. 7 billion humans seems to have better learning curve and longevity