The game's premise, that the protagonist has a disease and the only way to afford treatment is to write code as his life depends on it (because it does) hits too close home for me.

Now that you know I'm biased towards the game, you can understand the reason why I'm giving this game a super thumbs up. The gameplay itself is very fun and, while it's "not real programming" the puzzles are engaging and with open solutions. Most of the puzzle games have rigid restrictions where the maker of the game requires you to do something in a very specific way. Not here. And this means that you can get super creative with your solutions, and it only opens up the more you dive in.

Now you'll think: If you are a programmer, why on Earth would you play a game that feels like programming instead of doing the real thing? And the answer is: Because puzzles are fun!

Extra credit goes to Matthew S. Burns who's done an AMAZING job with the soundtrack, in order to deliver instrumental pieces that immerse you in as you forget the passage of time and engage in the creative problem solving process that only Zachtronics puzzle games can effectively recreate in a managed environment. You can listen to it here https://zachtronics.bandcamp.com/album/exapunks-ost (and if you like it as much as I do, support it *wink*).

I also highly recommend this game for anyone who's bored of the usual puzzle games, because this is far from it.

The game's premise, that the protagonist has a disease and the only way to afford treatment is to write code as his life depends on it (because it does) hits too close home for me. Now that you know I'm biased towards the game, you can understand the reason why I'm giving this game a super thumbs up. The gameplay itself is very fun and, while it's "not real programming" the puzzles are engaging and with open solutions. Most of the puzzle games have rigid restrictions where the maker of the game requires you to do something in a very specific way. Not here. And this means that you can get super creative with your solutions, and it only opens up the more you dive in. Now you'll think: If you are a programmer, why on Earth would you play a game that feels like programming instead of doing the real thing? And the answer is: Because puzzles are fun! Extra credit goes to Matthew S. Burns who's done an AMAZING job with the soundtrack, in order to deliver instrumental pieces that immerse you in as you forget the passage of time and engage in the creative problem solving process that only Zachtronics puzzle games can effectively recreate in a managed environment. You can listen to it here https://zachtronics.bandcamp.com/album/exapunks-ost (and if you like it as much as I do, support it *wink*). I also highly recommend this game for anyone who's bored of the usual puzzle games, because this is far from it.