The best programming games, according to hackers
6 programming games were recommended on Hacker News between November 2025 and November 2026. We rank them by how many separate people recommend each one, and 2 earn the Hacker Approved badge.
Top picks
The two most recommended programming games with the badge. Each figure is one person. RecommendsCriticizes One comment
Recommended as a programming game
A game about assembly programming praised for teaching programming. Critics say constraints get hard too fast and it starts to feel like work.
Hard to stop playing
A simple premise with satisfyingly difficult levels, recommended as a fun programming challenge and a humbling test of solutions.
All 6 programming games, ranked
Select a column heading to sort. Approval share is recommenders out of everyone who gave an opinion; the tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs. Months counts the months, out of 13, in which someone recommended it.
| Rank | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | EmuDevz | 18 | 1 | 95% | 1 | — | — |
| 2 | TIS-100 | 15 | 1 | 94% | 7 | — | Approved |
| 3 | Elevator Saga | 14 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | Approved |
| 4 | Exapunks by Zachtronics | 12 | 3 | 80% | 3 | — | — |
| 5 | Bitburner | 9 | 2 | 82% | 1 | — | — |
| 6 | Human Resource Machine | 6 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
How we rank
Rank is the number of separate people who recommend a product in a Hacker News comment over the past year. Someone who praises the same programming game in five threads counts once.
The badge goes to programming games that at least 10 people recommend, with recommenders outnumbering critics at least 2 to 1, recommended in at least 4 of the 13 months.
Rankings are never for sale. We may earn a commission when you buy through our links. It never changes the order.