Human Resource Machine
Ranked 6 of 6 programming games by recommenders
People recommend this fun puzzle game for teaching programming ideas, though critics note it lacks functions and subroutines.
People recommend this fun puzzle game for teaching programming ideas, though critics note it lacks functions and subroutines.
6 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 6
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 6 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Fun programming puzzle game
“The fun programming games are Human Resource Machine and 7 Billion Humans.”
Comment from 21 Jan 2026 in “EmuDevz: A game about developing emulators” “I loved Human Resource Machine”
Comment from 19 Oct 2026 in “It's still ok to enjoy programming” Good for teaching programming
“An intro-level course that takes students through games like TIS-100 and Human Resource Machine might have a lot of pedagogical value.”
Comment from 5 Feb 2026 in “Simply Scheme: Introducing Computer Science (1999)”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Lacks functions and subroutines
“unlike farmer, these games reaaaaly lack the ability to make functions/subroutines”
Comment from 31 Jul 2026 in “Elevators”
Other programming games people recommend
The four most recommended other programming games, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EmuDevz | 18 | 1 | 95% | 1 | — | — |
| TIS-100 | 15 | 1 | 94% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Elevator Saga | 14 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | Approved |
| Exapunks by Zachtronics | 12 | 3 | 80% | 3 | — | — |
| Human Resource MachineThis page | 6 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
4 of the 6 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I loved Human Resource Machine”
“unlike farmer, these games reaaaaly lack the ability to make functions/subroutines”
“An intro-level course that takes students through games like TIS-100 and Human Resource Machine might have a lot of pedagogical value.”
“The fun programming games are Human Resource Machine and 7 Billion Humans.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.