# Turing Complete

22 Hacker News commenters recommended Turing Complete and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** A puzzle game where you build a working computer from logic gates, praised for teaching how CPUs and assembly work in a fun way. Critics say it is buggy, still in early access, and does not cover other processors in depth.

## Why people recommend it

- Teaches how computers really work (4 comments): "felt like a years worth of computer engineering class packed into a week’s worth of well designed gameplay" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49110980)) "Turing Complete taught me how to build a computer and how assembly programming works" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49075548)) "It teaches you how to build a fully functional computer from scratch." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49308924))
- Fun, well designed gameplay (5 comments): "felt like a years worth of computer engineering class packed into a week’s worth of well designed gameplay" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49110980)) "just think the game is great and his dedication to it deserves respect" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49114507)) "Challenging game for sure, but very, very rewarding." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48953359))
- Recommended alongside Zachtronics games (2 comments): "played the heck out of Turing Complete and Zachtronics' Engineer of the People" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47641623)) "is also a game along the same lines and really fun" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49110385))

## What people warn about

- Buggy and awkward in places (1 comments): "I wish Turing Complete wasn't quite so buggy or awkward" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47647838))
- Early access with rough edges (1 comments): "Sadly stuck in early access since forever with some very rough edges" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47642123))
- Lacks depth on other processors (1 comments): "felt that it didn't go in depth enough + didn't cover other processors" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47641383))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [GPU building game](https://hackerapproved.com/p/a-game-where-you-build-a-gpu.md): 49 recommend
- [Learn Flags Quiz](https://hackerapproved.com/p/learn-flags-quiz.md): 16 recommend
- [nandgame](https://hackerapproved.com/p/nandgame.md): 11 recommend
- [MapTap](https://hackerapproved.com/p/nyc-maptap.md): 9 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Turing Complete", https://hackerapproved.com/p/turing-complete/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).