

Ask HN: What games do programmers play? - DenGorbachev

What games do you yourself play? If I develop a game specifically for programmers, what should it look like?
======
joshstrange
Banished [0], Starcraft [1], Starcraft 2 [2], SPAZ [3], FTL [4], AoE HD [5],
TF2 [6], CS:Source [7], Minecraft [8], Kerbal Space Program [9], SpaceChem
[10]. I'm sure there are more but that's all I can think of off the top of my
head.

[0]
[http://www.shiningrocksoftware.com/game/](http://www.shiningrocksoftware.com/game/)

[1] [http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/games/sc/](http://us.blizzard.com/en-
us/games/sc/)

[2] [http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/](http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/)

[3] [http://minmax-games.com/SpacePiratesAndZombies/](http://minmax-
games.com/SpacePiratesAndZombies/)

[4] [http://www.ftlgame.com/](http://www.ftlgame.com/)

[5]
[http://store.steampowered.com/app/221380/](http://store.steampowered.com/app/221380/)

[6] [http://www.teamfortress.com/](http://www.teamfortress.com/)

[7]
[http://store.steampowered.com/app/240/](http://store.steampowered.com/app/240/)

[8] [https://minecraft.net/](https://minecraft.net/)

[9] [https://kerbalspaceprogram.com/](https://kerbalspaceprogram.com/)

[10] [http://www.spacechemthegame.com/](http://www.spacechemthegame.com/)

EDIT: Added some more

------
kohanz
It seems like an over-simplification/generalization to think that people who
write software for a living/hobby share video game preferences. People are
multifaceted with many different interests. Our professions do not define the
rest of us.

I personally enjoy playing sports games (e.g. FIFA, NBA 2K) and action games
(e.g. Red Dead Redemption), but I don't think those choices have anything to
do with my profession.

~~~
csense
There's some truth to that, but OTOH programmers have a different mindset --
if you write software for a living/hobby, generally you'll have above-average
intelligence and enjoy dealing with complex dynamical systems and elegant
models of the real world.

This explains why so many suggestions in this thread are strategy games,
roguelikes, and deep puzzle games.

Also, the HN demographic skews to a certain age range, so there's a lot of
nostalgia for 1993-1999 games. (If this describes you, check out the site
formerly known as Good Old Games [1])

[1] [http://gog.com](http://gog.com)

~~~
ramblerman
I agree with original OP and think you're retrofitting your theory onto the
data. Games like civilization 5, starcraft I/II, dota and minecraft are some
of the most played games in general.

The fact that you're seeing them pop up here doesn't automatically say
something about our demographic.

------
xdissent
Minecraft and Kerbal Space Program are my favorite games that have come out in
recent years. Quake Live / Q3Arena is the only FPS I play anymore. Looking
forward to the release of Planets³. I'm also still addicted to 2048 and the
various forks (current fave is doge2048).

~~~
boyaka
+1 for Quake 3. I've been playing since it went beta in 98 or 99. I would skip
school so I could listen to Rage Against the Machine in the Rocket Arena mp3
player. Big instagib player too, and I loved when the mods were popular like
the two jail break ones.

------
jlees
Check out SpaceChem for a great programmer-friendly but-not-explicitly-about-
programming game.

~~~
falcolas
Plus one for a game that scratches the programming itch.

However, for relaxation, I tend to favor MMOs. They are the right mix of
social, achievement orientated, and simple to fill downtime.

~~~
LanceH
Minus one for suggesting a game that will keep you up hours just to optimize a
few cycles out of the program.

SpaceChem is an incredible game but it's as dangerous as "one more turn" of
Civilization.

------
csense
A few games with a programming theme that haven't been mentioned: KOHCTPYKTOP
[1], Factorio [2], Manufactoria [3]. Of course, SpaceChem [4] as well, which
numerous other commenters have mentioned.

Here are a couple non-programming games that haven't been mentioned. A Valley
Without Wind 2 [5], which is a mix of platforming and strategy; AVWW2 is a
spiritual successor to an SNES game called ActRaiser [6]. Scrolls [7] is
enjoyable if you like chess and Magic: The Gathering, but it is designed to be
much less of a money sink than MTG. If you want to try Scrolls, I mentioned a
couple tips for new players in a reply to a different post [8].

[1] [http://www.zachtronics.com/play-
kohctpyktop/](http://www.zachtronics.com/play-kohctpyktop/)

[2] [http://www.factorio.com/](http://www.factorio.com/)

[3]
[http://pleasingfungus.com/Manufactoria/](http://pleasingfungus.com/Manufactoria/)

[4] [http://www.spacechemthegame.com/](http://www.spacechemthegame.com/)

[5]
[http://arcengames.com/w/index.php/games/valley2-features](http://arcengames.com/w/index.php/games/valley2-features)

[6]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actraiser](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actraiser)

[7] [https://scrolls.com/game](https://scrolls.com/game)

[8]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7623163](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7623163)

------
mr_spothawk
Hide The Angular Bug - it's a simple game that I like to play when I'm under
deadline.

------
dllthomas
I adored Ico, Shadow Of The Colossus, and the God Of War series, though I
mostly played through them and was done. I keep going back to nethack from
time to time...

------
jgj
Gnomoria, which is like Dwarf Fortress for humans featuring gnomes
([http://gnomoria.com](http://gnomoria.com))

------
georgeoliver
Chess takes up most of my game time. I play at a (open source) site called
Lichess, and locally. Lately I've been trying Go, which is quite fun, though
bewildering most of the time!

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Interactive Fiction, or Muds. _Spider and
Web_ is one of my favorite IFs of all time. _God Wars 2_ is an incredibly deep
mud and gameplay experience.

------
okasaki
I enjoy roguelikes. They're very convenient to play (tiny turns, work over
ssh) and most of them are open source.

------
benbou09
"Robotgame is a game for hackers. You write robots in Python, test them with
our kit, and submit them to our server. You can challenge other robots
yourself, or wait for the server to match you up
automatically."([http://robotgame.net/](http://robotgame.net/))

------
nmc
I second kohanz's comment that programmers may not have a common center of
interest when it comes to video games.

However, maybe you could start with the assumption that programmers are
usually good with logic and problem-solving, and think up a clever concept
like Valve's _Portal_ series.

------
nostrademons
Starcraft 2 and Civ5 for serious games. Puerto Rico, Agricola, Seven Wonders,
Carcassonne, and Dominion for board games. Androminion, Frozen Free Fall
(that's basically Disney-branded Candy Crush), 2048, and French/British Wars
(that's a real-time strategy game) on the phone.

~~~
csense
You left out Settlers of Catan!

~~~
nostrademons
Deliberately. I think Settlers has too much luck involved - the other games I
listed primarily depend on the actions of the other players with only a little
bit of randomness added to spice things up, but in Settlers you can easily get
screwed even if you build in the best spot because your number never comes up.
It's a good gateway-game though.

------
gnidan
I've played Go for as long as I've been a programmer, and I feel like it helps
me with logic and reasoning and "big picture" thinking

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_(game)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_\(game\))

------
lewisgodowski
I mainly play Minecraft and League of Legends, but also dabble in Terraria and
Starbound. Played the Call of Duty and Halo series back in my Xbox days.

I'd love to see a game similar to Minecraft, but with more advanced redstone
(circuitry) stuff!

------
staz
To answer your first question, Recently 2048, FTL and Rogue Legacy. But as
kohanz said I don't think it has anything to do with the fact that I'm a
programmer and I know a lot of differents programmers who play a lot of
different genre.

------
Lambdanaut
Starcraft 2, Starcraft, Warcraft(the strategy game, not the MMO), Dwarf
Fortress, And a few First Person Shooters to unwind when I have a headache.

I have a feeling that programmers might be slightly inclined to games of
strategy and complexity.

------
SchizoDuckie
No one even mentioned 2048 ?

My kind of games are the simple and addictive, more often-than-not tetris
type.

I'll also whoop your ass on UT99, C&C Mario, and Mortal Kombat, but after that
era gaming kind of started to suck.

~~~
ctdonath
I _really_ liked 2048. Reached 4096 a couple times. Then, in a fit of sanity,
deleted it.

------
cowpig
The games I've played the most are Chess, League of Legends, Scrabble, Poker,
the Civ series, and Diablo 2 (when I was younger).

Any game with a lot of strategical depth tends to pull me in.

------
jgmmo
Starcraft

I still believe that my first understanding of 'conditionals', and other
standard programming concepts, came from using the Custom Map Editor for
Starcraft. Thanks Blizzard!

~~~
Lambdanaut
RIGHT THERE WITH YOU.

I always tell people that Warcraft 3 and Starcraft taught me programming. I
definitely wouldn't be a developer if it weren't for the custom trigger
editors.

The furthest I've pushed Warcraft 3's visual trigger editor was writing a
Genetic Algorithm pathfinder for peasants. They're surprisingly versatile, and
being able to interact with a GUI and game universe immediately makes it great
for prototyping.

------
frik
No One Lives Forever 1, Assetto Corsa, Goat Simulator, Die Hard Nakatomi
Plaza, James Bond Nightfire, Dungeon Keeper 1, Deus Ex 1, Mafia 1+2, Tomb
Raider 2013, Age of Mythology

------
santoriv
Master of Orion 2 is definitely my all time fav. Been playing it since 1996.
The slow methodical long term strategy required definitely appeals to a
meticulous problem solving nature.

------
pawn
It should look like a game you'd enjoy playing.

I like most genre of games, but fighting games, puzzle games, and JRPGs
probably rank towards the top. I also love StarCraft 2.

------
agscala
Smash Bros and Street Fighter. Fighting games are great in general

------
primitivesuave
I play games that my students make for me.

[https://github.com/keshavsaharia/Zen](https://github.com/keshavsaharia/Zen)

------
castis
Faster Than Light is a lot of fun; 2d strategy space battles.

~~~
joshstrange
I love FTL, do you have any other games like it that you would recommend?

------
eldelshell
Dark Souls lately, RPG's in general (Fallout is my personal fav)

As a programmer I try to get as fas as possible from "programming" games.

------
abimaelmartell
I play a lot of snes and nes games like: \- Legend of Zelda \- Super Mario
World and 3 \- Castlevania

Currently -> Legend of Zelda: A link to the past

------
weland
Space Invaders!

My significant otter loves board games and has dragged me into Carcasonne.
That shit is addictive.

------
alraddadi
Dota 2 is the best game ever. Also Civilization is a very good game.

I think they intend to play strategic games.

------
praptak
I like crazy complicated logic and the less visual bling the better. Nethack
and Dwarf Fortress come to mind.

------
faet
Golf, pathfinder, and random board games people bring over.

They are all social and usually involve beer.

------
evo_9
Dark Souls series. Uncompromising challenges both mental and dexterous.
Nothing else even comes close.

------
srgpqt
As a little experiment, I've set up a Minecraft server for HNers. Come and
join!

edgeflux.com

------
fernandotakai
In my case, Starcraft 2, Diablo 3 and Guild Wars 2 (as well as tons of random
console games).

------
hbogert
supreme commander 1/2, through a software engineer/programmer's glasses, the
mentioned games are horrible (especially SC1) because the longer you play the
worse it gets with the games' simulation performance.

------
robinhoodexe
I like to play Team Fortress 2, Age of Empires 2 and Dwarf Fortress 2.

~~~
Kiro
Dwarf Fortress _2_?

~~~
darkmighty
He was probably thinking of the official title "Slaves to Armok: God of Blood
Chapter _II_ "

------
Kiro
Hearthstone

Rogue Legacy

------
vtempest
Strategic thinking games like Civ, Starcraft, AoE, Heroes, SimCity...

------
wehadfun
The only games I play are board games with friends.

------
whileonebegin
Starcraft 2, Might and Magic X, Age of Wonders III

------
stronglikedan
Hearts and Euchre - obsessively.

------
abimaelmartell
2048 :)

------
TheMagicHorsey
League of Legends

------
lupinglade
Battlefield 4

------
cdelsolar
Banjo-Kazooie

------
presty
Civilization

------
ryanjodonnell
Starcraft 2!

------
javajosh
When I was a kid, I used to love the Nintendo "Game Watch" games. "Fire!" was
my favorite. I also liked the computer chess games with the little plastic
pieces going into slots - the pieces always got lost, and the computer was
weak, but I liked it. The great unsung thing of The Smartphone Era is having
incredibly good chess programs available. Shredder Chess[1] is my favorite.
It's strong, and it's got a fun "puzzle" mode where you're given a position
and you have to figure out the best sequence of moves (usually just 1-3
moves).

I also really love Plants vs Zombies[2] "Vase Breaker" mini-game. I used to be
really into Minesweeper (I broke 80 sec a few times on expert) and Vase
Breaker obliquely reminds me of it. (The base PvZ game is excellent, but has
poor replayability. Also, don't bother with PvZ2). Note: this game was done
with Marmalade[2.5].

Portal[3] and Portal 2 are perhaps my favorite puzzle games of all times,
although again, somewhat limited replayability (although if you go for
achievements and/or level building, that changes).

I find myself fascinated by Diablo 3[4], but mainly because it's so
psychologically manipulative. It's literally an endless grind, and essentially
a form of virtual gambling for kids. Fascinating, because at a certain point
all of the great artwork, music, and thoughtfulness vanishes into a mechanical
blur of killing monsters, filtering drops, repeat. There is very little depth,
and yet it has a strange Blizzard-y appeal.

Last but not least, I've been playing Hearthstone[5], another Blizzard game.
It's an electronic trading card game, in the same vein as WoW TCG or Magic the
Gathering. It's actually pretty good - until you get to a point where you just
can't compete with people who have the very powerful rare (and expensive)
cards. It's chess where you can have as many queens as you can afford. The
genre and the play mechanics definitely appeal to a programmer's
sensibilities, but "pay-to-win" mechanic totally ruins constructed deck play
for me. (This is mitigated somewhat by Arena mode, where everyone constructs a
deck at random, which levels the playing field a great deal.)

[1] [http://www.shredderchess.com/](http://www.shredderchess.com/) [2]
[http://www.popcap.com/plants-vs-zombies-1](http://www.popcap.com/plants-vs-
zombies-1) [2.5]
[https://www.madewithmarmalade.com/index](https://www.madewithmarmalade.com/index)
[3] [http://orange.half-life2.com/portal.html](http://orange.half-
life2.com/portal.html) [4] [http://us.battle.net/d3](http://us.battle.net/d3)
[5] [http://us.battle.net/hearthstone](http://us.battle.net/hearthstone)

~~~
csense
> It's an electronic trading card game, in the same vein as WoW TCG or Magic
> the Gathering. It's actually pretty good - until you get to a point where
> you just can't compete with people who have the very powerful rare (and
> expensive) cards.

You should try Mojang's Scrolls [1] if you like CCG gameplay and deck
building, but dislike the pay-to-win aspect or the prerequisite of spending
hundreds to thousands of dollars to be competitive.

In Scrolls you can use real money to buy preconstructed decks, custom avatars,
and a few randomly selected cards in the store's "Just for You" section, but
most of your cards are purchased with in-game gold which you must earn through
playing matches.

You can play against computer opponents, and your starting precon is strong
enough to regularly beat the easiest CPU deck to earn gold which you can use
to buy more cards.

Advice for new players: Don't choose Order as your starting faction (I did and
kinda regretted it). Buy scrolls from other players in the trade channel, not
the store. And use the price guide at
[http://trading.scrollsguide.com/](http://trading.scrollsguide.com/) as a
starting point to figure out reasonable prices for cards (it's based on
parsing prices from trade channel chat).

[1] [https://scrolls.com/game](https://scrolls.com/game)

------
vezzy-fnord
I'm not much of a gamer at all, and my primary taste is in old school first-
person shooters (Doom, Quake, Blood, Redneck Rampage, Shadow Warrior, Serious
Sam, Unreal Tournament, Duke Nukem 3D, etc.)

That's pretty much the only video game genre I care about. Currently looking
forward to _Wolfenstein: The New Order_ and that's about it.

------
late_groomer
Chess

------
pkmiec
2048

