SHENZHEN I/O on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information
BUILD CIRCUITS. WRITE CODE. RTFM.
SHENZHEN I/O is a programming, automation and puzzle game
developed and published by Zachtronics.
Released on November 17th 2016 is available on Windows, MacOS and Linux
in 2 languages: English and Simplified Chinese.
It has received 4,132 reviews of which 3,929 were positive and 203 were negative resulting in an impressive rating of 9.1 out of 10. 😍
The game is currently priced at 14.79€ on Steam, but you can find it for 6.17€ on Instant Gaming.
The Steam community has classified SHENZHEN I/O into these genres:
System requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
Windows
- OS *: Windows Vista / 7 / 8 / 10
- Processor: 2.0 GHz
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: 1366 x 768
- DirectX: Version 11
- Storage: 450 MB available space
MacOS
- OS: macOS 10.9+
- Processor: 2.0 GHz
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: 1366 x 768
- Storage: 450 MB available space
Linux
- OS: Ubuntu 16.04+, SteamOS
- Processor: 2.0 GHz
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: OpenGL 3.0, 1366 x 768
- Storage: 450 MB available space
User reviews & Ratings
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
Game is dangerous. If you have no friends that play it with you, it's a fun code based puzzle game. Knowledge of programming is kind of a must but if you have some knowledge it's fun little coding puzzle game, yayyy! On the other hand if you do have friends that play it with you....it's the worst. You finish a level and it tells you "congrats, your solution uses 20 more lines of code than your mate and uses triple the power!" and then you're just sitting there thinking 'Rob used 20 less lines?? how?? WHAT ARE YOU SECRETS ROB!!' so you spend another hour agonising over more efficient ways to complete the level and make the most superior product (you're graded on cost, power consumption and lines of code needed). Finally you rewrite your code, you've created a new elegant solution, like a majestic waltz. Then you can find the current 'optimal solutions' online and marvel at your inadequacy. Reading through superior setups and revelling in the tricks they pull to cause the numbers to spin and whirl in an elaborate dance. Finally, you go back to you own code and stare at your own 'solution' if you can even all it that anymore. Compared to the leaderboard you see your so called 'majestic waltz' for the huskless shoddy clamouring mess it truly is. And yes you could just now steal the best solution from the web, but you'll know it's not yours. You'll know. 5/5
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It's fine. Very technically impressive, it just feels more like work than fun. Completing a challenge feels rewarding, but building circuits and programming them IRL feels better in my opinion. However, I can see how this would be addicting and fun for someone just discovering these topics! I kinda enjoy the fantasy nature of the chips and asm language, but at the same time, it kinda ruins the experience for me too. I want to better my real-world-experience and use what I've learned to solve fun little puzzles, but I can't really do that without learning a new fictional asm language. However, Shenzhen I/O teaches the bare-bones knowledge well and the puzzles are thoughtfully designed. Each one has many solutions, and it can be fun trying to lower your cost or the amount of code used. The leaderboard is a nice touch! If you're considering picking this up, it's quite complex (in a good way). There's a manual that you will reference quite often like a data sheet or quick commands guide, and that's about it. You get thrown into the deep end, sink or swim, and learning the mechanics is half the fun! I'd easily recommend this to anyone interested in computer science or how circuits work. Now for the personal super mega nerd rant... Sleep requirements are frustrating and prohibit testing. I don't care if the chip isn't sleeping, I just want to step through functions maaaan. It's clear that slp is just a dumbed down replacement for CPU cycles, and IMHO those would be much more interesting to work around and figure out. For example, mul and div are slow functions, it's faster to perform bit shifts on registers instead, except this game doesn't have bit operations for some reason...? We're writing 'low level' code and we don't have to worry about CPU cycles or binary at all? WHY? Condition statements are confusingly implemented. I'm getting used to it, but it's been difficult unlearning what I've learned in my assembly course. I'd much prefer branch instructions like beq. Similarly, the assembly is non-standard. Why not use MIPS, z80, 6502 or some other mainstream ASM?? It would help translate the skills learnt here to the real world much more seamlessly. It's kinda minor since real world chips have size limits too, but the size limitations on your code feel extremely restrictive. It almost doesn't want you to use the weird condition statements since there may not be enough room to fit it all in one chip. I know, It's part of the puzzle aspect, use two chips, etc, I just feel like the size limit could've been a few lines larger. Lastly, part of my enjoyment with circuitry is figuring out buses, considering multiplexers, and even organizing wires to be tidy (which is here to some extent but it is pretty bare bones). Maybe it's just my progress in the game, but I wish it was more hardware based than software. I thought I'd be building circuitry from scratch instead of using "black box"-like chips with predefined registers and multi-bit wires... guess I'll have to stick to factorio to scratch that itch. (Review shared from my Backloggd page)
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Don't buy if you're NOT looking for a challenge. This game takes some real brain power. The early game does toss you in the deep end but (as intended) you look in the manual for information; the game is easier to understand. It sucks a little that you have to use a manual but you quickly learn how different parts and code works. The game does not hold your hand but that allows you to attempt challenges in your own way (within size restrictions). If you're interested in engineering and looking for a challenge, highly recommend. If you're looking for a more casual experience, I recommend looking at other games before this one.
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I highly recommend this game to anyone who wants to learn how to program at a very challenging level (think programming in a language very similar to assembly) and learn the basics on how to work with microcontrollers and basic electronic components. To all others reading this comment, please know that games from Zachtronics usually boast a steep learning curve but excellent coding challenges that end up being quite rewarding when you figure out how to top the leaderboards.
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I started playing this because a friend in programming challenged me to compete against his solutions. At first I never won. I had slow and complicated solutions. But as we played against each other, I started to find smarter and better solutions. And weirdly enough, this translated over to my work. My code got better from tricks I learned from playing this game. This is one of those games that is actually educational if you let it be. If not, it's just a very good, and challenging, puzzle game. I highly recommend this for coders. Take a dive into this game and see what development circa 1985 was like.
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Last Updates| Steam data | 08 April 2025 00:02 |
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| SteamSpy data | 10 April 2025 08:05 |
| Steam price | 13 April 2025 12:43 |
| Steam reviews | 11 April 2025 15:46 |
If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about SHENZHEN I/O, we invite you to check out a few dedicated websites that offer extensive information and insights. These platforms provide valuable data, analysis, and user-generated reports to enhance your understanding of the game and its performance.
- SteamDB - A comprehensive database of everything on Steam about SHENZHEN I/O
- SteamCharts - Analysis of SHENZHEN I/O concurrent players on Steam
- ProtonDB - Crowdsourced reports on Linux and Steam Deck SHENZHEN I/O compatibility
Online players
45
Developer
Zachtronics
Publisher
Zachtronics
Release
17 Nov 2016
Platforms
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