SHENZHEN I/O

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 4,038 reviews of which 3,843 were positive and 195 were negative resulting in an impressive rating of 9.2 out of 10. 😍

The game is currently priced at 7.39€ on Steam and has a 50% discount.

The Steam community has classified SHENZHEN I/O into these genres:

Programming Automation Puzzle Logic Simulation Difficult Indie Education Singleplayer Sandbox Building Great Soundtrack Hacking 2D Solitaire

Media & Screenshots

Get an in-depth look at SHENZHEN I/O through various videos and screenshots.

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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

Reviews

Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.

Oct. 2024

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.

April 2024

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.

April 2024

It's an introduction to microcontroller programming and product design. It's great if you enjoy programming or buying crap on Ali. Gameplay feels so genuine and fluid. Comes bundled with the best solitaire game I ever played so you can procrastinate on your procrastination.

Feb. 2024

Played it a lot before by pirating in school. Now ,partly thanks to this game, have a job to have money to buy it and a brain to finish it. Overall 10/10

Jan. 2024

As of this writing, I have spent almost 170 hours and finished every puzzle within spec, got all achievements and played plenty of solitaire. Now I should say: Yes, recommended! Right? Well... Forget about story, visuals, and audio. This game is all about programming. Being a professional programmer, I adore this game. It's a love letter to assembler language and basic problem solving with VERY tight restrictions. On the other hand I wish there was more room for creativity. For example, there are those logic chips available for use, but I don't even remember having used them anywhere in the puzzles. Because the puzzles are either too complex to waste your board space with these chips. Or they downright present you with data packages (in most of the puzzles), which instantly renders the simplistic on/off logic useless. Same goes for the FGPA, which I'm sure I never used at all. There are even more components available (LEDs, switches/buttons, math coprocessor), only to be used for designing your own specification. And that leaves you with programming the micro controllers, which is the bread and butter of the game. You have to suspend your disbelieve a bit to wrap your head around address and data handling. But once you at that level of abstraction, you can focus on the puzzle. I like how you can test your implementation by setting break points and stepping through every instruction one by one. Not all puzzles have an animated display of the output. But where they are, they are sweet! What I don't like: After 3 test cycles the game fasts forward and may stop in a later test cycle due to some error. For you to get to that error, there seems to be no other option than single stepping through ALL previous time frames. Getting to test cycle 10 that way is not fun :( Speaking of board space: The more you progress through the game the more the given board size dictates what you can put on it. Which leaves you with no choice but the one and only solution (I guess). I wish there was more room to provide your own weired solution and then let the game evaluate the used board size. May be even compare it to the desired size. Shouldn't be that difficult to count the squares of used space, would it? Heck, this could even have been a fourth metric in addition to cost, power usage and code lines. But the way it is, there is not much left and right, especially in the later puzzles. Side note: It wasn't until the last level but one, where I finally realized that the wiring can well be placed behind the components. Which gives the option to display components/wires a whole new meaning. Not that it saves that much space, but still. TLDR: If you are a programmer who is up for a retro challenge, you will love it. If you see this as an opportunity to learn programming, better look somewhere else.

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Data sources

The information presented on this page is sourced from reliable APIs to ensure accuracy and relevance. We utilize the Steam API to gather data on game details, including titles, descriptions, prices, and user reviews. This allows us to provide you with the most up-to-date information directly from the Steam platform.

Additionally, we incorporate data from the SteamSpy API, which offers insights into game sales and player statistics. This helps us present a comprehensive view of each game's popularity and performance within the gaming community.

Last Updates

Steam data	19 November 2024 02:04
SteamSpy data	18 December 2024 17:36
Steam price	23 December 2024 12:45
Steam reviews	22 December 2024 23:54

-50% 14.79€ 7.39€

9.2

3,843

195

Online players

Developer

Zachtronics

Publisher

Zachtronics

Release 17 Nov 2016

Platforms