JOY OF PROGRAMMING - Software Engineering Simulator | Game Brain

JOY OF PROGRAMMING - Software Engineering Simulator Game Cover

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JOY OF PROGRAMMING - Software Engineering Simulator is a single player strategy game. It was developed by Prof. Scherer and was released on January 18, 2025. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

JOY OF PROGRAMMING - Software Engineering Simulator is a 3D programming puzzle game that allows players to automate and control robots, drones, and other machinery using Python code. Players can solve coding challenges, progress to unlock new features, and improve their programming skills. This game is not for the casual player and requires a basic understanding of programming.

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Play Modes

Single-Player

JOY OF PROGRAMMING - Software Engineering Simulator screenshot

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79%

Audience ScoreBased on 215 reviews

humor3 positive mentions

stability15 negative mentions

The game provides a fun and engaging way to practice Python programming, especially for those with some prior knowledge.
It offers a variety of challenges that encourage critical thinking and problem-solving skills, making it a great tool for improving coding abilities.
The developer is responsive and actively working on updates, which gives hope for future improvements and additional content.

The game is not beginner-friendly and assumes players have prior programming knowledge, making it difficult for those new to coding.
Many players have reported bugs and performance issues, including lag and unresponsive elements, which detract from the overall experience.
The tutorial and in-game documentation are lacking, often leaving players confused about how to proceed with challenges.

stability
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is a significant concern, with numerous users reporting excessive bugs that hinder gameplay, such as issues with object spawners and physics glitches. Many players express frustration over the game's reliance on imprecision and the unintuitive user interface, which detracts from the overall experience. While the concept is praised, the current state of the game is deemed too unstable for enjoyable play.
- “Some of it is that the environment is buggy--for example, I intermittently have a problem where the spawner in the three-sorter leaves the initial object spawn hanging mid-air, so the belt beneath it never returns that it is carrying something.”
- “I really wanted to like this game because it combines two of my favorite things - video games and programming; however, the game's current state is too buggy to be enjoyable.”
- “That being said, there were some terribly frustrating challenges early on that were buggy to the point that they were impossible to complete as designed---involving the rangefinders.”
gameplay
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
50%
30%
Gameplay experiences vary significantly among users, with some praising engaging mechanics and educational elements, particularly in programming concepts, while others report performance issues and jankiness that hinder enjoyment. Players note a learning curve due to certain mechanics, such as the lack of visual feedback for interactions, but many find the gameplay enjoyable despite these challenges. Overall, the game offers a mix of fun and frustration, with potential for improvement in its execution.
- “Some of these mechanics are fun and engaging, but there’s a noticeable jankiness in how Python code interacts with the physics engine.”
- “I'm still pretty early in at the time of this writing but I am already loving the mechanics so far!”
- “And I must note that the game runs like absolute garbage on my Ryzen 5 5600 and 1660 OC. It constantly feels like my gameplay is being throttled, and it's not my PC that is slow; every function on my PC works amazingly with low usage.”
- “I lost a little bit of time on silly things to do with the mechanics of the game itself, e.g. the lack of a visual indicator whether the arm has grabbed the item (though you get used to this and it has a property you can monitor), and the fact that if you reset the game state (to get the best time) in your code, positions may be registered prior to game initialization.”
- “Takes some time to get used to its mechanics.”
graphics
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
34%
33%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews; while some users appreciate the realistic art style and find the visuals satisfying, others criticize the lack of professional design and the readability of error messages due to poor color contrast. Additionally, there are calls for more graphics settings and customization options to enhance the experience, particularly for users with lower-end hardware. Overall, the graphics are seen as functional but could benefit from further refinement and variety.
- “This game is really cool, basically a great priced Python course with great graphics!”
- “The art style and set-up embraces and pushes a feel of realism.”
- “Its like grinding leetcode, but with visuals which leaves you satisfied when you see everything automated in a sandbox environment.”
- “As for the graphics of the game, it doesn't have a team of graphic designers behind it.”
- “I really want more graphics settings and the option to set a custom resolution.”
- “But graphics and letter types are quite manly and rough, so as an ordinary man I have no complaints, but I guess a more cute design could be helpful to draw girls to play this game.”
optimization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
75%
The game's optimization has been criticized for poor performance, particularly in fullscreen mode, which users found to be laggier rather than enhancing performance. Additionally, intermittent bugs and unnecessary stock assets contribute to the overall lack of optimization, impacting gameplay experience.
- “The leaderboard is completely focused on optimizations, encouraging players to refine their code to the barest of bones.”
- “The fullscreen option for the editor claims to be for performance, but it seemed laggier to me.”
- “It's also not optimized.”
- “Out of the downsides, there are some intermittent bugs, like optional challenges randomly failing without any triggers sometimes (fixable by restarting the level), easter eggs not being reachable sometimes, as well as poor performance on some levels. Seriously, you gotta remove all of those stock assets hiding in the shooting range; they are just useless geometry and draw calls.”
humor
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is characterized by its ironic design, blending educational elements with comedic undertones. Players find it to be an engaging and interactive experience that effectively teaches programming skills while maintaining a lighthearted atmosphere. Overall, the humor adds a unique charm to the gameplay.
- “A perfect simulation environment to learn programming skills in a funny way!”
- “It feels quite interactive, so somewhat funny and interesting.”
- “Which is kind of funny and ironic, because if it's not a course, then it's a poorly designed game.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
67%
The game offers significant replayability through opportunities to refine previous solutions, tackle other players' strategies for higher scores, and engage with features like leaderboards, weekly challenges, and a custom level workshop, making the replay value nearly limitless.
- “There's a lot of replay value if you go back to improve your previous solutions or rework other players' solutions to achieve an even higher score.”
- “With leaderboards, weekly challenges, and a workshop for custom levels, the replayability is practically infinite.”
- “The game offers endless opportunities to explore different strategies and approaches, making each playthrough feel fresh and exciting.”
- “Lots of replay value if you go back to improve your prior solutions or rework other players' solutions to get an even higher score.”
- “And with leaderboards, weekly challenges, and a workshop for custom levels, the replayability is practically infinite.”
story
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users express frustration with the story, noting that it lacks depth and primarily revolves around the repetitive experience of restarting the game within itself.
- “The only point of storytelling seems to be that every time I have to start the game inside the game again.”
- “The plot is convoluted and fails to engage, leaving me confused rather than intrigued.”
- “Character development is lacking, making it hard to care about their journeys or outcomes.”
music
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The music in the game has been criticized for its oddness and lack of coherence, leaving players questioning its suitability and overall impact. Additionally, the ambient sounds and the game's intro have also been noted as peculiar design choices that detract from the experience.
- “Then there are some odd design choices, such as the music (what even is that music?) and ambient sounds.”
- “The strange delays when animations load before I can enter a level, and the frankly ridiculous intro to the game.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization aspect of the game is tied to its educational content, promoting programming classes through ads. However, players note that the game is not beginner-friendly, as it lacks guidance and quickly escalates in difficulty, making it challenging for those without prior coding knowledge.
- “Cool concept, but not for those who aren't at least interested in learning coding. Unlike the advertisements, this game isn't for beginners as they don't even teach you how to look for your errors. They go straight into the lessons without guiding you. I played it for an hour trying to find out the error in my code, and the next level ends up scaling the difficulty without explaining anything. So unless you know Python, you are just shooting in the dark.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect to be tedious and boring, likening it to the repetitive nature of solving coding problems, but appreciate the visual satisfaction of seeing their efforts culminate in an automated sandbox environment.
- “This was boring and tedious.”
- “It's like grinding LeetCode, but with visuals, which leaves you satisfied when you see everything automated in a sandbox environment.”

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Frequently Asked Questions

JOY OF PROGRAMMING - Software Engineering Simulator is a strategy game.

JOY OF PROGRAMMING - Software Engineering Simulator is available on PC and Windows.

JOY OF PROGRAMMING - Software Engineering Simulator was released on January 18, 2025.

JOY OF PROGRAMMING - Software Engineering Simulator was developed by Prof. Scherer.

JOY OF PROGRAMMING - Software Engineering Simulator has received mostly positive reviews from players. Most players liked this game for its humor but disliked it for its stability.

JOY OF PROGRAMMING - Software Engineering Simulator is a single player game.

Similar games include The Farmer Was Replaced, Turing Complete, Human Resource Machine, while True: learn(), Grey Hack and others.

JOY OF PROGRAMMING - Software Engineering Simulator

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