Silicon Zeroes

About

Silicon Zeroes is an open-ended puzzle game that challenges players to build complex electronics from simple components. Set in Silicon Valley's first startup in the 1960s, players must prevent the company from imploding by resolving over seventy puzzles related to CPU design. Featuring an original soundtrack by Craig Barnes, Silicon Zeroes promises to be an engaging and educational experience for fans of logic and engineering.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

88%

Audience ScoreBased on 223 reviews

story9 positive mentions

optimization3 negative mentions

Engaging and challenging puzzles that effectively teach concepts of CPU design and computer architecture.
Satisfying gameplay mechanics with a smooth difficulty curve, allowing players to gradually learn and apply new skills.
Visually appealing interface and sound design that enhance the overall experience.

Lack of tutorials and explanations for new mechanics can lead to confusion and frustration, especially for newcomers.
Some puzzles feel overly restrictive, with only one optimal solution, which can detract from the enjoyment of problem-solving.
The story and character dialogue can be heavy-handed and detract from the gameplay experience.

story
57 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
16%
77%
7%
The story in "Silicon Zeroes" is generally viewed as simple and somewhat shallow, serving primarily as a backdrop for the engaging puzzles rather than a compelling narrative. While some players appreciate the lighthearted context it provides, many feel it lacks depth compared to other games in the genre, such as those by Zachtronics. Overall, the consensus is that while the story is not a highlight, it is enjoyable enough to enhance the gameplay experience without overshadowing the puzzle-solving elements.
- “The story is simple, but is a welcome addition.”
- “Silicon Zeros is a highly accessible story about a tiny Silicon Valley company at the dawn of the computer age, building digital devices and trying to swim rather than sink in the ocean of the tech industry.”
- “The story was neat - it wasn't in-depth enough that it detracted from the gameplay, but it got a laugh or two out of me, and the main story ending was pretty nice!”
- “Just do the game and skip the story; it reads like a woke circle jerk.”
- “Compared to other programming games I've played, Silicon Zeroes is really simple and dry, and all of the main story puzzles are very simple cases of 'take what you did in the last puzzle and add one element to it.'”
- “The story is kind of 'meh'; while Zach's storytelling is much more intriguing than Silicon Zeroes, I don't really play these games for the story.”
gameplay
24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
42%
46%
13%
The gameplay is generally well-received, featuring engaging mechanics for placing and moving hardware components, though some players found the introduction of new mechanics and a microdelay feature to be poorly explained and disruptive. Despite initial challenges, the game offers a satisfying loop with a variety of puzzles that scale in complexity, allowing for creative problem-solving. Overall, the gameplay is described as tight, interesting, and enhanced by a compelling soundtrack, making it enjoyable for many hours.
- “Despite these issues, the gameplay itself is well put together - wiring is easy to distinguish, you aren't constrained by space, the tools are mostly visually distinct, and it feels snappy.”
- “It's a great gameplay loop that will give the player many hours of fun and maybe even teach them something.”
- “The plot is funny and relatively compelling, and the gameplay - building digital devices with an easy-to-use, beautiful editor - is tight, interesting, and never too easy nor too hard.”
- “I looked at this and thought I would love it too, but the game drops you in at the deep end over and over, and I found that most of my time wasn't being spent solving the puzzle; it was spent working out how a new game mechanic actually worked because so much of the game is so poorly explained.”
- “A small downside in the mechanics, I think, is the delay mechanic. It's introduced partway through the story, then you are stuck tweaking the delay for a couple of levels, and then the delay starts to autotweak itself.”
- “Starts off slow and makes sure that you understand all the mechanics well.”
graphics
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
39%
44%
17%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players finding the simplistic 2D art assets lackluster and unappealing, particularly for a PC title. While a few appreciate the polished and retro feel of the visuals, others criticize the limited resolution options and overall aesthetic, suggesting that the graphics do not meet the high standards expected by PC gamers. Despite these criticisms, some users enjoy the design and ambiance, noting that the game runs smoothly even on older hardware.
- “A challenging hardware programming puzzle game with a nice visual aesthetic and chill soundtrack.”
- “The graphics look polished and have a nice retro feel to them.”
- “I love the design and aesthetic of it, and it's easy to draw the circuits in the way you want them (you can stick the wires to nodes to make it a bit tidier).”
- “While there are options to change the resolution for the game, all this does is scale up the simplistic 2D art assets used to make the game, which makes little or no difference to the graphics quality.”
- “Without any other substantial graphics tweaks, it's not possible for gamers to improve the lackluster 2D visuals.”
- “Considering this is being evaluated as a PC game, having the graphics phoned in like this isn't going to result in a high quality, visually impressive game that PC gamers are used to seeing.”
music
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
11%
22%
The music in the game is generally well-received, with many players appreciating the chill and relaxing soundtrack that complements the gameplay. However, some users noted that the background music can become repetitive and simplistic, leading to a monotonous experience over time. Overall, while the soundtrack enhances the ambiance, it may not stand out as exceptional.
- “A challenging hardware programming puzzle game with a nice visual aesthetic and chill soundtrack.”
- “Well designed gameplay with a great soundtrack.”
- “The soundtrack is also pretty nice and relaxing to listen to as you build the circuits.”
- “The music can get a bit repetitive, but it's subtle enough that it doesn't intrude into your thinking.”
- “The only downside is the background music; it's simplistic and on a very short loop, so it gets monotonous almost instantly.”
optimization
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
29%
43%
The game's optimization aspect challenges players to engage in complex CPU design and optimization, often requiring near-optimal solutions to progress. While the introduction of a new execution time metric enhances the experience, many puzzles tend to have a single optimal solution, which can diminish the excitement of exploring multiple approaches. Overall, the focus on specific metrics for judging solutions may limit the depth of the optimization experience.
- “80% of the puzzles have basically one solution, so the graphs showing how you did are basically pointless, but it's worth it so you can learn how to make your own CPU pipeline, complete with cache, speculative execution, CPU bugs that only appear after passing 37 tests successfully that probably make your chip insecure, and pseudo hyperthreading, all in the name of maximum performance.”
- “By giving a single metric for optimization, it makes the goal of optimizing every puzzle maximally a reasonable one, which I always appreciate.”
- “I've played with designing my own CPUs for FPGA in the past, but by the end of this game, it's challenging me to do more complex optimizations than I've attempted in real life.”
- “80% of the puzzles have basically one solution, so the graphs showing how you did are basically pointless. However, it's worth it so you can learn how to make your own CPU pipeline, complete with cache, speculative execution, CPU bugs that only appear after passing 37 tests successfully, which probably make your chip insecure, and pseudo hyper-threading, all in the name of maximum performance.”
- “In other words, you have to devise a near-optimal solution to most puzzles just to advance, rather than optimization being something you pursue after successful completion - not that optimization is all that interesting either in this game, due to the particular set of metrics solutions are judged on.”
replayability
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
60%
The game offers moderate replayability, particularly for players interested in electronics and binary logic, as it encourages revisiting puzzles to achieve optimal solutions and improve previous designs. However, some users feel it may lack depth compared to similar titles, suggesting that while enjoyable, it may not provide enough complexity to justify extensive replay.
- “The marks for perfect solutions also add a bit of replayability.”
- “Every puzzle ends in an overview of how many components/ticks an ideal solution would have, so there is additional replayability if you didn't solve a puzzle optimally.”
- “Every puzzle ends with an overview of how many components/ticks an ideal solution would have, so there is additional replayability if you didn't solve a puzzle optimally.”
- “On top of that, you can go back and optimize earlier machines for additional replay value.”
- “It maybe lacks in replayability.”
grinding
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, with management tasks becoming overwhelming and detracting from the overall enjoyment. While the initial puzzles are engaging, the repetitive nature of the later stages and the complexity of automatic paths lead to a sense of chore rather than reward.
- “The process is also tedious, and management becomes a nightmare that simply makes 100%ing this feel like a chore.”
- “I know it's supposed to represent the beginning of computers and that the process was tedious like this, but the evolution this game expects ebbs and flows in such an unnatural way that it just doesn't feel rewarding.”
- “Automatic paths quickly become a mess, and handling them manually is incredibly tedious when moving components around.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players appreciate the witty and humorous writing in Zachtronics games, which adds an engaging layer to the compelling plot. The humor serves as a motivating factor, complementing the enjoyable gameplay of building digital devices.
- “I find the writing in Zachtronics games to be witty and funny, and an incentive to keep pushing through.”
- “The plot is funny and relatively compelling, and the gameplay - building digital devices with an easy-to-use, beautiful editor - is tight, interesting, and never too easy nor too hard.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere of the game resonates well with fans of Zachtronics, offering a familiar and engaging environment that complements its storytelling.
- “If you like the atmosphere and story of Zachtronics games, you'll feel right at home.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players express a sense of frustration and inadequacy when their problem-solving approaches differ from the developer's intended solutions, highlighting a strong emotional response tied to the game's design and expectations.
- “This game honestly made me feel really stupid for not thinking exactly like the developer, despite coming up with viable, albeit slightly slow, solutions.”