Today I discovered Zachtronics games.
Incredible stuff, really mysterious and reminds me of 90s hacker and electronic music vibe I grew up with.
It looks like the games follow that kind of logic internally as well, some really elaborate puzzle systems in there.
Some themes: hacking, transmutation, alchemy, circuitry, chemical synthesis.
https://www.zachtronics.com/
There is also a book they published on their approach to puzzle games, called "Zach-like".
I learned that Minecraft was 'inspired' by a game they made called Infiniminer.
Games to look at: SpaceChem, Shenzhen I/O, Opus Magnum.
And especially Exapunks.
Exapunks is a cool looking hacking game:
![[exopunks.jpg]]
![[exapunks.png]]
I also love this simulation of an ecosystem:
The UI looks really cool.
![[habitactics.png]]