Coding
Human Resource Machine
Kids drag commands to make a little office worker shuffle, sort and add boxes in puzzles that quietly teach programming.
Human Resource Machine comes from Tomorrow Corporation, the studio behind World of Goo, and every level turns out to be a small programming task in disguise. Kids direct an office worker who collects boxes from an inbox, carries them about and drops them in an outbox. The boss asks for things like ‘send only the zeros’ or ‘add each pair together’, and the solution is a list of dragged-in commands. Only two commands are available at first; more unlock gradually, up to eleven, including jumps and memory tiles on the office floor. Without spelling it out, the game mirrors how a processor works through instructions one at a time. Optional challenges reward the shortest or fastest program, which seems to keep quick solvers coming back. Its dry office humor and number puzzles look more likely to land with older kids than with little ones.
- Ages
- Older kids who love puzzles
- Works on
- Windows app; macOS app; iPhone and iPad app; Android app
- Topics
- Coding, Math
- Languages
- English
- Listed
- 2026-10-18
What kids do
- Drag commands to move boxes from inbox to outbox
- Use jumps to repeat a set of steps
- Store numbers on the office floor like memory
- Trim a program for an optimization challenge
Who it suits
Older kids who love puzzles.
Notes for parents
Each command is introduced as it appears, so no prior coding seems necessary. Tomorrow Corporation also made Little Inferno, and the game is out on computers, tablets and phones.
What you need
- Computer, tablet or phone
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