Human Resource Machine
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Critics Recommend
Human Resource Machine Media
Critic Reviews for Human Resource Machine
A technically excellent educational game, but dry for all but maths enthusiasts.
Human Resource Machine is a grim reminder of what life can be if you allow yourself to waste away and become part of the corporate machine. Beyond that, it's also a decent puzzle game if you're interested in simple coding and assembly language. This Switch version doesn't bring any significant changes along with it to make it stand out from previous platform releases, but it still manages to deliver a unique puzzler experience that will leave you scratching your head if you don't throw your Switch against a wall first. If nothing else, Human Resource Machine is reassurance that even if there is no escaping the soul-crushing banality of reality, at least we have videogames!
Human Resource Machine is one of the most difficult puzzle games we've played in quite some time. It's not difficult for difficulty's sake though, it's difficult because it's different. It requires you to think less like a gamer and more like a developer. One of Human Resource Machine's only major fault is that there are far too few puzzles; its 38 puzzles go very quickly once you have the hang of how to program, leaving a game that could be completed in under an hour depending on your skill level. For those with no programming background, these same puzzles could take hours of your time. It's an excellent game, it'd just be better if there was more of it; that's not a bad problem to have.By their nature, the puzzles in this game are going to limit its potential audience, and the explanations the game provides don't do the best job of conveying how to order commands and do little to advise on how to optimize your code to achieve secondary objectives. That's appealing for some, but is worth acknowledging as a potential drawback for others.Human Resource Machine is a good game, bordering on great. It's just missing a few little tweaks.
I came out of Human Resource Machine unsure who it was really designed for. It's at times too simple for experienced programmers, and often made leaps too large for beginners to overcome without obtuse outside research. While I had a sense of accomplishment every time I made progress, said progress at times felt like I was an infant thrown into water and expected to swim straight away. I might manage it, but it's not the ideal teaching method to leave me feeling comfortable going forward.
Puzzle games rely on the difficulty of their challenges and Human Resource Machine certainly excels at that. A puzzle game that carves its own territory within the puzzle game genre, this is a work that features a very steep difficulty curve, very demanding challenges, a very peculiar sense of humour and a presence of mathematical elements throughout the whole game. Thanks to its perfect control system, Human Resource Machine is a delight to interact with, the Nintendo Switch is getting the definite version of this unique game.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
As clever as it is charming, Human Resource Machine is a must-have for anyone interested in puzzles and programming.
It's very well designed and it can help those without programming skills with their first steps in this world. It also does its job with very well implemented touch controls, but it will not be a significant challenge to players who already have programming skills and its 38 levels might feel too short.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Human Resource Machine is great. The gameplay is superb, finding the perfect middle ground between complex riddles/simple solutions wrapped in an stellar set of gameplay systems. The visuals are expectedly gorgeous, clever, and unique. The music is stellar, and the story, world, and characters are engaging. There's even some well done humor thrown in. The puzzles may get too complex at times, but Human Resource Machine is a game anyone with an interest in challenging puzzlers should play.