TOTooSmugToFail·Nov 3, 2024
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https://github.com/arcataroger/awesome-engineering-games?tab...
In Engineering Gamesarcataroger
awesome-engineering-games
Learning & Reference2023–2024
arcataroger / awesome-engineering-games
awesome-engineering-games
A curated list of engineering-related video games rated Very Positive or higher on Steam
2Distinct people
15Mentions
0Explicit recommenders
1.8KGitHub stars
What to know before exploring
What it is
A curated list of engineering-related video games rated Very Positive or higher on Steam
GitHub
Where it is used
No documented product use has been verified yet.
What people are saying
No recommendation phrase was found in the indexed comments.
No classified warning is attached to this page. Read the discussions before treating silence as approval.
Also in these discussions
No other repository is repeatedly linked in the same discussions.
This week on Hacker News
Nov 7–Nov 14 UTC · Direct repository links and separately labeled related project stories. Indexed through 11/14/2026, 3:56:07 PM UTC.
No direct repository links were found in the indexed HN discussions over the past seven days. Older discussions are available below.
Mentions over time
HN mentions by month15 dated mentions
Observed mentions: 2023-11-19 19:22:22 UTC to 2024-11-03 17:21:22 UTC.
Counts come from the repository’s dated source evidence. Index cutoff: 2026-11-02 08:16:59 UTC.
View mention counts and date ranges
| Period | Start (UTC) | End (exclusive, UTC) | Mentions | Submissions | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 2023 | 2023-11-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2023-12-01 00:00:00 UTC | 9 | 1 | 8 |
| Dec 2023 | 2023-12-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Jan 2024 | 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2024-02-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Feb 2024 | 2024-02-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2024-03-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2024 | 2024-03-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2024-04-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Apr 2024 | 2024-04-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2024-05-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| May 2024 | 2024-05-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2024-06-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jun 2024 | 2024-06-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2024-07-01 00:00:00 UTC | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Jul 2024 | 2024-07-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2024-08-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aug 2024 | 2024-08-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2024-09-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2024 | 2024-09-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2024-10-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 2024 | 2024-10-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2024-11-01 00:00:00 UTC | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 2024 | 2024-11-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2024-12-01 00:00:00 UTC | 1 | 0 | 1 |
What Hacker News says
15 sourcesCities Skylines, the Anno series, Timberborn, Frostpunk, etc. Broadly, they're called city builders. Many are available on Microsoft PC Game Pass, which can be combined with GeForce Now to allow you to play AAA games in a browser, streamed from Nvidia.
I maintain a community list of building and other engineering / building games, if it helps: https://github.com/arcataroger/awesome-engineering-games/blo...
In Ask HN: SimCity-Like Game?This looks like a serious tool for real professionals to use. Cool! I wish they had some screenshots or videos of the process.
In the meantime, if anyone's looking for gamified railroad-building (just for fun), check out:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1124180/Rail_Route/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1134710/NIMBY_Rails/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/503940/Railway_Empire/
Or several more: https://github.com/arcataroger/awesome-engineering-games/tre...
In OSRD: Open-Source Railway DesignerYou can try? Worth the risk for $7, with a 2-hour playtime refund period through Steam.
There are also a bunch of other similar games on this list: https://github.com/arcataroger/awesome-engineering-games?tab... (disclaimer: I maintain it, but it's a community effort)
I think 7 Billion Humans might be easier to get into, since it's a drag and drop visual code builder GUI: https://store.steampowered.com/app/792100/7_Billion_Humans/
It's similar to Scratch: https://scratch.mit.edu/
And of course there's Roblox: https://create.roblox.com/
And Fortnite: https://www.fortnite.com/create?lang=en-us
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There's also a whole sub-genre of similar factory production games (like Factorio and Dyson Sphere Program and so many others in that list). But this game is pretty unique in that it lets you write actual code instead of putting together graphic
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al "logic block" elements (splitters, conveyers, etc.)
The graphical games are useful for teaching logic and thinking in terms of functions (inputs and outputs). But to learn real programming, it's nice to be able to see the actual keywords. 7 Billion Humans and Scratch at least have that.
This is a list that a lot of HNers contributed to a few weeks ago: https://github.com/arcataroger/awesome-engineering-games#hac...
Some of the games in the hacking section might be kid friendly? 7 Billion Humans comes to mind, especially.
In Ask HN: Platform for kids to learn how to code> Arithmetic teaches systematic manipulation of abstract ideas which is the foundation for programming.
I know this is the conventional wisdom, that math is the underlying foundation for programming, etc. And I think that's true in the strictest sense: there is certainly a lot of math underlying all our software and hardware.
But for learning basic programming? Honestly, I don't think it matters at all.
I was first exposed to programming via Logo (as in the turtle mover), and while there's math there, I never really got beyond "bigger numbers move the turtle further / rotate it more".
What really taught me logic & programming was the visual Warcraft 3 map editor, basically an early version of Scratch where you would compose logic out of nodes and make things happen in the game. Having that instant visual feedback of seeing units follow yo
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ur automated commands was much more effective than sitting in a classroom doing math problems. These days there are a bunch more games like that (shameless plug: https://github.com/arcataroger/awesome-engineering-games)
> Would people use post algebra math more if they knew it? I use calculus regularly when I'm building things for my kids. But I've noticed most people have stopped building things by hand anyway and instead rely on mass manufacture
Maybe people stopped building things because we focus too much on the theoretical in-classroom parts, as opposed to the hands-on stuff? I bet kids would be much happier, and learn a lot more, if they could swap out math hours for time in the woodshop, on the potter's wheel, or making maps for Roblox or Fortnite or whatever -- none of which require a heavy investment in math at first. (Reminds me of this place: https://www.blueoxmill.com/blue-ox-school.htm, a continuation school for high schoolers who don't do well in the classroom. Instead, they learn woodworking, smithing, print-setting, etc. alongside the basic curricula).
Then you could ease them into the math by showing them how can it help them make different shapes, then show them how real-world CAD and Unity/Unreal work, etc. Work backwards from instant gratification to ancient theory, and only cover the details if they really care. But otherwise just let them know that somebody else did the hard work (much appreciated) so they can move shapes around on a screen. It's not that different from graphics designers making art without ever having to know how a Bezier curve is calculated.
So far the list only includes Steam games, but there have been many requests for older games, browser games, mobile games, etc.
There is a discussion about it here: https://github.com/arcataroger/awesome-engineering-games/dis...
Maybe there could be a sibling list that compiles all the non-Steam ones?
In Awesome Engineering GamesThank you! I added ComPressure. Polybridge is already on there, under -- waddya know -- Bridge-Building :)
FYI, there is a discussion about whether we should expand the list inclusion criteria: https://github.com/arcataroger/awesome-engineering-games/dis...
In Awesome Engineering GamesThe list currently only has Steam games, but maybe it shouldn't? Up for discussion right now: https://github.com/arcataroger/awesome-engineering-games/dis...
In Awesome Engineering GamesThe list currently only has Steam games, but this is up for debate: https://github.com/arcataroger/awesome-engineering-games/dis...
If these older games don't get added there, it might be worth creating a sibling list that this one can link to?
In Awesome Engineering GamesI haven't played that particular one, but I think many of the games in the category "Vehicle Builders" might be similar? https://github.com/arcataroger/awesome-engineering-games#veh...
My personal favorite was Robocraft, but it didn't make the list because its reviews were only "Mostly Positive":
https://store.steampowered.com/app/301520/Robocraft/
In Awesome Engineering GamesThey're definitely there, just near the bottom: Under https://github.com/arcataroger/awesome-engineering-games#hac...
I think they were the first games I added while building the list, and a heavy inspiration for it to begin with :) I added a thank-you for them just now.
In Awesome Engineering GamesThere's a current discussion about whether we should also make room for non-Steam games, especially older but great titles: https://github.com/arcataroger/awesome-engineering-games/dis...
If that doesn't happen, there could very well be an sibling list of "Oldies but goodies DOS-era engineering games"?
In Awesome Engineering GamesCurrently, the list only has Steam games (not for platform favoritism, but for "Very Positive" reviews as a minimum threshold).
However, I'm not sure if it should stay that way. Maybe it'd be good to have some older games, etc.? Discussion here: https://github.com/arcataroger/awesome-engineering-games/dis...
In Awesome Engineering GamesI've spent way too much time both playing and finding engineering-focused games, and haven't been able to find very detailed or comprehensive lists online. So I made one :)
These games are both fun and often quite educational, presenting gamified versions of real-world challenges and professions.
There's a lot of different sub-genres of "engineering game", such as:
* Factory automation (Factorio, Dyson Sphere Program)
* City builders (Cities: Skylines, Anno series)
* Route-builders (Mini Motorways, Railway Empire)
* Comp sci (TIS-100, Bitburner)
All games on the list are very highly reviewed. I've played most (but not all) of them, and provided personal recommendations alongside the reviews. Many of them are also playable on GeForce Now (if you don't have a gaming PC).
Please contribute if you know of more, or have any comments/suggestion
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s!