| Human Resource Machine | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Tomorrow Corporation |
| Publisher(s) | Tomorrow Corporation, Experimental Gameplay Group (iOS) |
| Year released | |
| System(s) | Windows, Mac, Wii U, Linux, iOS, Android, Nintendo Switch |
| Genre(s) | Puzzle |
|---|---|
| Modes | Single player |
Human Resource Machine is a visual programming-based puzzle game developed by Tomorrow Corporation. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, OS X and Wii U in October 2015, being additionally released for Linux on March 29, 2016, for iOS on June 1, 2016, and for Android on December 1, 2016. Human Resource Machine uses the concept of a corporate office worker assigned to perform tasks that involve moving objects between an inbox, an outbox, and to and from storage areas as a metaphor for assembly language concepts. The player works through several puzzles in constructing a program to complete a specific task.
The game includes approximately 40 programming puzzles, each considered one "year" of the player's avatar tenure in a corporate structure. In each puzzle, the player creates a list of instructions from rudimentary commands to control the movements of their avatar on an overhead view of an office; the office includes two conveyor belts, one an inbox that sends in either an integer or a single alphabetic character represented as a small box, the other an outbox to receive these. The office floor typically also includes a number of marked number spaces that can hold one box each. For each puzzle, the player is told of a specific task, such as adding two numbers as they come in on the inbox, or sorting a zero-terminated string of characters, delivering these results in the proper order to the outbox.