Thinky Games

The latest engineering games for Linux

Engineering games are a genre of video games in which players can come up with significantly different solutions to the same task. Engineering games usually rely on a collection of elementary tools that are made available to players with few restrictions, and the gameplay focuses on combining these tools to create complex systems. Since the set of solutions to a problem is open-ended, players are free to construct systems as robust, as efficient — or as messy — as they like. These games provide a way to explore and foster real-life engineering skills in playful environments.

Engineering subgenres include automation games, factory games and programming games. Games that mix automation with setup-and-play are colloquially known as “Zachlikes”. The term was coined after Zachtronics, a studio responsible for influential games such as SpaceChem and Opus Magnum. Engineering games also include building games, such as Mars First Logistics, which make use of a physics engine in a simulation environment to enable players to assemble and run creative mechanical systems.

The follow games are the most recently released engineering games for Linux in the Thinky Games database.

  • QuantumPulse 2A
    Windows
    Linux
    MacOS
    Create and optimize programs that blend assembly language and radio-based communication.
  • Kaizen: A Factory Story
    Windows
    Linux
    MacOS
    Design production lines for camcorders and arcade machines from the outskirts of Tokyo.
  • Replicube
    Windows
    Linux
    MacOS
    Recreate 3D voxel-based objects inside a simplified shader engine.
  • Learning Factory
    Windows
    Linux
    MacOS
    Restore the supply chains of an abandoned factory to produce the finest goods for cats.
  • Factorio: Space Age
    Windows
    Linux
    MacOS
    Expand your factory network to the harsh environments of several planets.
  • shapez 2
    Windows
    Linux
    MacOS
    Build sprawling factories to extract and process geometric shapes.
  • World of Goo 2
    Windows
    Linux
    MacOS
    Nintendo Switch
    PlayStation 5
    iPad
    iPhone
    Android
    Build more bridges, towers, and contraptions with new liquid physics mechanics.
  • Linkito
    Windows
    Linux
    Build machines, defuse bombs, and control robots by wiring up puzzling electronic devices.
  • Hexahedra
    Windows
    Linux
    Program box-building machinary to assemble, rotate, and paint the galaxy's most important commodity.
  • Rogue Voltage
    Windows
    Linux
    An engineering roguelike where skills are constructed by wiring up machinary.
  • Craftomation 101
    Windows
    Linux
    MacOS
    Automate your survival on a frozen planet with visual programming.
  • Neon Noodles
    Windows
    Linux
    MacOS
    Cook up a robotic factory to produce food for your ruthless aristocratic overlords.
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