SIC-1
Released Dec 2022
SIC-1 is a single-instruction programming game. Neglect your personal life in pursuit of promotions and vague assurances of job security! Optimize your programs to rise to the top of the leaderboards! SIC Systems thanks you for your hard work! Now please return to your desk.
94% positive · 256 reviews
Done
All announced content has been released
Medium confidence
Done
All announced content has been released
Medium confidence
Where to get it
Free on Steam
Evaluation
SIC-1 launched on December 2, 2022 as a complete, self-contained programming puzzle game. In the months following launch, the developer shipped a series of feature and quality-of-life patches — adding a Linux build, Steam Cloud saves, sandbox mode, new music, a new final puzzle, hints for new players, and various editor improvements. The last recorded developer communication was a bug fix patch on December 28, 2023. Since then, no further updates, announcements, or developer posts have appeared. The game has no DLC, no roadmap, and no announced future content. The developer has not made any statements about ongoing development plans. Given the nature of the game — a finite puzzle collection with a defined endpoint — and the absence of any update activity since December 28, 2023, the game appears to have reached its complete state.
Evidence
Last developer post: a bug fix patch addressing display of negative numbers in Sandbox Mode and other minor fixes. No further updates have appeared after this date.
Added a new final puzzle and turbo button among other improvements, suggesting the developer was actively filling out the game's content in early 2023.
Media
Details
Developer
Publisher
Anti-Pattern Games
Achievements
14
Platform
Windows, Linux
Controller
—
Steam Deck
Unsupported
Players
Single-player
About this game
SIC-1 is a programming game where the computer only understands a single instruction.
It's an assembly language zachlike for everyone! New programmers will appreciate how few unique instructions there are to learn (just one!), and experienced programmers will appreciate how poorly suited this one instruction is for writing straight-forward programs.
If you're ready for a challenge, respond to this job posting from SIC Systems:
SIC Systems is hiring engineers to produce highly efficient programs for our flagship product: the Single Instruction Computer Mark 1 (SIC-1).
The SIC-1 represents a transformational change in computing, reducing complexity to the point that the processor only executes a single instruction: subtract and branch if less than or equal to zero ("subleq").
Enter the brave new world of single-instruction computing and invent new ways of implementing programs that would be trivial on a conventional computer. Don't adjust the technology to match how you think, adjust your thinking to match how the SIC-1 operates!
- Learn an esoteric assembly language.
- Implement programs to unlock more impressive job titles.
- Optimize your programs to climb the leaderboards.
- Sacrifice your personal life for the good of the company!
It's an assembly language zachlike for everyone! New programmers will appreciate how few unique instructions there are to learn (just one!), and experienced programmers will appreciate how poorly suited this one instruction is for writing straight-forward programs.
If you're ready for a challenge, respond to this job posting from SIC Systems:
SIC Systems is hiring engineers to produce highly efficient programs for our flagship product: the Single Instruction Computer Mark 1 (SIC-1).
The SIC-1 represents a transformational change in computing, reducing complexity to the point that the processor only executes a single instruction: subtract and branch if less than or equal to zero ("subleq").
Enter the brave new world of single-instruction computing and invent new ways of implementing programs that would be trivial on a conventional computer. Don't adjust the technology to match how you think, adjust your thinking to match how the SIC-1 operates!
Are these done yet?
Last evaluated Jun 21, 2026
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