Like Human Resource Machine, but you build the machine too
Human Resource Machine is a programming puzzle game by Tomorrow Corporation, the makers of World of Goo and Little Inferno, released on Steam in October 2015 for Windows, macOS and Linux and also sold for Wii U, iOS and Android. In each level your boss gives you a job, and you automate it by programming a little office worker with simple drag-and-drop commands: you start with two, earn more as you are promoted, and the whole language has only 11. If that is what brought you here, digiwleea is a free, in-browser alternative with a different angle: you build a computer from the transistor up.
What Human Resource Machine is good at
It is one of the friendliest introductions to programming there is: no experience needed, and every puzzle quietly teaches how a machine runs a program, one small command at a time. Its makers describe the office as a Harvard architecture with a single accumulator, and the commands work much like a tiny assembly language. It is rated Very Positive on Steam. (digiwleea is an independent project, not affiliated with Tomorrow Corporation.)
How digiwleea is different
digiwleea goes one level down: you build the machine your program runs on. Starting from CMOS transistors, you wire gates, an adder, an ALU, registers, RAM and control logic into an 8-bit CPU in your browser, following a guided 40+ level course with an AI tutor (Wleea). The CPU you finish with is also a single-accumulator machine, with eight instructions (LOAD, ADD, SUB, STORE, JMP, JZ, OUT, HALT), and the last act has you program it and watch each instruction move through the circuit you wired. The lab and the first act are free. Human Resource Machine is the better pick for gentle, charming programming puzzles; digiwleea is the better pick once you want to know how the machine itself works.
| Human Resource Machine | digiwleea | |
|---|---|---|
| You program | Office workers, with drag-and-drop commands | The CPU you built, in assembly |
| Instruction set | 11 commands | 8 instructions |
| The machine | Given: the office is the computer | Built by you, from transistors up |
| Runs in | A downloaded game (Windows, macOS, Linux, Wii U, iOS, Android) | The browser, nothing to install |
| Price | Paid | Free lab and Act I; Premium for the full course |
No sign-up is needed to start: open the lab and place your first transistor, or read the free theory course. The account (and the AI tutor) are optional.
See for yourself: build a logic gate from transistors in the simulator, then follow the path from sand to an 8-bit CPU.
Open the digiwleea lab →Frequently asked
Is digiwleea a good Human Resource Machine alternative?
Yes, if you want to understand digital logic from the ground up. digiwleea is a free, in-browser simulator with a guided 40+ level course where you build every gate from CMOS transistors and work up to a real 8-bit CPU, with an AI tutor to help.
Is digiwleea free?
The sandbox lab and the first act of the course are free and need no sign-up. An optional account adds the AI tutor and cross-device sync; the full course and expanded AI tutoring are included in the monthly or annual Premium subscription.
Do I need to install anything?
No. digiwleea runs entirely in your browser, on desktop or mobile, and works offline once loaded.