mvidia

Learning and science

interactive computer architecture course

SHOW HN2026

964points
187comments
#10of 4,366 in 2026
Top 1%of 2026 by points

How HN took it

DebatedReal support and real criticism

31 positive, 28 neutral or asking, 15 mixed, 39 critical, out of 113 comments about the project. Thread score -0.02.

Design: 1 for, 19 againstIdea: 16 for, 1 againstExecution: 2 for, 13 againstDocs: 2 for, 5 againstPerformance: 2 for, 1 against

The thread, comment by comment

Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.

positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker

What HN said

What people liked

  • Good educational idea and polished presentation

    From 3 comments
    • This would be such a good game for introducing students to digital technology! This is so fun! We just had to draw them by hand back in the dark ages of the 2010s.
      buildbot on HN
    • This is excellent, both educationally and from a UX standpoint! I've tried multiple times to read explanations on how transistors work and bounced off, but this time I think I've…
      a022311 on HN
    • This is awesome! The truth table lightning round took me by surprise, I am rustier than I thought... One note: It isn't immediately obvious that the In/Out nodes can be connected…
      fleshers on HN
  • Fills a niche better than similar games like Turing Complete or nandgame

    From 2 comments
    • This is excellent, both educationally and from a UX standpoint! I've tried multiple times to read explanations on how transistors work and bounced off, but this time I think I've…
      a022311 on HN
    • Awesome project! Reminds me of Turing Complete on Steam.
      arikrahman on HN

Objections

  • Too hard with little guidance for beginners

    From 3 comments
    • Ok you have put a lot of work in this and it looks impressive. But it needs a serious balance change. It is far too hard. Currently this may work as a brain teaser for people in…
      hristov on HN
    • I worked on deep sub-micron, full custom mixed-signal integrated circuits for more than a decade, and I can't pass the first level. > Wire an NMOS transistor so that when In is…
      roadbuster on HN
    • This looks really cool, although I personally seem to lack the absolute basic knowledge that is required to make sense of the tutorial messages, so I couldn't even figure out the…
      Anonyneko on HN
  • Timed truth tables and hex racer are too punishing

    From 3 comments
    • The truth tables are way too hard for me. I need time to think and the 10 seconds is way too fast. If this is intended to be a teaching resource, avoid timers IMHO. It needlessly…
      unsnap_biceps on HN
    • A nice game, though the truth table lighting round is pretty punishing! Big contrast to the circuit building part where you can take your time. Personally I'd drop the time…
      gchadwick on HN
    • Ok you have put a lot of work in this and it looks impressive. But it needs a serious balance change. It is far too hard. Currently this may work as a brain teaser for people in…
      hristov on HN
  • Not usable on mobile

    From 2 comments
    • Any easy way to make this usable on mobile? In portrait mode things are unreadable, zoom and scrolling do not work. Landscape is even worse as everything is out of view (and…
      zapkyeskrill on HN
    • The text is too small to read on a phone, and pinch to zoom is disabled. That's pn the first lesson
      ____tom____ on HN
  • Wiring is hard to read and wires overlap

    From 2 comments
    • Ok you have put a lot of work in this and it looks impressive. But it needs a serious balance change. It is far too hard. Currently this may work as a brain teaser for people in…
      hristov on HN
    • Some feedback: - Nice idea, though after playing Turing complete, I would like to skip the beginning and move to stuff that makes GPUs different to CPUs. But it's understandable.…
      dminik on HN

Requests

  • Optional or no timers on quizzes

    From 3 comments
    • The truth tables are way too hard for me. I need time to think and the 10 seconds is way too fast. If this is intended to be a teaching resource, avoid timers IMHO. It needlessly…
      unsnap_biceps on HN
    • A nice game, though the truth table lighting round is pretty punishing! Big contrast to the circuit building part where you can take your time. Personally I'd drop the time…
      gchadwick on HN
    • Hi everyone, commenting to address feedback: - Made timed minigames optional (e.g. binary tables) - Added 7 (optional) intro levels to walk through pmos and nmos transistors -…
      Jaso1024 on HN
  • Mobile support

    From 2 comments
    • Any easy way to make this usable on mobile? In portrait mode things are unreadable, zoom and scrolling do not work. Landscape is even worse as everything is out of view (and…
      zapkyeskrill on HN
    • The text is too small to read on a phone, and pinch to zoom is disabled. That's pn the first lesson
      ____tom____ on HN
  • Show solution or more tests feedback

    From 2 comments
    • You need to have a, "Okay, I've tried 10 times, it's not working, what's the answer?" button. That will help not just us rubes who can't understand, but also in the off chance…
      frmersdog on HN
    • Some feedback: - Nice idea, though after playing Turing complete, I would like to skip the beginning and move to stuff that makes GPUs different to CPUs. But it's understandable.…
      dminik on HN
  • Intro or basic transistor explanations

    From 2 comments
    • as a learning resource, it would be great it acronyms were expanded at least once. nmos, pmos, gnd, vdd all in the first 5 seconds or so, and i didnt see anywhere that actually…
      john_strinlai on HN
    • This looks really cool, although I personally seem to lack the absolute basic knowledge that is required to make sense of the tutorial messages, so I couldn't even figure out the…
      Anonyneko on HN

Questions

  • Was it built with LLM assistance

    From 1 comment
    • This is great! Some comments: - I didn't like the "truth tables" one, I got many duplicate questions and for some reason I got only one second for the first question. The rest of…
      rustybolt on HN
  • Is there a way to save progress

    From 1 comment
    • Must be missing something - is there a way to save progress?
      oytis on HN

Alternatives named

  • Turing Complete

    From 2 comments
    • Anyone who likes this should also take a look at: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1444480/Turing_Complete/ At the end you have your own CPU with your own assembly language.…
      txr on HN
    • Awesome project! Reminds me of Turing Complete on Steam.
      arikrahman on HN
  • nandgame

    From 2 comments
    • Reminds me of http://nandgame.com and https://nand2tetris.org
      fragmede on HN
    • This is excellent, both educationally and from a UX standpoint! I've tried multiple times to read explanations on how transistors work and bounced off, but this time I think I've…
      a022311 on HN
  • nand2tetris

    From 1 comment
    • Reminds me of http://nandgame.com and https://nand2tetris.org
      fragmede on HN
  • KOHCTPYKTOP by Zachtronics

    From 1 comment
    • This reminds me of the Zachtronics game KOHCTPYKTOP (https://zachtronics.com/zach-like/). The game left me wanting more and wishing I was using an actual tool for learning or…
      dnotq on HN

Category, keywords, summaries and labels on this page were made by AI (Thread Reader v2) and not checked by hand. Each point links to the comments it came from.

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