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TIS-100

TIS-100

Zachtronics · released Jul 19, 2015

IndieSimulationPCiOS (iPhone/iPad)

TIS-100 is an open-ended programming game by Zachtronics, the creators of SpaceChem and Infinifactory, in which you rewrite corrupted code segments to repair the TIS-100 and unlock its secrets. It’s the assembly language programming game you never asked for!

89
VGC Score
Stablemedium confidence
91%
At launch
97%
Steam all-time
n/a
Press
100%
Recent sentiment

Screenshots & trailers

Review sentiment over time

Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.

How this score was computed

The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.

ComponentPositiveQuality (0-100)Weight (pseudo-reviews)
Press reviews (Metacritic)0
All-time Steam reviews97%921000
Metacritic user ratings0
Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted)100%974
Calibration prior (typical game)7250

Acclaim gate: the raw blend lands at 91.2, but scores above 88 must be earned in front of a mass audience; this verdict rests on 4,134 player reviews, a largely self-selected fanbase. As more players weigh in, the ceiling rises (full scale unlocks at 100,000 reviews).

Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 11 reviews sampled · 10 total reviews in window · weighted 7.9 up / 0 down · computed 4h ago · full methodology →

Press & Creators reviews (3)

Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.

  • 80
    trust 56Sep 21, 2015

    It manages to maintain an even balance of being fun and being educational.

    read full review ↗
  • 70
    trust 56Oct 17, 2015

    Zach Barth (the author of Infinifactory) is back and again creativity, both the developer’s and yours, plays first fiddle. [10/2015, p.71]

  • 84
    trust 50Aug 17, 2015

    This is as dry as it gets. It makes a game out of some peoples’ jobs. And in all its minimalistic glory it is a lot of fun. But conceptually it is not as far as it may seem in the beginning from the author’s earlier works like SpecChem or Infinifactory.

    read full review ↗

Patch history