QUIET MACHINES

Programming game · Steam Early Access

FORK BOMBA programming game where your code copies itself.

Fork Bomb is a single-player programming game on Steam. Write Python-like code for one machine, then make it work for four hundred.

  • Windows
  • $9.99
  • 11 lessons
  • 39 scenarios
  • sandbox
Fork Bomb key art: a hexagon logo over a spreading swarm of machines
A Fork Bomb lesson: the Python-like code editor beside one machine
Lessons start from working code
Fork Bomb's THE CROWD scenario: hundreds of machines running one program on a small map
THE CROWD: two hundred machines, one program
Fork Bomb's EXPONENTIAL scenario: a swarm of machines mining and copying themselves
EXPONENTIAL: growth is the difficulty

How it plays

Write the code

A small Python-like language. Move, dig, sense the ground, read the colony's energy.

It copies itself

Around lesson four your machine learns spawn(). Every copy runs your program from the top.

Scale breaks it

Machines fight over ore, jam corridors and run out of instructions per tick. Fix it and grow.

Who it's for

New to coding

Eleven guided lessons, one idea each, never a blank file. Errors explain themselves in plain English.

Already a programmer

The lessons take under an hour. Then come contention, thundering herds and resource budgets, as puzzles.

Optimizers

A deterministic sim with star ratings on ticks, instructions, lines of code and energy. Vim keys included.

What's in the game

  • 11 guided lessons and 39 scenarios, plus a sandbox and a daily challenge
  • 17 machine functions, from move() and mine() to sense() and spawn()
  • print(), autocomplete, plain-English errors and optional vim keybindings
  • Deterministic simulation, scored on ticks, instructions, lines of code and energy
  • 23 Steam achievements and Steam Cloud saves
  • About 15 to 30 hours to see every lesson and scenario

Programming games like The Farmer Was Replaced

Questions

What kind of game is Fork Bomb?

Fork Bomb is a single-player programming game for Windows on Steam. You write code for one machine that can build copies of itself, and every copy runs the same program. The challenge is making that one program keep working when hundreds of machines run it at once.

Do I need to know how to code to play Fork Bomb?

No. Fork Bomb teaches the basics from scratch. Eleven guided lessons introduce one idea each, and every lesson starts from working code you edit rather than a blank file. Errors are explained in plain English and point at the line. The later scenarios are hard.

Can Fork Bomb help me learn to code?

Fork Bomb is a game, not a course, but it is designed so that people who have never programmed can play it. Its eleven lessons teach a small Python-like language one idea at a time, starting from working code, and the 39 scenarios after them turn loops, conditions, functions and shared resources into puzzles.

What programming language does Fork Bomb use?

Fork Bomb uses a small language that looks and reads like Python: indentation, while and for loops, if/elif/else, functions, lists and dicts. Seventeen machine functions such as move(), mine(), sense() and spawn() unlock as you progress, and the editor has print(), autocomplete and optional vim keybindings.

Is Fork Bomb like The Farmer Was Replaced?

Fork Bomb is in the same family of programming games as The Farmer Was Replaced and Bitburner, and like The Farmer Was Replaced it uses a Python-like language. The difference is that in Fork Bomb your code runs on a swarm: every machine you spawn runs the same program, so the hard problems are contention, crowding and per-tick instruction budgets rather than a single agent's route.

What other programming games are like Fork Bomb?

Programming games often mentioned alongside Fork Bomb include The Farmer Was Replaced, Bitburner, Screeps and the Zachtronics games. Fork Bomb shares a Python-like language with The Farmer Was Replaced, a colony run by code with Screeps, and scored optimization puzzles with the Zachtronics games, in a single-player game where one program controls every machine.

How much does Fork Bomb cost and where can I get it?

Fork Bomb costs $9.99 USD on Steam for Windows. It has been in Early Access since 2 October 2026 and supports Steam Cloud saves and 23 Steam achievements.

How long is Fork Bomb?

Fork Bomb takes roughly fifteen to thirty hours to see all 11 lessons and 39 scenarios, and considerably more if you chase three stars on every level. There is also a sandbox and a daily challenge.

How are Fork Bomb solutions scored?

Fork Bomb runs a deterministic simulation, so the same code always gives the same result. Each solution is scored on ticks, instructions, lines of code and energy.

Also from Quiet Machines: Adverse Action, a paperwork thriller and deduction game.