SHENZHEN I/O is a Programming Game by Zachtronics. You are a newly graduated embedded systems engineer, who has recently acquired a job at a smallish startup in Shenzhen. During your job, you are asked to make a variety of electronic devices, using most notably microchips programmed in a fake assembly language. And along the way, you meet some of the other employees and ask, why are you in Shenzhen in the first place?
This game provides examples of:
- 20 Minutes into the Future: The application visa states that your first entry into China is in 2026, meaning the game itself takes place during or after that year.
- All There in the Manual: The game relies heavily on its manual, encouraging players to print and assemble a physical document organizer and refer to it while playing. It consists of 42 pages, including documentation for the game's assembly language, datasheets for the various in-game microchips, and snippets of example code. Story breadcrumbs—email correspondence, application forms, untranslated Chinese marginalia—are found throughout.
- Cyberpunk: Not as much as, say, EXAPUNKS, but there are certainly shades of it, especially in regards to society as it exists in the near future.
- Overly Pre-Prepared Gag: One of the levels is about using a sliding window function to control an actual sliding window. Your boss will point this out after you've completed the level.
