Chip Builder: A Logic Gate to CPU Educational Game

Chip Builder enables CPU construction from basic logic gates

Chip Builder is an educational simulation game designed to teach the fundamentals of computer architecture. The game follows a progressive learning path where users start by placing basic logic gates (AND, OR, NOT) and gradually combine them to build more complex components, including adders, multiplexers, memory units, and an Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU), eventually culminating in the design of a complete CPU capable of running assembly programs.

User Experience and Interface Challenges

Early feedback from the community highlights several significant friction points in the game's current user interface and experience (UX). Users have reported that the interaction model is unintuitive, specifically regarding the "mode-based" workflow.

Tooling and Interaction

  • Mode Switching: Users frequently cited the need to switch between 'select', 'wire', and 'delete' modes as tedious. Community suggestions include implementing contextual actions, such as dragging directly from a connection point to create a wire.
  • Canvas Controls: Feedback indicates a lack of basic canvas navigation (panning/zooming) and issues with moving overlapping components.
  • Input Handling: Some users reported difficulty wiring inputs to gates, while others noted that the lack of user-select: none; on the canvas leads to accidental text highlighting during component movement.

Technical Stability and Progression

  • State Persistence: A recurring complaint is the lack of a save system; progress is reportedly lost upon page reload or navigation.
  • Level Design: Some users reported being unable to progress past the NAND gate level or finding the "Pipelining" level broken, noting a lack of components to place.
  • Testing Visibility: Users expressed a desire to view test results simultaneously while interacting with the logic board, as the current tab-based system switches views upon clicking the canvas.

Comparison to Existing Educational Tools

Chip Builder enters a crowded space of "NAND-to-CPU" educational tools. Community members have compared the project to several established alternatives:

  • Turing Complete: Frequently mentioned as a more polished alternative available on Steam, which guides users through a similar path to a working CPU.
  • NANDGame: A well-known web-based alternative for building a computer from NAND gates.
  • Nand2Tetris: A foundational course and project for understanding the hardware-software stack.
  • Digital Logic Sim (Sebastian Lague): A simulation tool that also begins with the NAND gate as the primary building block.
  • Mvidia: A similar game focused on GPU architecture.

Community Recommendations for Learning

Beyond gaming simulations, experienced users recommend practical exercises for those wanting to deepen their understanding of CPU architecture:

I went through Turing Complete up to a working CPU and found it incredibly fun. I then went on to build my own RV32I (simplest RISC-V instruction set) core in Verilog... I’d recommend the exercise for anyone wanting to learn about how CPUs work.

Additionally, Ben Eater's 6502 series is highly recommended for those interested in the physical implementation of these concepts, specifically wiring a 6502 microprocessor to ROM and RAM on a breadboard.

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