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Life & fun · August 12, 2025

XA

XR2000: A science fiction programming challenge

Today I’m releasing the XR2000: A programming challenge with extensive science fiction backstory.

XR2000: A science fiction programming challenge launched on August 12, 2025 with 110 votes, #339 of 8,530 launches that month and more than 95% of that year's launches. The site was still online in September 2026, 1 year on.

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In plain words

XR2000 is a programming challenge built around an elaborate science fiction narrative. Participants solve coding problems within the context of an immersive backstory. The challenge is designed for programmers interested in creative problem-solving that combines technical skills with storytelling. It offers an alternative to traditional programming contests by embedding challenges into a fictional world.

written from the facts on this page · September 2026

From the sources

Today I’m releasing the XR2000 : A programming challenge with extensive science fiction backstory. This is a project I’ve long wanted to make, and it has slowly come to life in the last few years. I love a good puzzle or game that involves programming. Over the years I found a couple of these games that were particularly fun. These really inspired me to start the XR2000. Before explaining more about my new challenge, I want to mention (and recommend) these games. This is one of the weirdest games ever. TIS-100 that lets you write assembly code for a fictional cpu. There is a complete manual documenting the CPU instructions and all peripherals. It really got me hooked on legacy computing and…from clearsky.dev

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