If you have a chance to try it out, "Baba is You" is one of the most interesting puzzle games I've ever played. The puzzles are distinctly programming-like, or at least exercise similar modes of thought. The central conceit is that the way to beat each level is by changing the rules that apply to it, which are manifested as physical blocks that you can push around. It is available for Switch and from Steam:

https://www.hempuli.com/baba/

I went ahead and got it on sale on steam. But the game is very hard. It quickly becomes quite abstract. I am having a really hard time with it

I agree, it's one of the most interesting concepts I've seen in a game. Highly recommend.

It's also "distinctly programming-like" in the sense that the game rules are Turing complete, as discussed here:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19905741

Thank you so much for this recommendation. I was looking for some kind of educational game to keep my 8-year-old occupied, and just downloaded this and it's so awesome.

Is it accessible to an 8-year-old? I haven't played it, but a lot of adults seem to find it quite challenging.

so, he did pretty well up until level 7, but then it starts to get a bit too hard. I wish they had an easier version for kids. It's okay though, if I sit with him we can figure it out together, but I now agree it's slightly too difficult.

If you want a puzzle game that is great for kids, I recommend ThinkRolls by Avokiddo. But all these computer games end up crowding out other stuff that I'd rather they spend their time on, and it always spirals out of control unfortunately.

For what it's worth, I am an adult that spent way too much time playing video games as a kid. Like, I started around the age of 5 and consistently played hours and hours every day. I think for the most part it's not too adversely affected my life (besides some remedial catch-up on social skills in college) and I think I even learned some pretty good lessons from them. I would encourage your kid to be an active gamer (i.e. teach him how to add to a games content or lore, or even become a 'script kiddie' as they used to be called.) That said, video games are just like any other hobby with the added benefit of hand eye coordination.

You might have better luck with Kine. It's a different twist on the basic sokoban style gameplay. I'd say it's more accessible for kids. It also has branching progression so when one branch gets too hard you can work on a different set of levels instead.

I think it's the sort of game that's challenging regardless of when you play it but relatively simple mechanically. I think it's great for a kid.

It also has really well-designed levels, so a ransom level generator should showcase how important that is to the experience of the game.

I'm just getting the title 'Baba Is Y'all' and three buttons. That's it. Do I need a specific browser or OS for this? (Firefox on Ubuntu Linux)

It looks like there is a MySQL error breaking the game. View the source for the page and you'll see "PHP/MYSQL Error : ". There's also a "PHP/MySQL Error : whoops" message if you try to visit the sign up page.

You don't have to view source, the error message is just black on black: try to select some of the screen at it will turn up.

Sign up is broken.