About this game

ASTRA-256 — A BINARY VIRTUAL MACHINE PROGRAMMED IN ASSEMBLER Step into the era of early computing and feel like a real engineer from the past. ASTRA-256 isn’t just a computer — it’s a complete educational environment where you write real Assembler code for a virtual von Neumann architecture machine. LEARN BY PLAYING ASTRA-256 is: An interactive simulator for learning Assembler from scratch. A logic puzzle for those who love “real” programming. A nostalgic time machine for veterans of the LPG-30, Altair 8800, and PDP-11. This is the kind of machine pioneers of computing once used to solve real problems — under tight resource constraints, just like in the 1970s. WHAT CAN ASTRA-256 DO? 8-bit processor with accumulator and visible registers: IP, IN, OUT, SP, FLAGS. 256 bytes of memory — just like the original Altair 8800 released in 1975 with the Intel 8080. 75 instructions grouped by purpose: control flow, data movement, arithmetic, stack, I/O, and more. Lessons and documentation in five languages — printable, just like in the good old days. Start with simple programs and progress to complex algorithms: square roots, trigonometry, even mini-games. ASTRA-256 runs on a custom Assembler designed specifically for this environment. We intentionally offer an extended instruction set — similar to what you’ll find in modern microcontrollers and processors. It’s a hands-on way to gain foundational experience with low-level hardware logic — the kind that prepares you to work with any modern microcontroller. The principles haven’t changed.

How to activate

Go to: http://store.steampowered.com/ and download STEAM client Click "Install Steam" (from the upper right corner) Install and start application, login with your Account name and Password (create one if you don't have). Please follow these instructions to activate a new retail purchase on Steam: Launch Steam and log into your Steam account. Click the Games Menu. Choose Activate a Product on Steam... Follow the onscreen instructions to complete the process. After successful code verification go to the "LIBRARY" tab and start downloading.