I feel like there are different types of constraints. Some are useful for creativity (limited number of specific resources), some are annoying (making you work harder to achieve known goal).

I stopped playing exapunks because of this before the end. The limited instruction set, limits on movements, etc. are cool - they force new solutions. Not having functions or advanced templates is just annoying - I need to implement the same thing multiple times, by copy-pasting.

Very much agreed here. To me it’s programming with limited scope, simple well defined goals, and no side effects.

Pretty much everything programming isn’t in the real world.

And feedback too. In the real world your program don't tell you if they're correct, or efficient without a lot of extra work.

It's also much easier to find a solution if you know there is a good solution to be found.