Wow. I want so many more of these kind of things for my kids. It's so close to using code to solve real problems. How about an assembly line version where many parts have to come together in the correct order? Or an air traffic control one? Subway scheduling? Pizza delivery? More please!
It isn't quite programming, but your assembly line comment reminded me of http://pleasingfungus.com/Manufactoria/ which is a game about making state automata.
Yeah! Something I think about occasionally is traffic-light optimization problems, optimizing for throughput, wait-time, safety etc. I think it could work well in a packaging similar to Elevator Saga.
