Are there any good games out there which include strong elements of science, such as using math and physics principles in challenges?

I have only seen Kerbal Space Program so far, but many reviewers say that it seems half-baked.

Kerbal Space Program

https://www.gog.com/game/kerbal_space_program

And welcome to GOG. :D

I edited my above post. It looks attractive, but the 'beta' element looks to be a bit of a turnoff. I may give it a try any way.

"beta element"?

There is nothing beta about it as far as I know. :P Trust me, there is nothing half baked about it, but to each his own.

Physics? Incredible Machine, of course! xD

If you'd like to learn or practice programming skills, Spacechem is really great idea. However beware of fake chemistry it includes.

Thanks to both of you for the suggestions.

There is Spore, which could be argued to teach evolution and some other scientific topics, though some have pointed out that it is not an exact match.

[url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spore_(2008_video_game)#Scientific_accuracy]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spore_(2008_video_game)#Scientific_accuracy[/url]

(At least the use of the word "evolution" by Spore makes more sense than its use in Pokémon, where it is used to describe something more like metamorphosis.)

BeamNG.Drive - although it's more engineering(y)?

+1 for KSP, If it's half-baked then most games won't make it past 20%!

Sokobond for chemistry.

I once tried to knock out two experiments in one flight on KSP. I don't rightly recall what it was I did, but I think it involved using a solid state rocket underneath a liquid state rocket.
It... did not go well. But for a brief ten minutes or so, my poor Kerbanaut got a lovely view of his house, his city, his country... possibly God.
Before becoming a flaming ball of rocket fuel.

Space Engine, but it's more of a "Magic School Bus" simulator than a game.
Elite Dangerous, but only in the sense that you can read flavor text on every astronomical body.

Then you should also take a look at Human Resource Machine

there are other games with a programming core mechanics out there, not so much on gOg, though.

It's still being worked on:

https://wiki.kerbalspaceprogram.com/wiki/Version_history

It's very much playable though.

A tutorial for beginners if you want to watch it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbeyLyvnEZs

I'm guessing he was just relying on outdated information (i.e., thinking that it was still in Early Access, which it's not).

Relative

I can second games like TIS, Spacechem and Human Resource Machine for programming knowledge (and some Maths).

As far as I'm aware you don't get much more accurate than Kerbal for a lot of physics related stuff (though I've only briefly played the demo myself).

I'm sure there are a few 'physics' games here (in the same way Angry Birds is a physics game) but I'm not sure they would actually be very educational...