diff --git a/src/compile/mod.rs b/src/compile/mod.rs
index 1a13cea..b19e99a 100644
--- a/src/compile/mod.rs
+++ b/src/compile/mod.rs
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@ use regex::Regex;
 
 use crate::parse::{BasicAstBlock, BasicAstExpression, Operator};
 
+mod optimize;
+pub use optimize::*;
+
 #[derive(Debug, Clone)]
 pub enum Operand {
     Variable(String),
@@ -34,6 +37,30 @@ pub enum MindustryOperation {
     Generic(String, Vec<Operand>),
 }
 
+impl MindustryOperation {
+    fn operands<'a>(&'a self) -> Box<[&'a Operand]> {
+        match self {
+            Self::JumpIf(_label, _operator, lhs, rhs) => Box::new([lhs, rhs]),
+            Self::Operator(_target, _operator, lhs, rhs) => Box::new([lhs, rhs]),
+            Self::Set(_target, value) => Box::new([value]),
+            Self::Generic(_name, operands) => {
+                operands.iter().collect::<Vec<_>>().into_boxed_slice()
+            }
+            _ => Box::new([]),
+        }
+    }
+
+    fn operands_mut<'a>(&'a mut self) -> Vec<&'a mut Operand> {
+        match self {
+            Self::JumpIf(_label, _operator, lhs, rhs) => vec![lhs, rhs],
+            Self::Operator(_target, _operator, lhs, rhs) => vec![lhs, rhs],
+            Self::Set(_target, value) => vec![value],
+            Self::Generic(_name, operands) => operands.iter_mut().collect::<Vec<_>>(),
+            _ => vec![],
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 #[derive(Debug, Clone)]
 pub struct MindustryProgram(Vec<MindustryOperation>);
 
@@ -303,6 +330,7 @@ impl std::fmt::Display for MindustryProgram {
                     for operand in operands {
                         write!(f, " {}", operand)?;
                     }
+                    write!(f, "\n")?;
                 }
             }
         }
diff --git a/src/compile/optimize.rs b/src/compile/optimize.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a9d8d79
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/compile/optimize.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,158 @@
+use super::*;
+
+/// Optimizes away unnecessary `sets`
+pub fn optimize_set_use(program: MindustryProgram) -> MindustryProgram {
+    let mut res = MindustryProgram::new();
+    let instructions = program.0;
+    let tmp_regex = Regex::new(r"__tmp_[0-9]+$").unwrap();
+
+    // Find and replace references to constants
+    // TODO: multiple rounds?
+    for (use_index, instruction) in instructions.iter().enumerate() {
+        let optimizable_operands = instruction
+            .operands()
+            .iter()
+            .filter_map(|operand| match operand {
+                Operand::Variable(name) => {
+                    if tmp_regex.is_match(name) {
+                        Some(name)
+                    } else {
+                        None
+                    }
+                }
+                _ => None,
+            })
+            // PERF: check when it would be better to deduplicate operands
+            // .collect::<HashSet<_>>()
+            // .into_iter()
+            .filter_map(|name| {
+                for (index, instr) in instructions[0..use_index].iter().enumerate().rev() {
+                    match instr {
+                        MindustryOperation::Set(set_name, value) if set_name == name => {
+                            return Some((name.clone(), value.clone(), index))
+                        }
+                        MindustryOperation::Operator(op_name, _op, _lhs, _rhs)
+                            if op_name == name =>
+                        {
+                            // Not optimizable
+                            break;
+                        }
+                        MindustryOperation::JumpLabel(_label) => {
+                            // Note: jump labels mark boundaries for constants. For instance:
+                            // ```
+                            // set __tmp_1 "this is not a constant"
+                            // jump_label:
+                            // set __tmp_2 "this is a constant"
+                            // op add result __tmp_1 __tmp_2
+                            // ```
+                            //
+                            // gets optimized to:
+                            // ```
+                            // set __tmp_1 "this is not a constant"
+                            // jump_label:
+                            // op add result __tmp_1 "this is a constant"
+                            // ```
+                            //
+                            // A more complex algorithm could be used to check the flow of the program,
+                            // but this usecase isn't needed yet.
+                            break;
+                        }
+                        _ => {}
+                    }
+                }
+                None
+            })
+            .filter(|(_name, value, set_index)| {
+                // Don't optimize operands that refer to a mutating variable (either mutable @-variables or instructions that get updated in-between)
+                if let Operand::Variable(assigned_var) = value {
+                    if matches!(
+                        assigned_var.as_str(),
+                        "@this" | "@thisx" | "@thisy" | "@links"
+                    ) {
+                        return true;
+                    }
+                    if assigned_var.starts_with('@') {
+                        return false;
+                    }
+                    for instr_between in &instructions[*set_index..use_index] {
+                        match instr_between {
+                            MindustryOperation::Set(var_name, _)
+                            | MindustryOperation::Operator(var_name, _, _, _) => {
+                                if var_name == assigned_var {
+                                    return false;
+                                }
+                            }
+                            _ => {}
+                        }
+                    }
+
+                    true
+                } else {
+                    true
+                }
+            })
+            .collect::<Vec<_>>();
+
+        if optimizable_operands.len() > 0 {
+            let mut instruction = instruction.clone();
+            for operand in instruction.operands_mut() {
+                if let Operand::Variable(use_name) = operand {
+                    if let Some((_, optimized_into, _)) = optimizable_operands
+                        .iter()
+                        .find(|(set_name, _, _)| set_name == use_name)
+                    {
+                        *operand = optimized_into.clone();
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+            res.push(instruction);
+        } else {
+            res.push(instruction.clone());
+        }
+    }
+
+    let instructions = res.0;
+    let mut res = MindustryProgram::new();
+
+    // Remove unneeded `set`s
+    // PERF: could be split into a search for all variable operands, and a removal of all unneeded `set`s
+    for instruction in instructions.iter() {
+        let MindustryOperation::Set(set_name, _) = instruction else {
+            res.push(instruction.clone());
+            continue
+        };
+
+        if !tmp_regex.is_match(set_name) {
+            res.push(instruction.clone());
+            continue;
+        }
+
+        // Note: this will give false positives for temporary variable names that get re-used somewhere else
+        let mut needed = false;
+        for future_instruction in instructions.iter() {
+            if future_instruction.operands().iter().any(|operand| {
+                if let Operand::Variable(use_name) = operand {
+                    if use_name == set_name {
+                        return true;
+                    }
+                }
+                false
+            }) {
+                needed = true;
+                break;
+            }
+        }
+
+        if needed {
+            res.push(instruction.clone());
+        }
+        // else don't push
+    }
+
+    res
+}
+
+// TODO:
+// - optimize op-jumpif
+// - optimize jump(1)-label(2)-...instr-label(1) into ...instr-jump(2)
+// - shorten temporary variable names
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 56bdc91..7ffa621 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 use basic_to_mindustry::{
-    compile::{translate_ast, Namer},
+    compile::{optimize_set_use, translate_ast, Namer},
     parse::{build_ast, tokenize},
 };
 
@@ -12,4 +12,9 @@ fn main() {
     let transformed = translate_ast(&parsed, &mut Namer::default());
 
     println!("{}", transformed);
+
+    let optimized = optimize_set_use(transformed);
+
+    println!("== OPT ==");
+    println!("{}", optimized);
 }