OVERVIEW

HackerOS Games

The native game launcher bundled with every edition of HackerOS. One interface for launching, configuring and tracking all HackerOS-native games.

🎮

5 Games

Curated library of HackerOS-native titles across multiple genres.

⏱

Playtime Tracking

Steam-style session tracking persisted to disk via Rust backend.

⚙

Per-Game Settings

Fullscreen, resolution and volume flags passed on launch.

🧩

Addons

Expansion content store — coming in a future update.

Built With

Tauri 2

React 18

Rust

TypeScript

Note: HackerOS Games is pre-installed on all HackerOS editions. No separate installation is required.

OVERVIEW

Launcher Interface

The launcher is divided into four sections accessible from the top navigation bar.

Navigation

Tab	Description
Library	Browse and launch your game library. Shows playtime stats per game.
Addons	Expansion content for installed games (coming soon).
Settings	Per-game launch configuration: fullscreen, resolution, volume.
About	Launcher version info and technology stack.

Window Controls

The custom title bar provides three window controls:

— Minimize to taskbar
□ Toggle maximize / restore
✕ Close the launcher

The title bar area can be dragged to move the window. Navigation tabs and window controls are excluded from the drag region.

Library View

The Library tab shows a sidebar list of all games on the left, and a detail panel on the right. Click any game in the sidebar to view its details, playtime stats and launch button.

Games marked NOT INSTALLED could not be found at their expected path in /usr/share/HackerOS/Scripts/HackerOS-Games/. Reinstall the relevant HackerOS game package to resolve this.

OVERVIEW

Playtime Tracking

HackerOS Games records how long you have played each game, similar to Steam's playtime feature.

How It Works

When you click Launch Game, a session timer starts in the launcher frontend.
Every 15 seconds, elapsed time is flushed to the Rust backend via a Tauri IPC call (record_playtime).
The backend appends the delta to a persistent JSON file at ~/.hackeros-games/playtime.json.
An additional flush occurs when the launcher window loses focus or is closed.

Data Stored

Field	Type	Description
game_id	string	Internal game identifier
total_seconds	u64	Cumulative play time in seconds
last_played	u64	Unix timestamp of last session
sessions	u32	Number of times launched

Resetting Playtime

To reset playtime data for all games, delete the file:

rm ~/.hackeros-games/playtime.json

OVERVIEW

Settings

The Settings tab allows per-game launch configuration. Select a game from the left sidebar, adjust options and click Save.

Available Options

Option	Values	Description
Fullscreen	Off / On	Passes --fullscreen flag when launching the game.
Resolution	1280×720 to 3840×2160	Target resolution. Support depends on each game's own implementation.
Volume	0% – 100%	Master volume level. Passed as metadata; game must support it.

Settings are saved to ~/.hackeros-games/settings.json and applied on the next game launch. Not all games honour every flag.

Reset to Defaults

Click the Reset button on any game's settings panel, or delete the settings file:

rm ~/.hackeros-games/settings.json

OVERVIEW

Addons

The Addons section is reserved for expansion content that extends HackerOS games with new levels, features or assets.

Coming Soon. The Addons store and download infrastructure are under development and will be available in a future HackerOS Games update.

Planned Addons

Addon	Target Game	Status
Extended Waves	Starblaster	In Dev
Campaign Mode	Bark Squadron	In Dev
World 2	Bit Jump	In Dev
2027 Season Pack	The Racer	In Dev

GAME

The Racer

Genre Management / Simulation

Engine Rust + macroquad

Version 1.0.0

A motorsport management simulator where you build a racing team from the ground up and compete across five major racing series.

Racing Series

Series	Rounds	Highlights
Formula 1 2026	24	Full 2026 calendar, hybrid power units, pit stops
IndyCar	17	Oval + road courses, high speed, Indy 500
Formula E	16	Electric, no pit stops, attack mode strategy
WEC	8	Endurance racing, Le Mans, multi-hour stints
GT3	12	Production-based cars, pro-am grid

Game Mechanics

Drivers

Hire and manage two drivers with individual stats: Pace, Consistency, Wet Skill, Tire Management, Experience and Morale.

Car Development

Invest in R&D projects across five areas: Chassis, Engine, Reliability, Tire Degradation and Pit Speed. Each takes several races to complete.

Pit Strategy

Choose tire compound (Soft/Medium/Hard/Inter/Wet) and pit lap for each driver. Wet conditions make compound choice critical.

Track Map

Visual map of every circuit with accurate outlines. Shows S/F line, pit entry, and post-race results per round.

Navigation

Tab	Function
Dashboard	Season overview, next race info, recent results
Roster	Driver stats, contracts, morale
Car Dev	R&D project management, car stats
Standings	Full constructor standings with points bar
Track Map	Circuit selector with SVG track outlines
Next Race	Opens race weekend: practice, qualifying, strategy, race

Save / Load

Progress is auto-saved after each race to the-racer-save.json in the working directory. Use Continue from the main menu to resume.

GAME

Cosmonaut

Genre Strategy / Exploration

Engine Odin + Raylib

Version 0.1.0 Alpha

Coming Soon

Manage a space agency from the dawn of the Space Race to interplanetary exploration. Inspired by the golden age of NASA.

Starting Eras

Era	Year	Budget	Description
Space Race	1957	$300M	Humble beginnings with Vanguard and Atlas rockets
Apollo Era	1960	$500M	Lunar ambition, improved technology
Shuttle Era	1975	$800M	Reusability focus, larger budgets
Modern Era	1995	$1200M	Advanced technology, commercial partnerships

Mission Types

Orbital Test

Satellite Network

Crewed Orbit

Lunar Flyby

Lunar Orbit

Lunar Landing

Mars Probe

Mars Orbiter

Mars Surface

Asteroid Probe

Space Station

Deep Space

Screens

Screen	Description
Control	Mission Control dashboard with active missions and event log
Rockets	Fleet overview and design lab for new vehicles
Crew	Astronaut corps — stats, status, recruitment
Missions	Mission manifest with filters and flight log per mission
Research	R&D projects across 7 technology areas
Star Map	Interactive Solar System map with exploration status
Base	Facility upgrades: Launch Pads, VAB, Tracking, Lab, Habitat

Controls

Key	Action
Space	Advance one month (when on Dashboard)
Esc	Return to previous screen / Dashboard
Mouse	All navigation and interaction

GAME

Starblaster

Genre Bullet Hell / Shooter

Engine Rust + macroquad

Version 0.6.0

A top-down bullet hell shooter with dynamic difficulty, graze mechanics, combo multipliers and a full save/load system.

Mechanics

Graze System — flying close to enemy bullets without being hit awards score and charges your Ultimate.
Combo Multiplier — consecutive kills increase your score multiplier. Missing or taking a hit resets it.
Heat System — sustained fire overheats your weapons, requiring a cooldown period.
Ultimate Ability — screen-clearing attack charged by combat actions.
Dynamic Difficulty — the Director AI adjusts enemy spawn rates based on your accuracy and health.

Enemy Types

Type	Behaviour
Basic	Slow linear movement, easy to dodge
Fast	High speed, erratic movement
Tank	High HP, absorbs many hits
Shooter	Hovers and fires aimed bursts at the player
Kamikaze	Charges directly at the player on proximity
Asteroid	Fast-falling debris, nearly indestructible

Controls

Key	Action
↑↓←→	Move ship
Space	Fire weapons
L-Shift	Activate Ultimate (when charged)
P	Pause game
S (paused)	Save and exit to menu
L (menu)	Load saved game

GAME

Bark Squadron

Genre Action / Flight

Engine TypeScript + React + Tauri

Version 0.6.0

Physics-based 2D dogfighting game with realistic aerodynamics — gravity, drag, stall speed, afterburners and water interactions.

Physics Model

Gravity & Drag — the aircraft is subject to gravity and air resistance at all times.
Stall Speed — flying too slowly causes the nose to drop and the aircraft to lose control.
Afterburner — thrust boost with visible flame and particle exhaust.
Water Skimming — low-altitude passes create wake mist and spray effects.
Camera Look-ahead — the camera smoothly leads the aircraft based on velocity direction.

Enemy Types

Type	Colour	Description
Grunt	Grey	Standard enemy, moderate speed, tracks player directly
Ace	Black	High speed, predictive AI — leads the player position
Bomber	Green	Very high HP, slow but heavily armed

Controls

Key	Action
↑ / W	Afterburner thrust
← / A	Rotate left
→ / D	Rotate right
Space	Fire cannons
Esc	Pause / unpause

Settings

Difficulty — Easy, Normal, Hard (adjusts enemy count and damage)
Sensitivity — Rotation speed multiplier (0.5 to 2.0)
Particles — Toggle visual effects for performance
High Quality — Water reflections and heat distortion effects

GAME

Bit Jump

Genre Platformer

Engine Lua + LÖVE2D

Version 0.6.0

A Geometry Dash-inspired precision platformer across 8 hand-crafted levels featuring moving platforms, hazards, power-ups and a final boss.

Bit Jump requires LÖVE2D to be installed. On HackerOS it is launched automatically via love /path/to/bit-jump.love.

Game Modes

Mode	Description
Normal	Complete 8 levels in sequence. 3 lives.
Time Attack	Race through levels within a time limit that grows per level.
Endless	Loop through all levels with increasing auto-speed. Score attack.
Practice	Unlimited lives. Learn level layouts without pressure.

Power-Ups

Power-Up	Effect
Invincibility	5 seconds of immunity to all hazards and enemies
Double Jump	Grants one additional mid-air jump
Shield	Absorbs one hit from any hazard
Speed Boost	5 seconds of increased auto-run speed

Hacking Ability

Press H to activate a hack that disables all nearby enemies for 10 seconds. 10-second cooldown. Unlocks the Hacker achievement on first use.

Achievements

Achievement	Condition
Hacker	Use the hack ability for the first time
Data Collector	Collect all data orbs in a single level
Endless Runner	Complete a loop in Endless mode
Game Winner	Complete all 8 levels
Perfect Run	Reach the maximum score multiplier (x5)
Speed Demon	Collect a Speed Boost power-up

TECHNICAL

Architecture

Launcher Stack

HackerOS Games Launcher
├── Frontend  (React 18 + TypeScript)
│   ├── App.tsx              — root, window controls, nav, playtime tracker
│   ├── components/
│   │   ├── GamesSection.tsx — library sidebar + detail panel
│   │   ├── SettingsSection.tsx
│   │   ├── AddonsSection.tsx
│   │   └── ParticlesBackground.tsx
│   ├── constants.ts         — game configs
│   └── types.ts             — shared TypeScript types
│
└── Backend   (Rust + Tauri 2)
    └── src/main.rs
        ├── check_game_exists  — verify binary at expected path
        ├── launch_game        — spawn process + record session
        ├── record_playtime    — append elapsed seconds
        ├── get_all_playtime   — read current stats
        ├── save_game_settings — persist per-game config
        └── get_all_game_settings
        

IPC Commands

Command	Arguments	Returns
check_game_exists	game_id: String	bool
launch_game	game_id: String	Result<bool>
record_playtime	game_id, seconds	Result<()>
get_all_playtime	—	HashMap<String, GamePlaytime>
save_game_settings	game_id, settings	Result<()>
get_all_game_settings	—	HashMap<String, GameSettings>

TECHNICAL

File Paths

Game Binaries

Game	Path
Starblaster	/usr/share/HackerOS/Scripts/HackerOS-Games/starblaster
Bit Jump	/usr/share/HackerOS/Scripts/HackerOS-Games/bit-jump.love
The Racer	/usr/share/HackerOS/Scripts/HackerOS-Games/the-racer
Bark Squadron	/usr/share/HackerOS/Scripts/HackerOS-Games/bark-squadron.AppImage
Cosmonaut	/usr/share/HackerOS/Scripts/HackerOS-Games/cosmonaut

Data Files

File	Contents
~/.hackeros-games/playtime.json	Playtime data for all games
~/.hackeros-games/settings.json	Per-game launch settings
./the-racer-save.json	The Racer season save (working dir)
./cosmonaut_save.json	Cosmonaut agency save (working dir)

Launcher Assets

~/HackerOS-Games/app/
├── images/
│   ├── starblaster.png
│   ├── bit-jump.png
│   ├── the-racer.png
│   ├── bark-squadron.png
│   └── cosmonaut.png
└── src-tauri/
    └── capabilities/
        └── default.json    — Tauri 2 permission grants
        

TECHNICAL

Troubleshooting

Game shows "NOT INSTALLED"

The launcher cannot find the game binary at its expected path. Verify the file exists:

ls /usr/share/HackerOS/Scripts/HackerOS-Games/

If missing, reinstall the relevant HackerOS game package.

Window controls don't work (minimize / maximize / close)

Ensure the Tauri capabilities file grants window permissions:

cat ~/HackerOS-Games/app/src-tauri/capabilities/default.json

It must include core:window:allow-minimize, core:window:allow-toggle-maximize and core:window:allow-close.

Playtime not updating

Playtime syncs to disk every 15 seconds and on window blur/close. If you force-kill the launcher, the last 15s may not be saved. Check:

cat ~/.hackeros-games/playtime.json

Bit Jump won't launch

Bit Jump requires LÖVE2D. Install it:

sudo apt install love

Bark Squadron AppImage won't launch

The launcher auto-sets executable permissions on AppImages. If it still fails:

chmod +x /usr/share/HackerOS/Scripts/HackerOS-Games/bark-squadron.AppImage

Build errors on npm run tauri build

Ensure all Tauri 2 dependencies are installed:

npm install @tauri-apps/api@^2 @tauri-apps/plugin-shell@^2
npm install -D @tauri-apps/cli@^2