Hacking

The hacking minigame in action.

A hacking prompt showing 2 layers at a difficulty of 3.

Hacking is a minigame that consists of a series of extremely short and simple games. In the context of a run, hacking can be used to win items at arcades, open certain doors, and gain other benefits. When the player approaches something that can be hacked, a prompt will appear showing the difficulty, the number of layers (how many minigames must be completed), and the results of succeeding or failing the hack. If the player completes every layer, then the hack succeeds, but if they lose even a single one, the hack attempt fails and ends immediately. The minigames themselves involve moving a pixelated ship around a 5x5 grid to complete an objective shown at the top of the screen such as "Collect!" or "Survive!". The player is only given a few seconds to complete the objective, indicated by the depleting red border around the edge of the screen.

Uses

These are all the places the hacking minigame can be played during a run. Aside from these, there is also a hacking terminal in the Tutorial, and the Rad Sentinel NPC in the Hub that allows for practicing the hacking minigames.

Arcades

A create.reward() arcade terminal.

Arcades are special rooms with terminals that can be hacked for various rewards. There are 3 types of arcade terminals, listed below.

Create.Reward()

This type of terminal costs debris to hack, and dispenses a random pickup for each successful hack. There is no direct penalty for failure, but the player has a limited number of attempts to hack it, shown on the "on_failure" line of the prompt. This number decreases for successful or failed hacks, so failure means losing the spent debris and a potential reward. The price and difficulty increase with each floor, but the number of layers is always 2-3.

Item.Upgrade()

These terminals start out with a pickup already available to take, but by hacking the terminal, the pickup can be upgraded. After each successful hack, the item is replaced with a slightly better one. Once the item is taken, the terminal screen goes black and can no longer be hacked. Hacking the terminal costs debris, but it can be hacked any number of times with no penalty (other than the lost debris). The starting price increases with each floor and is also increased by 20% (multiplicative) every time the pickup is upgraded. Each hack only has 1 layer, but the difficulty level increases with each success.

There are a number of pre-determined "paths" that the item can take as it's upgraded, always starting with either 1 HP part or 5% max ammo and ending with a cartridge, after which every upgrade simply changes which cartridge it is.

Path	Item 1	Item 2	Item 3	Item 4	Item 5	Item 6+
HP	1 HP Part	2 HP Parts	1 HP	2 HP	3 HP	Cartridge
Max HP	1 HP Part	2 HP Parts	1 HP	Max HP	3 HP	Cartridge
Shield	1 HP Part	Shield	2 HP	3 HP	Cartridge	Cartridge
Shield/Max HP	1 HP Part	Shield	Max HP	3 HP	Cartridge	Cartridge
Bombs	1 HP Part	1 Bomb	2 Bombs	Cartridge	Cartridge	Cartridge
Power Bomb	1 HP Part	1 Bomb	Power Bomb	Cartridge	Cartridge	Cartridge
Ammo	5% Max Ammo	20% Ammo	50% Ammo	100% Ammo	Cartridge	Cartridge
Max Ammo	5% Max Ammo	20% Ammo	50% Ammo	20% Max Ammo	Cartridge	Cartridge
Damage	5% Max Ammo	20% Ammo	50% Ammo	5% Damage Up	10% Damage Up	Cartridge
Weapon	5% Max Ammo	20% Ammo	50% Ammo	Weapon (2 Keywords)	Unique Weapon	Cartridge

Collect()

Collect() terminals have a special hacking game where the player collects as many items as they can within the time limit. This terminal doesn't cost any debris to hack and doesn't have any penalty for failing, but it can only be hacked once. Most of the collectable items are diamonds worth 50*(floor number) debris, but there are also hearts that heal 1 HP (or an HP part if full), and ammo pickups that restore 10% ammo.

Hackable Doors

A hackable door.

Some Vaults are locked behind an electronic door that can only be opened by successfully hacking it. This can be attempted any number of times, but every failure results in taking damage. The difficulty level and number of layers increases with each floor, and on later floors, these can be some of the hardest hacking challenges in the game.

Plug

The Plug cartridge allows for hacking weapon troves, upgrade terminals, and shops for varying effects. Hacking with Plug always has 2 layers, a difficulty level of 3, and a penalty of taking damage. Successfully hacking weapon troves and upgrade terminals results in more weapons/upgrades to choose from, while hacking shops lowers their prices.

Types of Minigames

Name	Description	Video
Collect!	A number of blue coins appear in one of many predetermined layouts. The player must collect all of the coins within the time limit, while also avoiding any hazards. It's possible (and sometimes required) to wrap around the screen to collect coins faster. Higher difficulty lowers the time limit.
Navigate!	The player must navigate a short maze of ghosts to reach a blue coin at the end. The ghosts are only visible when the player is near them, so the correct path is not immediately clear. Screen wrapping is not possible. Higher difficulty lowers the time limit.
Firewall!	The player must carefully navigate 3 rows of fireballs to reach a blue coin on the other side. Each row has 2 fireballs that slowly move across the screen and wrap around it when they reach the edge. The player cannot wrap around the screen, as this would trivialize the layer. Higher difficulty lowers the time limit and makes the fireballs faster.
Survive!	The player must survive waves of explosions until time runs out. In each wave, 13 spaces are marked by warning signs and explode soon after. The player loses if they're still on a space when it explodes. Screen wrapping is possible, though not particularly useful. Higher difficulty increases the number and speed of the waves.
Block!	The player is locked to the center of the screen, and must use a shield to block incoming bullets until time runs out. The ship cannot move in this layer; instead, the movement controls are used to change which direction the shield is facing. Higher difficulty increases the frequency of the bullets.
Pick!	Two rows of blocks surround the player and slowly cycle across the screen, some with blue coins and the rest with skulls. The player must touch all the blocks with coins while taking care to not touch the skulls. The player can move parallel to the blocks and even wrap around the screen, though this isn't strictly necessary. Higher difficulty lowers the time limit and makes the blocks move faster.
Pick Highest/Lowest!	Eight two-digit numbers appear in a ring, and the player must touch either the highest or lowest number, depending on what the instruction says. This is also indicated by the color of the numbers; if all the numbers are green, then the highest needs to be picked, and if they're red, it's the lowest. Picking the wrong number results in a loss. Higher difficulty lowers the time limit.

Notes

• During the hacking minigame, the game window changes its name to one of the following: "EternalWare Inc.", "Enter the Void Gate", "Star Shock 3", "ProvidenceOS", "Mono****," or "Providence Ultra Super Turbo Deluxe".

Star of Providence
Basic Mechanics	Weapons	Pickups	Cartridges	Ships
Unlockables	Achievements	Rooms	Shops	Floors
Upgrades	Enemies	Minibosses	Bosses	Jukebox