Closed beta · Windows & macOS

You owe $10,000,000.
The Hive just bought the debt.

Owed: Carapace is a first-person hacking sim. You live in a small flat in Port Kessler, sit down at a real-feeling PC, and work off an impossible debt one contract at a time, for people who know where you sleep.

Ask for a beta invite What is it?

Terminal — Carapace OS

you@home$ sonar halvorsen.net
22/tcp   OpenGate SSH   3.8
25/tcp   PostRelay mail 4.4
443/tcp  Nimbus httpd   2.0.1
you@home$ vulndex nimbus 2.0.1
No known vulnerabilities. This version is patched.
you@home$ intel halvorsen.net
Staff found online: j.lind (payroll), m.okafor (IT admin)
you@home$ ▍
TRACE 12%  ·  the Hive is watching the clock

What you do

Take the job

The Hive’s hidden board hands out contracts: a payroll file, a customer list, a rival’s secrets. Every one pays. Every one costs somebody something.

Think it through

Look before you touch. Find what a server runs, who works there and where they are careless. The tools are invented; the logic is how security really works.

Cover your tracks

Loud tools raise your trace. Hit 100% and the job is dead. Wipe the logs before you leave, or the Hive bills you for the clean-up.

Live with it

Walk your flat, your street and the city. Buy parts, pay the bills, sleep. Your neighbours ask for favours, and some of them notice more than you would like.

Pay on Monday

The weekly payment only goes up. Miss one and the Beekeeper, whose face nobody has seen, comes to talk about it in person.

Choose a side

The police, a rival collective and people who want the Hive burned down all make offers. What you did to earn your money decides who still trusts you.

A puzzle game, not a hacking tool. Everything you break into is made up, and so is every tool, company and person. The game teaches ideas such as looking first, weak passwords and covering tracks. It contains nothing that works on a real computer.

From the current build

The in-game PC desktop with a Terminal window listing commands — Carapace OS: Terminal, mail, a browser, a bank you would rather not open.

A city street at dusk with a lit bakery and café — Port Kessler at dusk. Night Owl Coffee is open late.

An older woman sitting on a park bench — Mrs. Kovač, your landlady, in Kessler Park.

A man sitting at a café table by the window — Mr. Brandt from flat 1A. He keeps notes.

Work in progress. Screenshots are from the test build and will change.

Ask for a beta invite

The beta is small and closed. Testers get a download for Windows or macOS, a short list of things to try, and a direct line to tell us what broke.

Free. No payment details, ever.
Invites go out in small groups, so it may take a while.
Just curious? Pick “I have a question” and ask.

Questions

When can I play?

There is no release date yet. The closed beta is running now with a small group, and invites go out a few at a time.

What does it run on?

Test builds are for Windows and macOS. The full game is planned for PC on Steam.

Does it cost anything?

The beta is free. We will never ask testers for payment details.

Is the hacking real?

No. It is a puzzle simulation over made-up data. The tools, companies, people and groups are all invented, and nothing in the game works on a real system.

Do I need to know how to code?

No. You type short commands, and the game explains each tool the first time you need it. If you can read a hint and think for a minute, you can play.

What do testers do?

Play, and tell us what confused you, what broke and what you enjoyed. There is a “Report a bug” button in the pause menu.

Can I play with a controller?

Walking, looking and driving work on a gamepad, and there is an on-screen keyboard for typing. It is new and needs testing, so a keyboard is still the safer choice.

You owe $10,000,000.The Hive just bought the debt.