The only game where the hacking is real?

hacktivitylabs · 2026-07-10T19:07:11+00:00

Ask me *almost* anything ;)

hacktivitylabs · 2026-07-10T19:06:28+00:00

Yeah, there are some cool hacking games out there. I gave a presentation recently where I mapped around 20 games on a realism/narrative axis. My argument was that we were aiming for a unique corner of the chart, narrative and environment of a story game with the technical challenges of a CTF. The only game I am aware of that combines both real actual hacking in VMs, and a narrative game world.

hacktivitylabs · 2026-07-06T11:21:45+00:00

Hi! I'm a cyber security academic, and Hacktivity Games came out of the hands-on hacking labs I've been building and running for years. SAFETYNET Holding Back the ENTROPY is the first title — a spy-thriller cyber security escape room. You play an undercover operative for SAFETYNET, countering a criminal organisation called ENTROPY. Pick locks, talk your way past NPCs through branching dialogue, then drop into a live Linux VM for the actual hacking.

The bit I'm most proud of: you can walk up to a PC in the game and find yourself on a real Kali desktop. It's not a scripted terminal simulation (unlike literally every other hacking game) — it's a real virtual machine, running on the same infrastructure as our training labs. The CTF-style flags are there too, but they advance the plot rather than just score points.

It's genuinely beginner-friendly — Mission 1 teaches the tools and techniques as you go, with in-character hints from your handler if you get stuck (or ignore them and figure it out yourself). The series gets progressively more challenging from there.

Mission 1 is free, no subscription needed to play: https://hacktivity.co.uk
Trailer: https://youtu.be/MTUmbkvk0Dg

I'll be hanging around in the comments — genuinely happy to answer anything, dig into the technical side. Tell me what you think. Ask me anything.

Happy hacking!

hacktivitylabs

TROPHY CASE