Hacknet

I'd recommend this game - but you should ready below!

I'd like to address the most common question I see floating around first. YES, you absolutely can play this game without any knowledge of cybersecurity, programming, coding languages, etc. The tutorial is short but good IMO - watching a few videos online can be helpful but it's optional.
You basically run the same loop of commands the entire game, it just get more complicated as you go - but the foundation is the same.

With that out of the way, let's address the elephant in the room.
IF YOU HAVE A MAC RUNNING ON M CHIPS - DO NOT BUY!

Unfortunately, this game does not perform will on MacOS with M chips. I have a M3 Pro and the game crashes randomly every 2 - 10 minutes. And this is a real shame.
I have tried joining the official discord to speak to the developer, but it's pretty clear that the game has been abandoned.

If you are running on Windows, then this is a gem of a game and you should definitely buy it. I never knew these kind of games could be so much fun.
If you are a Mac user, don't waste your money :(

The game where you pretend to be a cyberpunk keyboard god, tapping out “ls” and “cd ..” like you're slicing through the Matrix. It's not real hacking, unless you think Hollywood got it right in Swordfish. Inaccurate? Absolutely. Fun? Weirdly, yes. It's like cosplay for your inner nerd.

If you are even slightly contemplating trying this game out, read this!!!
This game, to me, was an absolute MASTERPIECE from start to finish. As someone who is pretty much compsci inept, bar the obligatory "hello world" Python script, this game absolutely hooked me in from the first contract. The tools used within the game are explained perfectly and are not complex; even someone like me felt like the typical underground hacker featured in a 90s movie, typing across 5 different keyboards after 30 minutes of solid gameplay. Once you've used the mechanics a couple of times, it becomes second nature to know when to use them and why. After that, you pick up on the subtle ways to sequence your commands to absolutely speedrun other systems. IMO it's even cooler that it teaches you actual Linux commands (from someone who's never gone near that OS, I had a little giddy moment when I realised that).
The base game features an excellent storyline that evoked real emotion upon completion. I was immersed to the point of feeling the relief, satisfaction, pride, and bittersweetness provoked by how this game concludes Bit's chapter.
An immense thank you to the dev team for making me fall in love with a game so out of my normal genres. Hacknet was an experience. One that I will want to replay again and again if only to hear that ending clip once more. It's insane to think something released just over a decade ago holds up so incredibly well today. The hard work put into every moment of this title, truly, still shines through today.
Anyone scrolling through reviews contemplating it, BUY IT! You will NOT regret it
- X   

Note: I am biased because of the nature of my job. While not related to IT Security, it involves technical troubleshooting / problem solving and all kind of investigations. Basically, less fun version of Hacknet.
Accurate Hacking Simulator?
I was not exposed to a lot of hacking in games, maybe just a bit in Sleeping Dogs, or Cyberpunk 2077. While other games focus purely on hacking vibes, those tend to ignore the actual process. And Hacknet pays much more attention to the realistic aspect of the game.
Of course, to me it looks like huge oversimplification, but that was made as a game, right? It was made to be simple, fun and accessible. And it never felt like I am working, it felt like I am playing a game and having a good time. So while not being accurate, it nails the realistic hacking experience to enough extent.
Handholding or Exploration?
The first 60% to 70% percent of the game felt like a tutorial. Fun, with a lot of stories and action, but with a huge sense that I am playing in a sandbox. Everything is pretty safe, and you get what you need to do right from the email, so you need to execute specific steps without much investigation. Yes, you need to look for something specific, but it is usually very algorithmic and follows the same steps.
So, this feels like handholding to me, and having to "detective" part to it, where you just don't know where to look at and have to think and explore.
But! There are endgame quests, such as the main story line or Project Junebug quest. Those actually did things perfectly as I have wanted. There is more to reading, investigating, searching and connecting pieces of information together. This was perfect.
Example: usually it would be "find a (file / password / IP) or edit / remove something. Here is the server.". That is straightforward.
Project Junebug: Here is the name of the person. Kill him.
You see what I mean? That is perfect example of what I wanted this game to be. And it eventually has things that appeal to me! So, overall, great experience. Right?
A bit of so-so moments
Just one. The game has netMap, a graph that displays the machines you have connected to. And the graph grows, and there is less and less space, it all becomes cluttered at some point. And there is no way to clean it up, resize, organize or alter. And this is sad a bit, because the missions that I liked involve a lot of research, but the research progress was hevily impacted by overall messy navigation system.
But it's a minor thing. What else?
The Easter Eggs and Secrets
While the big part of the game feels like a tutorial, it has a lot of things to explore. Jokes and memes, hidden quests with high rewards - it's all there. So if you want, you can take much more from the game than it offers at a first sight.
Like in some RPGs you can even get overpowered pretty early - if you follow some clues in the game, you can get CLOCK.EXE, which makes game itself hacked. Things that are hidden and require exploration definitely cool here.
The Music
I pay a lot of attention to game OSTs, it makes me love the game more if the music resonates with me. And back in 2017 when I have bought the game, I learned about Hacknet from Remi (The Algorithm) - one of the musicians behind the OST, and I bought it. So, to me the OST is perfectly fitting the game. Just very neat, I thought. Until the final mission.
I have three examples of getting goosebumps from the music in the game:
1. One optional boss fight in Baldur's Gate 3
2. Expedition 33 in various places.
And... Yeah, the final mission of Hacknet! Putting Carpenter Brut's Roller Mobster, one of my favorite synthwave / darksynth tracks ever made me freeze for a minute in awe. And then realize that time is ticking and I need to do everything fast. Perfect sense of adrenaline. Great choice for OST!
Really solid hacking-lite experience
Overall, I liked this game. Relatively short, but never gets dull. And I have not even touched the DLC yet - and it has 97% positive rating! So, while the main game is over for me, I will get to Labyrinths in future to feel this enjoyment again.

---{ Graphics }---
☐ You forget what reality is
☐ Beautiful
☐ Good
☐ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☑ MS-DOS
---{ Gameplay }---
☐ Very good
☐ Good
☑ It's just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't
---{ Audio }---
☐ Eargasm
☑ Very good
☐ Good
☐ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ I'm now deaf
---{ Audience }---
☐ Kids
☑ Teens
☑ Adults
☐ Grandma
---{ PC Requirements }---
☑ Check if you can run paint
☐ Potato
☐ Decent
☐ Fast
☐ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer
---{ Difficulty }---
☐ Just press 'W'
☐ Easy
☐ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☑ Significant brain usage
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls
---{ Grind }---
☐ Nothing to grind
☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks
☑ Isn't necessary to progress
☐ Average grind level
☐ Too much grind
☐ You'll need a second life for grinding
---{ Story }---
☐ No Story
☐ Some lore
☐ Average
☐ Good
☑ Lovely
☐ It'll replace your life
---{ Game Time }---
☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee
☐ Short
☐ Average
☑ Long
☑ Very Long - with Labyrinths
☐ To infinity and beyond
---{ Price }---
☐ It's free!
☑ Worth the price
☐ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money
---{ Bugs }---
☑ Never heard of
☐ Minor bugs
☐ Can get annoying
☐ ARK: Survival Evolved
☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs
---{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 1
☐ 2
☐ 3
☐ 4
☐ 5
☐ 6
☐ 7
☑ 8
☐ 9
☐ 10

BUY THIS GAME!!! YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT!!! BUY THIS *AND* THE LABYRINTHS DLC!!!
I would hardly call this a game as it is more of an experience and a ABSOLUTELY AMAZING ONE at that!
Listen... you are going to start out knowing NOTHING. Over time, you will learn how to navigate systems and implement your tools to get into systems. But there is SO MUCH MORE to this game than that! You start to intuit how things work and what to do, even when no one is holding your hand and spoon-feeding you directions. You will make discoveries and piece together stories and relationships. You start digging on your own with NO ONE telling you to. There are moments where you are going to be STRESSED OUT! LOL It's absolutely wonderful how immersed you get in this work of art.
Remember in Skyrim, where if you read the books that you find, even if they don't trigger a quest, they actually HAVE quests in them? Remember how awesome it felt to figure it out all on your own and reap the rewards of your mental efforts? THIS GAME is like that ALL THE TIME!!!
I will admit... there were parts of this game where my eyes teared up, partly because I realized what was going on, partly because I realized what I was capable of, and partly because there wasn't more when I beat the game... but there IS more: Extensions.
HackNet Extensions allows YOU, the player, to design and build your OWN missions/quests and share them! Now YOU can be the one to create experiences for OTHERS to have.
This game... is one of the COOLEST games I have EVER played. If you don't buy it, you are robbing yourself and missing out on something AWESOME.
run TraceKill.exe

the perfect game to get stuck trying to get a single file to open in the tutorial when you know nothing about programming.