u/xav77

Playable, free, no signup: https://chronos-game.com

I built a terminal escape room where each level drops you onto a real machine from its era and you have to actually operate it, period-accurate, not a fake interface:

• 1977: a PDP-11/45 on Unix V6, edit a backdoor in `ed`, recompile with `cc`, recover blue-box MF tones
• 1983: an Apple ][ dialing a CBBS-style board,
• 1988: a 4.3 BSD uunet box, `uudecode` a sanitized Morris-worm post
• 1995: a Linux 1.2 web server browsed in lynx, a CGI exploit
• 2008: Windows 2000, an SQL-injection console
• (and on into the present)

What you recover on one machine carries to the next, so it's one continuous history, not seven mini-games. CRT visuals, 9600-baud feel, runs in any browser, free, no signup.

I'm the solo dev. Sharing here because the period accuracy is the whole point and this is the crowd that'd actually notice. Keen to hear where the era details ring true or don't.

Playable Link: https://chronos-game.com

Platform: Browser (desktop & mobile) — runs in any modern browser, no install or signup

Description: You wake up locked in an isolation chamber in 2026 with one terminal and a 60-minute purge timer counting down. To get out, you don't play a computer — you operate real ones, era by era. You'll work a series of real, half-forgotten machines — the genuine tools, not stand-ins — pressing each to give up a secret it was never meant to reveal. Each era hands you an artifact that unlocks the next — the past literally reaches forward into the future. It's terminal-native and period-accurate, with CRT visuals and synth audio. There are multiple endings depending on how you play — and what you figure out. A full run is about 45–75 minutes. I'd love feedback on where you got stuck, whether the in-game hints landed, whether you reached an ending, and any bugs — there's a "Tell the maker" button on the end screen.

Free to Play Status:

• [X] Free to play

Involvement: Solo developer — I designed and built the entire thing: the engine, all the era content and puzzles, the writing, the audio, and the deployment. CHRONOS is my project; this is its first public beta and I'm looking for honest playtest feedback.

Playable Link: https://chronos-game.com

Platform: Browser (desktop & mobile) — runs in any modern browser, no install or signup

Description: You wake up locked in an isolation chamber in 2026 with one terminal and a 60-minute purge timer counting down. To get out, you don't play a computer — you operate real ones, era by era. You'll work a series of real, half-forgotten machines — the genuine tools, not stand-ins — pressing each to give up a secret it was never meant to reveal. Each era hands you an artifact that unlocks the next — the past literally reaches forward into the future. It's terminal-native and period-accurate, with CRT visuals and synth audio. There are multiple endings depending on how you play — and what you figure out. A full run is about 45–75 minutes. I'd love feedback on where you got stuck, whether the in-game hints landed, whether you reached an ending, and any bugs — there's a "Tell the maker" button on the end screen.

Free to Play Status:

• [X] Free to play
• [ ] Demo/Key available
• [ ] Paid (Allowed only on Tuesdays with [TT] in the title)

Involvement: Solo developer — I designed and built the entire thing: the engine, all the era content and puzzles, the writing, the audio, and the deployment. CHRONOS is my project; this is its first public beta and I'm looking for honest playtest feedback.