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Getting Started

What this game is

HackerWars drops you into a fictional internet: a sprawl of servers you reach by their IP address. Some belong to companies and other NPCs. Some belong to real players logged in around the world. Almost any of them can be broken into if your software is sharp enough. And so can yours, by anyone who out-guns your defenses.

You start with a single computer and do what a hacker does. Break into servers and upload and install viruses that quietly earn money and Bitcoin while you're away. Run missions for bigger, one-off payouts. Build a botnet from the machines you've cracked and turn it on someone's server to knock it offline. Everything you earn goes back into better hardware and stronger software, because the player who out-researches the field becomes almost untouchable. The endgame is the NSA: out-grow everyone, break in, and doom the internet to win the round.

The interface (your sidebar)

Everything lives in the left menu of the game. The ones you'll use constantly:

  • Internet — visit any IP to hack it or log in.
  • Software — your files: viruses, crackers, hashers, firewalls, antivirus.
  • Task Manager — your running jobs: hacks, installs, research, log edits.
  • Hardware — the shop: CPU, HDD, RAM, and internet upgrades.
  • University — where you research software to higher versions.
  • Finances — your bank accounts.
  • Hacked Database — every server you've cracked, and where you collect money.
  • Log File — your own logs, the ones to keep clean.
Your first moves
  1. Open a bank account. You start with no account. Visit a bank's IP from the Finances or Internet pages and open one, so you have somewhere to put your money.
  2. Grab free software. The first Whois page lives at the permanent IP 1.2.3.4 and links to the Download Center. Log in there with download / download. It's the one server in the game with no logs, so it's safe to grab and share software anonymously.
  3. Make your first hack. Pick an IP, crack in, and drop a virus. (Full walkthrough: Hacking 101.)
  4. Collect. Once your viruses have earned for a while, go to Hacked Database → Collect Money, pick a bank account, and sweep it all at once.
⚠️
Everything resets each round. When a round ends, all hardware, money, software, and IPs reset to baseline (you restart with a small Bitcoin stake). Reputation and badges are tracked in the rankings, but your stuff is wiped. Don't get too attached to a setup.
🐧
Mushi's tipComplete the initial tutorial missions to get a feel for the game mechanics and earn some starting funds. As you gain enough money, complete the Certifications in the University tab.
>_ Mushi's Guide to Hackerwars.io · written by a player, for players