Rustnake

Classic Snake for the terminal, built in Rust.

Install and Update

Recommended for most users: Cargo install (cross-platform).

Install:

cargo install rustnake --locked
rustnake

Update:

cargo install rustnake --locked --force

--locked keeps dependency resolution reproducible.

Binary Support Tiers

• Tiers apply to prebuilt binaries only. Cargo install is cross-platform and outside tier classification.
• Tier 1: Linux (x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu) with maintainer testing (Arch/Fedora) plus CI validation.
• Tier 2: macOS and Windows convenience binaries, validated in CI only (no maintainer manual testing).

Binary Trust Policy

• macOS/Windows binaries are intentionally unsigned as project policy.
• On first run, macOS may show Gatekeeper prompts and Windows may show SmartScreen prompts.
• No signing/notarization rollout is currently planned.

Binary Install and Update

Linux (Tier 1)

Install (release binary):

curl -fL https://github.com/MiguelRegueiro/rustnake/releases/latest/download/rustnake-linux-x86_64 -o rustnake-linux-x86_64
curl -fL https://github.com/MiguelRegueiro/rustnake/releases/latest/download/rustnake-linux-x86_64.sha256 -o rustnake-linux-x86_64.sha256
sha256sum -c rustnake-linux-x86_64.sha256
chmod +x rustnake-linux-x86_64
./rustnake-linux-x86_64

Update (release binary):

curl -fL https://github.com/MiguelRegueiro/rustnake/releases/latest/download/rustnake-linux-x86_64 -o rustnake-linux-x86_64
curl -fL https://github.com/MiguelRegueiro/rustnake/releases/latest/download/rustnake-linux-x86_64.sha256 -o rustnake-linux-x86_64.sha256
sha256sum -c rustnake-linux-x86_64.sha256
chmod +x rustnake-linux-x86_64

macOS (Tier 2)

Install or update (system-wide):

curl -fL https://github.com/MiguelRegueiro/rustnake/releases/latest/download/rustnake-macos-universal2 -o rustnake-macos-universal2
curl -fL https://github.com/MiguelRegueiro/rustnake/releases/latest/download/rustnake-macos-universal2.sha256 -o rustnake-macos-universal2.sha256
shasum -a 256 -c rustnake-macos-universal2.sha256
chmod +x rustnake-macos-universal2
sudo install -m 755 rustnake-macos-universal2 /usr/local/bin/rustnake

Run (and launch later):

rustnake

Install or update (no sudo, user-only):

mkdir -p "$HOME/.local/bin"
install -m 755 rustnake-macos-universal2 "$HOME/.local/bin/rustnake"
"$HOME/.local/bin/rustnake"

On unsigned binaries, macOS may ask for confirmation in Privacy & Security on first run. If blocked: open System Settings -> Privacy & Security and choose Open Anyway.

Windows (Tier 2)

Install or update (PowerShell):

$InstallDir = Join-Path $env:LOCALAPPDATA "Rustnake"
$ExePath = Join-Path $InstallDir "rustnake.exe"
$ChecksumPath = Join-Path $InstallDir "rustnake-windows-x86_64.exe.sha256"
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path $InstallDir | Out-Null
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://github.com/MiguelRegueiro/rustnake/releases/latest/download/rustnake-windows-x86_64.exe" -OutFile $ExePath
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://github.com/MiguelRegueiro/rustnake/releases/latest/download/rustnake-windows-x86_64.exe.sha256" -OutFile $ChecksumPath
$expectedHash = ((Get-Content $ChecksumPath -Raw).Trim() -split '\s+')[0].ToLowerInvariant()
$actualHash = (Get-FileHash -Algorithm SHA256 -Path $ExePath).Hash.ToLowerInvariant()
if ($actualHash -ne $expectedHash) { throw "Checksum mismatch for rustnake.exe" }

Run (and launch later):

& (Join-Path $env:LOCALAPPDATA "Rustnake\rustnake.exe")

On unsigned binaries, Windows may show a SmartScreen prompt on first run. If prompted: click More info then Run anyway.

Uninstall

Cargo (all platforms):

cargo uninstall rustnake

Linux binary:

rm -f ./rustnake-linux-x86_64 ./rustnake-linux-x86_64.sha256

macOS binary:

sudo rm -f /usr/local/bin/rustnake
rm -f "$HOME/.local/bin/rustnake"

Windows binary (PowerShell):

Remove-Item -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue (Join-Path $env:LOCALAPPDATA "Rustnake\rustnake.exe")
Remove-Item -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue (Join-Path $env:LOCALAPPDATA "Rustnake\rustnake-windows-x86_64.exe.sha256")

Build from source

git clone https://github.com/MiguelRegueiro/rustnake.git
cd rustnake
cargo build --release --locked
cargo run --release --locked

Optional helper script:

./run.sh           # release mode (default)
./run.sh --dev     # debug mode
./run.sh --help

Gameplay

Action	Key
Move	WASD or Arrow Keys
Pause	P
Mute	M
Confirm menu option	ENTER or SPACE
Select menu option directly	1-6
Quit	Q

Features

• Wrap-around movement (Nokia style).
• Four difficulty levels: Easy, Medium, Hard, Extreme.
• Power-ups for speed, score, and size effects.
• Dynamic pace scaling by score and difficulty.
• Per-difficulty high scores.
• Localized UI: en, es, ja, pt, zh.
• Responsive layout with terminal resize support.

Requirements

• Rust 1.85+ (Edition 2024) for source builds.
• Primary tested target: Linux x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.
• Terminal with Unicode font support and ANSI escape sequence support.

Configuration and Data

Config file locations:

• Linux: ~/.rustnake.toml
• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Rustnake/config.toml
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Rustnake\config.toml
• Fallback: ./.rustnake.toml (if platform/user env vars are unavailable)

Persisted data includes:

• high_scores by difficulty
• user settings (language, pause on focus loss, sound, default difficulty)
• config_version for migration handling

High scores and settings persist across binary replacements/updates.

Development

cargo fmt --all --check
cargo check --all-targets --all-features --locked
cargo clippy --all-targets --all-features --locked -- -D warnings
cargo test --all-targets --all-features --locked

Maintainer release process: RELEASING.md

Troubleshooting

• Terminal too small: resize until the warning clears (minimum baseline 40x25; some languages require wider terminals).
• Display artifacts after resize: resize once more to force a full redraw.
• Missing bell/sound cue: terminal bell may be disabled by local settings.

Changelog

CHANGELOG.md

License

MIT. See LICENSE.