History Main / HackingMinigame

* ''VideoGame/StarTrekEliteForceII'' has several moments where your character needs to reroute power within a computer system; this is accomplished by a modified version of the old computer game ''Pipe Dream'', where the goal is to rotate "pipes" in order to connect identically-colored starting and ending points without hitting a block or crossing circuits.

** ''VideoGame/Fallout3'''s Mastermind-reminiscent hacking minigame has you guess a password by searching through raw data and selecting key words. Four incorrect entries get you locked out, resulting in the terminal info being {{Permanently Missable|Content}} unless someone else has the code. [[GoodBadBugs Unless you quit after three failed attempts and come back, which resets the puzzle and the counter and allows you effectively infinite attempts to hack a computer terminal.]] This system was brought back in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' and ''VideoGame/Fallout4'', though the latter [[AntiFrustrationFeatures reduced the failure penalty from a permanent lockout to just one minute]].

* ''VideoGame/TheJourneyManProject'' has you play a form of Mastermind to disarm the bomb planted in the Mars Colony Shield Generator.

* Rival company patrol bots in ''VideoGame/DeepRockGalactic'' have a chance of being disabled instead of exploding when you kill them, disabled bots can be approached and hacked by completing a timing minigame, but the hacking does leave the player vulnerable to attack while in progress.

* ''Franchise/{{LEGO}} Spybotics: The Nightfall Incident'' is an entire game focused around this, represented by "data battles".

[[folder:Adventure Game]]
* ''VideoGame/TheJourneyManProject'' has you play a form of Mastermind to disarm the bomb planted in the Mars Colony Shield Generator.
* Justified in ''VideoGame/DreamfallTheLongestJourney'' - Olivia de Marcos gives Zöe software that she routinely uses to hack. Her explanation as to this useful software is that if someone comes across her and sees her phone screen, it'll look more like she's playing a game.
* In ''VideoGame/Code7'' you play as a hacker, so there's quite a few of these. They're based on [[TruthInTelevision real hacking procedures]] (man-in-the-middle attack, brute-force attack, network jamming, etc.), but simplified [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality so they're fun and not too complicated]].
[[/folder]]

* In ''VideoGame/MySims Agents'', hacking involves moving the pointer through a scrolling maze under a time limit. And you have to stay on the lit path, which often changes when you pass through certain icons.

* In the ''Film/BatmanBegins'' game, you hack into systems by clicking on 1s and avoiding 0s. There's also an electronic-lockpick minigame, where you just need to click on the wards when they reach the grooves.
* The ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries'' games have a device that you primarily use to hack open locked doors, using the control sticks to find the correct frequency/password. Whilst not necessarily a minigame, it does require a bit of skill to use correctly. However, the UsefulNotes/WiiU rerelease of ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'' has the hacking as a full-fledged minigame, requiring the player to mend circuits with their fingers whilst avoiding obstacles.
* ''VideoGame/BatmanVengeance'' has a "connect the nodes" minigame in which you have to line up wires to get the power going and complete the circuit to open the doors. Uniquely, it takes place on a 3D cube--you have to line 'em up on one side, and then rotate the cube to complete the whole thing.

* ''VideoGame/FromRussiaWithLove'' has a twofold game. The first is a GottaCatchEmAll situation involving "attache cases." Having collected the cases, Bond can unlock them with a "match the symbols on the gamepad" game for extra research points.

[[folder:First Person Shooter]]

* ''VideoGame/StarTrekEliteForce II'' has several moments where your character needs to reroute power within a computer system; this is accomplished by a modified version of the old computer game ''Pipe Dream'', where the goal is to rotate "pipes" in order to connect identically-colored starting and ending points without hitting a block or crossing circuits.

** In ''VideoGame/SystemShock2'' hacking (and modifying, and repairing) involves trying to light up a series of three connected nodes; the results are based pretty much entirely on luck and your character's skill relevant to that task.

* ''VideoGame/Jak3Wastelander:'' Daxter gets [[DigitizedHacker jacked]] in to a security program where he has to eat all the information Pacman style to lower the defences and release a cypher key.
* ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'' has different versions for different parts of the series.
* ''VideoGame/{{Saira}}'' has a number of hacking minigames.
* The ''VideoGame/SlyCooper'' series had several different hacking minigames, more often than not for TheSmartGuy Bentley.

[[folder:Role Playing Game]]

** ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' 's Mastermind-reminiscent hacking minigame has you guess a password by searching through raw data and selecting key words. Four incorrect entries get you locked out, resulting in the terminal info being {{Permanently Missable|Content}} unless someone else has the code. [[GoodBadBugs Unless you quit after three failed attempts and come back, which resets the puzzle and the counter and allows you effectively infinite attempts to hack a computer terminal.]] This system was brought back in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' and ''VideoGame/Fallout4'', though the latter [[AntiFrustrationFeatures reduced the failure penalty from a permanent lockout to just one minute]].

** ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'' lets you hack doors and containers by playing ''{{Simon}}'' in the console version and a ''VideoGame/{{Frogger}}''-like game in the PC version.

* Both the SNES and Genesis adaptations of CyberPunk RPG ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' included these.

[[folder:Stealth Based Game]]

* ''[[VideoGame/{{X}} X3: Terran Conflict]]'' has one as part of the New Home plot. Breaking into the Terraformer CPU ship #efaa requires breaking a four-digit code, then solving a sudoku. The third part is inputting a code you put together from clues throughout the plot.

* ''VideoGame/{{LEGO}} Spybotics: The Nightfall Incident'' is an entire game focused around this, represented by "data battles".
* ''{{VideoGame/Deadnaut}}'' gives operatives with a hacking ability to work against the creatures on board the various GhostShip locations in keeping doors unlocked and turrets on their side.

[[folder:Third Person Shooter]]

[[folder:Wide Open Sandbox]]

* One of the side missions in ''{{VideoGame/Jazzpunk}}'' involves using a pair of augmented reality goggles to grab bits of code with a frog tongue in order to gain a Wi-Fi password.
* [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV Grand Theft Auto Online]] has a couple of these in some early heist missions.

[[folder:Non Video Game Examples]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'': Hacking [[CloneArmy Grineer]] technology involves turning nodes on right as a rapidly spinning cursor passes over them. Hacking [[MegaCorp Corpus]] technology on the other hand involves rotating {{h|ighTechHexagons}}ex tiles so their nodes match up. Both of these can be quickly bypassed using consumable ciphers. Orokin consoles are rare, and typically just use the Corpus minigame, but one story mission had an event where you had to go track down pieces of an Orokin code throughout the level, bring them back to the console, and assemble the code in the right order.

* ''VideoGame/LANMaster'', a [[http://shiru.untergrund.net/software.shtml#nes homebrew NES game,]] is entirely this: rotate the [[VideoGame/PipeMania pipes]] to connect all the computers. Because the author released the game's source code to the public domain, any NES homebrew programmer can use its code to add a hacking minigame. It's also been ported to KDE libraries as [[http://games.kde.org/game.php?game=knetwalk KNetwalk.]]

* HackingMinigame: In his flashback in ''VisualNovel/DaughterForDessert'', the protagonist [[spoiler:hacks into Lainie’s lawyer’s computer to get money after her family cut her off. The minigame revolves around guessing the password.]]

* In the ''Film/BatmanBegins'' game, you hack into systems by clicking on [[ZeroesAndOnes 1s and avoiding 0s]]. There's also an electronic-lockpick minigame, where you just need to click on the wards when they reach the grooves.

** The first game has two different kinds: in the first one the hacking consists of little puzzles; easy to do if the player them self is good at it or gets lucky. The second one is logging into the {{Cyberspace}}, where the game switche to a vertical zero-gravity shooter where the player must navigate the Cyberspace in order to acess closed doors or get passwords, fightig security programs and collecting and using software for special abilities inside the Cyberspace.

* Both ''VideoGame/SystemShock'' games have hacking minigames. In the first game, the hacking consists of little puzzles; easy to do if the player them self is good at it or gets lucky. In the second game hacking (and modifying, and repairing) involves trying to light up a series of three connected nodes; the results are based pretty much entirely on luck and your character's skill relevant to that task.

** ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' 's Mastermind-reminiscent hacking minigame has you guess a password by searching through raw data and selecting key words. Four incorrect entries get you locked out, resulting in the terminal info being {{Permanently Missable|Content}} unless someone else has the code. [[GoodBadBugs Unless you quit after three failed attempts and come back, which resets the puzzle and the counter and allows you effectively infinite attempts to hack a computer terminal.]]

* ''VideoGame/Jak3Wastelander:'' Daxter gets [[DigitizedHacker jacked]] in to a security program where he has to eat all the information Pacman style to lower the defences and release a cypher key.
* ''VideoGame/{{Saira}}'' has a number of hacking minigames.
* ''VideoGame/BionicCommando Rearmed'' features wiretapping, which involves navigating relatively simple 3D block puzzles. Fail, however, and you will get swarmed by guards.

* ''VideoGame/Code7'' has a interesting variation. The actions of the player are all based on actual hacking, the explanations are all based on real hacking. [[ArtisticLicenseEngineering The minigame only makes said hacking a lot faster and simpler]] so a non-hacker is able to pull it off. Until now, the player can do a Man-In-The-Middle Attack, Brute Force Attack and Network Jamming.

* Both ''VideoGame/SystemShock'' games have hacking minigames. In the first game, the hacking consists of little puzzles; easy to do if the player them self is good at it or gets lucky. In the second game hacking (and modifying, and repairing) involves trying to light up a series of three connected nodes; the results are based pretty much entirely on luck and your character's skill relevant to that task.

* ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'' and ''VideoGame/DeusExMankindDivided'' have a hacking game where you capture assorted nodes in a path leading to the registry, before the diagnostic subroutine reaches your I/O port. You can also use single-use virus programs to get in more easily. Although it's possible to find the right codes and username/password combinations in e-mails and pocket secretaries (upon which they will helpfully pop up when you access the corresponding machine), successful hacking brings with it bonuses of EXP, money, and hacking tools, providing an incentive to hack even if you know the codes.
* ''VideoGame/BioShock'':
** ''VideoGame/BioShock1'' lets you hack vending machines to lower their prices or hack bots, turrets, or security cameras to make them fight enemies for you. In it, you complete a very ''VideoGame/PipeDream''-esque minigame.
** In ''VideoGame/BioShock2'', hacking is timing-based, requiring you to make a moving needle land on either a green or blue spot.
** In either game, you can just [[CuttingTheKnot pay a small fee to auto hack it]]. Yes, in this universe you can bribe the machine. That's {{UsefulNotes/Objectivism}} for you!

* The ''Franchise/SlyCooper'' series had several different hacking minigames, more often than not for TheSmartGuy Bentley.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'', hacking [[CloneArmy Grineer]] technology involves turning nodes on right as a rapidly spinning cursor passes over them. Hacking [[MegaCorp Corpus]] technology on the other hand involves rotating {{h|ighTechHexagons}}ex tiles so their nodes match up. Both of these can be quickly bypassed using consumable ciphers.

* ''{{LEGO}} Spybotics: The Nightfall Incident'' is an entire game focused around this, represented by "data battles".

* ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'' has one, involving moving a pointer through a maze. Your "Crack" stat doesn't make hacking attempts any easier unless maxed out, but instead determines the maximum difficulty you're allowed to take on (all mandatory locks are level 1, except for one that's "as hard as you can handle", which has the side-effect of making it easier the lower your Crack stat is).