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Work · August 10, 2025

Play Pokémon to unlock your Wayland session

Hello everyone! I've created a gameboy emulator to unlock my Wayland session and wanted to share this project to everyone here! I've been a Linux enthusiast since I was a kid. What always captivated me was the freedom to customize my system exactly the way I wanted. With Wayland, we've reached an incredible level of performance. It's like turning your operating system into a video game! I've always been fascinated by the blend of fun and the serious, technical nature of an OS. That’s what inspired me to create this project. I started by studying Wayland, its protocol and how to build a…

Play Pokémon to unlock your Wayland session launched on August 10, 2025 with 124 votes, #291 of 8,530 launches that month and more than 95% of that year's launches. The site was still online in September 2026, 1 year on.

Visit github.com ↗Alternativestop 3% of August 2025

In plain words

This is a Wayland session locker that uses a Game Boy emulator as its authentication mechanism. Instead of entering a password, users must play Pokémon to unlock their Linux desktop session. It combines a functional security tool with retro gaming, appealing to Linux enthusiasts who want to customize their Wayland experience with a playful alternative to traditional login screens.

written from the facts on this page · September 2026

From the sources

Wayland Gameboy locker. Contribute to AdoPi/wlgblock development by creating an account on GitHub.

This project replaces the usual password screen with a Gameboy emulator running a patched Pokémon game! To unlock your session, you have to solve a little challenge, kind of like a mini escape room built into your OS. I've been a Linux enthusiast since I was a kid. What always captivated me was the freedom to customize my system exactly the way I wanted. With Wayland, we've reached an incredible level of performance. It's like turning your operating system into a video game! I've always been fascinated by the blend of fun and the serious, technical nature of an OS. That’s what inspired me to create this project. I started by studying Wayland, its protocol and how to build a compositor. Then…from github.com

In the maker’s words, at launch

Hello everyone! I've created a gameboy emulator to unlock my Wayland session and wanted to share this project to everyone here! I've been a Linux enthusiast since I was a kid. What always captivated me was the freedom to customize my system exactly the way I wanted. With Wayland, we've reached an incredible level of…

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