{"slug": "space-cadet-pinball", "name": "Space Cadet Pinball", "category": "other", "category_name": "Other software", "description": "", "recommenders": 4, "commenters": 6, "warners": 1, "score": 2.97, "rising": -1.31, "first": "2026-05-10", "latest": "2026-07-30", "why": "", "why_is_quote": false, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 1, "compare": 0, "warn": 1}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 3, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "", "kind": "game", "icon": false, "domain": null, "github_repo": "github.com/alula/spacecadetpinball", "official_url": "https://github.com/alula/SpaceCadetPinball", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Space Cadet Pinball", "SpaceCadetPinball"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 785798704, "item_id": 49112419, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49112419", "by": "alex1138", "date": "2026-07-30", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "If you're on Linux", "excerpt": "If you're on Linux, https://flathub.org/en/apps/com.github.k4zmu2a.spacecadetpinball", "context": "", "use_case": "3D Pinball on Linux", "switched_from": "", "story": "3D Pinball for Windows (1995)"}, {"id": 769387360, "item_id": 48086710, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48086710", "by": "INTPenis", "date": "2026-05-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love this, I used to play this game a lot", "excerpt": "I love this, I used to play this game a lot when I was bored at my brothers place, he only had a Windows computer. Just a few notes in the age of supply chain scares, don't install flatpak as root if you don't have to, and in this case you might want to use flatpak mask com.github.k4zmu2a.spacecadetpinball after installing, seeing as flatpak updates all its installed flatpaks otherwise. It's a project that hasn't see", "context": "", "use_case": "playing pinball game", "switched_from": "", "story": "Space Cadet Pinball on Linux"}, {"id": 769370160, "item_id": 48085635, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48085635", "by": "dvno42", "date": "2026-05-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Web based version for those feeling nostalgic", "excerpt": "Web based version for those feeling nostalgic https://lrusso.github.io/3DPinballSpaceCadet/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Space Cadet Pinball on Linux"}, {"id": 769331824, "item_id": 48083239, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48083239", "by": "andai", "date": "2026-05-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Cool! I checked out the GitHub", "excerpt": "Cool! I checked out the GitHub: https://github.com/k4zmu2a/SpaceCadetPinball It's been ported to a whole bunch of consoles. There's also a browser version! https://pinball.alula.me/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Space Cadet Pinball on Linux"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 785792352, "item_id": 49112022, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49112022", "by": "GlickWick", "date": "2026-07-30", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Looking at the code it weirdly changes ball accel, which is not how nudging works in actual pinball.", "excerpt": "Definitely. Looking at the code it weirdly changes ball accel, which is not how nudging works in actual pinball. https://github.com/alula/SpaceCadetPinball/blob/master/SpaceCadetPinball/nudge.cpp#L66", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "3D Pinball for Windows (1995)"}]}], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["3d pinball on linux", "pinball game", "playing pinball game"], "compared": [{"slug": "flatpak", "name": "Flatpak", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [{"id": 769331569, "item_id": 48083223, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48083223", "by": "kowalski7cc", "date": "2026-05-10", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Sooner or later I'll split the game from data", "excerpt": "Sooner or later I'll split the game from data so the second part will be easier, allowing custom flatpaks to extend data. The flatpak has received updates especially for keeping an up-to-date runtime but the upstream game, however, has not and Flathub will only show appstream data for the update. You can see on the flatpak manifest repo that latest commit is 6 months old: https://github.com/flathub/com.github.k4zmu2a", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Space Cadet Pinball on Linux"}], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48082968", "title": "Space Cadet Pinball on Linux", "mentions": 4}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49108485", "title": "3D Pinball for Windows (1995)", "mentions": 3}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {"recommend": 3}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {"neutral": 1, "warn": 1, "recommend": 1}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 785798704, "item_id": 49112419, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49112419", "by": "alex1138", "date": "2026-07-30", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "If you're on Linux", "excerpt": "If you're on Linux, https://flathub.org/en/apps/com.github.k4zmu2a.spacecadetpinball", "context": "", "use_case": "3D Pinball on Linux", "switched_from": "", "story": "3D Pinball for Windows (1995)"}, {"id": 785792352, "item_id": 49112022, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49112022", "by": "GlickWick", "date": "2026-07-30", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Looking at the code it weirdly changes ball accel, which is not how nudging works in actual pinball.", "excerpt": "Definitely. Looking at the code it weirdly changes ball accel, which is not how nudging works in actual pinball. https://github.com/alula/SpaceCadetPinball/blob/master/SpaceCadetPinball/nudge.cpp#L66", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "3D Pinball for Windows (1995)"}, {"id": 785766928, "item_id": 49110433, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49110433", "by": "Nzen", "date": "2026-07-30", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "It's a bit of a shame that Microsoft only licensed Space Cadet Pinball from Cinematronics for Windows 95 and XP", "excerpt": "I am of the impression that the mission is defined by having the pin ball hit the places where the blue arrow points within a set amount of time. It's a bit of a shame that Microsoft only licensed Space Cadet Pinball from Cinematronics for Windows 95 and XP [0]. [0] https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20181221-00/?p=100535", "context": "", "use_case": "Pinball game", "switched_from": "", "story": "3D Pinball for Windows (1995)"}, {"id": 769387360, "item_id": 48086710, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48086710", "by": "INTPenis", "date": "2026-05-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love this, I used to play this game a lot", "excerpt": "I love this, I used to play this game a lot when I was bored at my brothers place, he only had a Windows computer. Just a few notes in the age of supply chain scares, don't install flatpak as root if you don't have to, and in this case you might want to use flatpak mask com.github.k4zmu2a.spacecadetpinball after installing, seeing as flatpak updates all its installed flatpaks otherwise. It's a project that hasn't see", "context": "", "use_case": "playing pinball game", "switched_from": "", "story": "Space Cadet Pinball on Linux"}, {"id": 769370160, "item_id": 48085635, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48085635", "by": "dvno42", "date": "2026-05-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Web based version for those feeling nostalgic", "excerpt": "Web based version for those feeling nostalgic https://lrusso.github.io/3DPinballSpaceCadet/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Space Cadet Pinball on Linux"}, {"id": 769331824, "item_id": 48083239, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48083239", "by": "andai", "date": "2026-05-10", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Cool! I checked out the GitHub", "excerpt": "Cool! I checked out the GitHub: https://github.com/k4zmu2a/SpaceCadetPinball It's been ported to a whole bunch of consoles. There's also a browser version! https://pinball.alula.me/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Space Cadet Pinball on Linux"}]}