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Space Cadet Pinball on Linux
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Stephen Brennan • 09 May 2026
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To my fellow Linux users who grew up using Windows XP: did you know, you can
-have Space Cadet Pinball on your Linux machine? This is not breaking news, but
-it’s exciting to me, and I’m the one who decides what I write about. So here’s
-your PSA!
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Space Cadet Pinball was bundled with Windows XP, and growing up I played it a
-lot. As a result it holds a special place in my heart. I found that it was the
-most engaging game that was bundled with Windows. Solitaire was too mindless,
-and Freecell, Hearts, and Minesweeper were too complex and boring to me at that
-age. But pinball held my attention, and so I played it a lot.
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Anyway, somebody has gone to the effort of using a decompiler and reverse
-engineering tools to create source code, and then put in what I’d imagine is a
-lot of effort to make it playable on a lot of platforms! All that results in
-this project on Github. The
-easiest way to play on Linux is actually to use the Flatpak, which comes bundled
-with the original game resources from the Windows version. You can either
-install it with a GUI (e.g. KDE Discover) or install on the CLI:
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flatpak install com.github.k4zmu2a.spacecadetpinball
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That’s all you need to play & get a hit of nostalgia! I know there are
-browser-based versions available too, but I would
-rather have it installed on my computer directly.
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High(er) Resolution With Full Tilt Data
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Graphics technology has come a long way since then, and the graphics are a bit
-rough at 480p. But fear not: another version of the game existed, called Full
-Tilt! Pinball. Its game data is capable of displaying at the massive screen
-resolution 1024x768! You can find this game data on
-archive.org in a zip file.
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Getting the flatpak version to use these data files is a bit tricky. The easiest
-way is:
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- - Ensure that you’ve run the game at least once prior to this, so that the data
-directory is created.
- - Extract the downloaded zip file directly into your data directory:
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cd ~/.var/app/com.github.k4zmu2a.spacecadetpinball/data/SpaceCadetPinball
-unzip ~/Downloads/CADET.ZIP
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- - Delete (or, if you’re cautious, rename) the old data directory which is
-bundled with the app. Unfortunately this is necessary because the game
-searches multiple locations for data, but once it finds data files in one
-directory, it won’t continue looking for files in other locations.
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sudo rm -r $(flatpak info --show-location com.github.k4zmu2a.spacecadetpinball)/files/extra/Pinball
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You may not need the sudo call if your installation was per-user. Mine got
-installed to /var/lib/flatpak so I needed root.
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It’s possible you’d need to repeat step 3 if the game gets updated. However, the
-flatpak
-hasn’t seen an update in over two years. I doubt one will happen, and if it
-does, it won’t be frequent.
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Random Notes
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If you want, you can keep the original files and merge them together so that
-you have the full set of both the original (referred to as “3DPB” for 3D
-Pinball in the game) and the new (Full Tilt) data. Then, the game will let
-you toggle between them if you’d like.
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The data files seem to have some impact on the game rules. For instance, in
-the original 3DPB version, the reentry lanes (and launch lanes) have lights
-which toggle as the ball passes over. In the Full Tilt version, the lights
-stay on (rather than toggling), making it easier to complete the set of
-lights and upgrade the associated set of bumpers. (Yes yes, I know I’m a nerd
-for noticing this.)
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Apparently, there was a game called “Marble Blast” which came pre-installed
-on some Macs in a roughly similar time period, which I know people developed
-similar relationships to growing up. Unlike this pinball game, the Marble
-Blast series grew, and there are newer versions available to play today.
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Bonus Thoughts
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I think it’s great that this old game was beloved to enough people (and
-especially at least one very competent & motivated person) to do this work.
-Having (any) source code available makes this game portable to all sorts of
-platforms, which is really great. You can play this on Mac, Windows, Linux, and
-even Android & Nintendo Switch, apparently.
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Personally, I would be happy to pay the original developers for their work on
-this game, and I understand that there’s some concern about the legality of
-downloading game data files, especially for the Full Tilt version of the game.
-After all, they are copyrighted art & data which was part of a commercial
-product. It seems like an unpopular opinion in today’s world, but I don’t
-advocate for piracy. Paying people for their work is important, even when it
-feels like you’re paying a faceless corporation. While I’d prefer things be
-created with a FOSS license, the world doesn’t always work that way. At the end
-of the day, I want people to be paid to create good things, because that’s how
-we get more good things!
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On the other hand, I feel software preservation is an important goal too.
-Ideally, I’d like to see a world where proprietary software like this could be
-placed into some sort of source code
-escrow. As long as the
-original copyright holders are in the business of selling their product, their
-rights should be respected. But if they elect to stop selling it, I think that
-code should revert to a FOSS license that allows users to improve & maintain the
-software they use. This would help balance the rights of creators, users, and
-the goals of preservation.
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