Macagotchi

Install your Macagotchi on your Windows or macOS laptop and feed him/her/it on the wifi networks (aka "SSIDs") that surround you.  

Keep them happy by finding new networks (you don't need to connect to any) and taking them to new locations when they're hungry. You'll be rewarded with cute messages and UI updates for building a streak of fresh finds. 

War Driving is when you're collecting networks by driving around scanning new territories. When your Macagotchi is in War Driving mode they'll scan every 30 seconds. If you prefer it to be more chill you can keep (or switch back) to the default mode which will make scans every 5 minutes. Toggle between the two modes by pressing 'W' on your keyboard. When 'W' is displayed, it means you're scanning every 30 seconds. Try it on the bus, on a train or as you jetpack around the neighbourhood.

The names of the wifi networks you find are encrypted and are not shared with anyone. Your Macagotchi just stores the information locally on your machine to see if it's tasting a new network (yay!) or if it's only finding the same thing over and over (which makes them sad). There's no tracking in the code to tell us where/when/how you feed it. Geolocation data is never recorded. I even publish the source code for anyone to check, and there's some more background at SpaceMonkeyAlfa.com.

So because I've designed it not to talk to the outside world, if you want to show how happy and well fed your Macagotchi is, please share a screenshot in the comments below or on the social media of your choice. I hope you do  ;-)

Top Tip: maximise your score by running Macagotchi at startup. Here are instructions for how to do that on Mac and Windows.

Available for macOS and Windows. An even more portable Macagotchi Raspberry Pi is available.

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In case you're curious about the name: macagotchi (ポーナゴッチ) is a portmanteau of mac and -gotchi. It is a nostalgic reference made in homage to a very popular children's toy from the 1990s called the Tamagotchi. The Tamagotchi (たまごっち, derived from tamago (たまご) "egg" + uotchi (ウオッチ) "watch") is a cultural touchstone for many Millennial hackers as a formative electronic toy from their collective childhoods. That, and I built this as the less sinister cousin of the very cool hacking project, pwnagotchi. Macagotchi brings you all the cute, none of the inconvenient explanations to the authorities.