A pleasure to get lost in

One of my biggest complaints about Hacknet - just yesterday - was how crowded the network node-map became. So you may imagine my delight when, a few missions into the Labyrinths DLC, I was given a new utility to auto-organize the map. Praise Dijkstra!

This critical UI enhancement is only one of a few ways that Labyrinths improves upon the original game. There are some new tools that make network exploration more interesting (recovering data from memory snapshots!), there are new security mechanics to puzzle around (connection whitelists!), and even the storytelling feels more immersive and thrilling than before.

The missions in Labyrinths come from a group of NPCs who hang out in an IRC server, like in Hackmud. Much more so than simply reading an NPC's email, watching these characters type out the story line-by-line lends a sense of urgency to in-game events; and begins to show some relatable personalities. If there's more Hacknet in the future, I'd be very excited to see more character-chatting.

Hacket: Labyrinths still doesn't check all of my "ideal hacking-game" boxes, but gets yet-closer than Hacknet did. Really, my biggest disappointment with it is that it's relatively short. More, please!

Better than: Hacknet
Not as good as: if you could somehow combine this game's usability and motif with NITE Team 4's realistic technobabble.
Apparently I missed: a "getting hacked" moment, because I stopped it from getting too far. I read about it later and this puzzle sounds super-cool.