gopherttype

A simple terminal typing game with word-count and timed rounds, watched by a gopher that follows your input and reacts to how you type.

Install

With Go

go install github.com/mkhamat/gopherttype/cmd/gopherttype@latest
gopherttype

Requires Go 1.26.2 or newer. Make sure Go's binary directory (go env GOBIN, or $(go env GOPATH)/bin if unset) is on your PATH.

Without Go

Download your platform's archive from Releases. Choose arm64 for Apple Silicon or ARM64 machines, and amd64 for Intel/AMD 64-bit machines.

• macOS / Linux: extract the .tar.gz and run ./gopherttype in a terminal. Move the binary into a directory on your PATH to run it from anywhere.
• Windows: extract the .zip and run .\gopherttype.exe in PowerShell.

Each release includes checksums.txt for verifying downloads. macOS and Windows binaries are unsigned, so your operating system may prompt before running them.

Run from source

Requires Go 1.26.2

go run ./cmd/gopherttype

or build

go build ./cmd/gopherttype
./gopherttype

Scoring

Scoring follows Monkeytype's mechanics. WPM counts characters in correctly completed words (including spaces), divided by five and elapsed minutes. Timed rounds also credit a correct unfinished word. Accuracy measures correct keystrokes; mistakes still count even after correction.

Words

Each word is picked independently at random from the bundled English word list, so repeats are possible. The list is embedded at build time.

Native mascot preview (developer tool)

Interactive (needs a terminal at least 32×14), held pose or animated demo:

go run ./cmd/mascot-preview
go run ./cmd/mascot-preview --animate

Runtime

The gopher is a tiny 3D model built from 18 shapes: ellipsoids for its body and face, rounded plates for its teeth. A CPU ray caster shades a 128×96 sample grid and packs it into 32×12 terminal cells using Unicode blocks and ANSI colors. Rotation, blinking, and expressions animate the model - not prerecorded frames. The same renderer drives every screen on a 120 Hz target clock.

Built with

Bubble Tea, and Lip Gloss.

Attribution

All typing mechanics are based on Monkeytype.

Go gopher original design by Renee French; adapted here into a shaded terminal mascot. Original · CC BY 4.0.