Yes, you read that correctly.

There’s a specific kind of dread that only comes from stumbling upon a niche indie horror game on Itch.io at 1:00 AM. Now, take that dread, run it through a compatibility layer, and play it on a system known for stability and open-source ethics. The result is Squirrel Stapler —a game that feels wrong, sounds wrong, and somehow runs perfectly on Linux via Wine. Developed by David Szymanski (the mind behind Iron Lung and Dusk ), Squirrel Stapler is a first-person horror "hunting" game. You play as a man in a desolate, low-poly forest. Your mission? Hunt squirrels. Your tool? A rusty nail gun. Your motivation? To use those squirrels to... re-attach your wife’s head .

For the GNU/Linux gamer, it’s also a testament to how far Wine has come. A weird, niche, low-budget horror game about stapling squirrels runs better under a compatibility layer than some native Steam Linux ports. Squirrel Stapler 1.0 is not a game you enjoy . It’s a game you experience, then stare at your desktop wallpaper for ten minutes in silence.

If you run Linux and have a dark curiosity for the absurd grotesque, wine SquirrelStapler.exe might just be the most memorable command you type all year.

GNU/Linux + Wine: A Match Made in Low-Budget Hell

Platinum (Wine 9.0) Disturbing Content Score: 10/10 Squirrel Mortality Rate: Absolute