So awhile back I was thinking, “You know what would be funny? A screen saver that fakes a kernel panic!”

For those of you who might never have seen one, a kernel panic is basically the most shocking crash that you can get on a Mac. It’s Apple’s equivalent to the famed Blue Screen of Death.

What a great way to play a prank on someone, or frighten yourself.

So here is the end result, a harmless screen saver that faithfully emulates the horrifying experience of a kernel panic. It comes complete with a misleading Quartz Composer Preview so that the effect is all the more terrifying.

Update: KPSaver is now 64-bit and compatible with Mac OS X 10.6 and above. Legacy users can download the old version here.

If you enjoy KPSaver, please consider supporting it with a PayPal donation.

Download KPSaver

Enjoy KPSaver? You might find our free Mac app Cursorcerer useful, and Say hi to @Doomlaser on Twitter

Doomlaser began with fun small projects like Kernel Panic Screen Saver and Friend Photos, a Facebook screen saver. I also wrote the popular Mac system extension Cursorcerer.

Originally, everything was made by me, Mark Johns, but things shifted when Kevin Coulton joined the team, and together we created Space Barnacle, our first totally original game, for the TIGSource B-Game contest.

Since then, we’ve ventured into more ambitious projects, and the scope of our work has grown significantly, but we strive to remain at or beyond the cutting edge.

But wait a minute, who are you?

My name is Mark Johns. I’m a game developer and freelance software engineer.

What kinds of stuff have you built?

To put ink to screen, I’ve worked on

A bunch of games, such as:

1. Hot Throttle for Adult Swim (with the venerable Cactus)
2. Space Barnacle (with Kevin Coulton)
3. The Hunger Games iOS title for the Lionsgate movie.
4. Das Cube (with Alec Holowka and Danny B)
5. Plus more, like Standard Bits, Owl Country, and Shit Game

Worked on some secret future augmented reality technology projects for Niantic, of Pokemon Go fame

Co-wrote the hit iOS Tap Tap Revenge game, and several of its spinoffs for Disney né Tapulous, along with this charming man.

Interned at Apple programming stuff for clickwheel iPod games. I’m also one of the characters in Apple’s Texas Hold’em.

A few notable system tools for the Mac like Cursorcerer

Media Interviews

Indiegames.com – Interview: Mark Johns (Space Barnacle, Rotrix)
FingerGaming – Interview about Tap Tap Revenge / Tap Tap Dance
Kotaku – Tap Tap Transforms from iGame Into iMusic Platform
Video: France’s Arte TV covers Hot Throttle at Babycastles in NYC

Social network links?

My Twitter account. Here’s my GitHub, the Doomlaser YouTube channel, and Giphy, Tumblr, SoundCloud, AngelList, ArtStation, Instagram, and my MobyGames profile

I’d like to hire you to work on something, or I’m a spambot

killradius@doomlaser.com