A stress-relief mini-game that lives on your Windows desktop as a transparent overlay.
People work continuously and get stressed. Desktop Mario gives you a quick fun break — right on your desktop. Press Ctrl+Alt+M anytime to play!
- Desktop overlay — plays right on top of your work, with a transparent background
- Ctrl+Alt+M hotkey to instantly show/hide the game
- System tray icon — runs silently in background, right-click to show/hide or quit
- Classic SMB mechanics inspired by the original NES Super Mario Bros:
- Run (Shift), jump (Space, hold for higher!), arrow keys to move
- Goombas, Koopas (green + red), Bob-ombs with explosions
- Shell kick mechanics — stomp, kick, chain kills
- Mushroom power-up — grow big!
- Pipes, pits, bricks, ?-blocks, coins, staircases
- Score system with popups
- Lightweight — pure Python + tkinter, no heavy game engine
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| ← → | Move left/right |
| Space | Jump (hold longer = higher) |
| Shift | Run faster |
| Ctrl+Alt+M | Show/Hide game |
| ESC | Hide game |
Download the latest DesktopMario_Setup.exe from Releases and run it.
Options during install:
- Create desktop shortcut
- Start with Windows (runs in background)
git clone https://github.com/bxf1001g/desktop_mario.git
cd desktop_mario
pip install pystray Pillow
python mario_enhanced.pypip install pyinstaller pystray Pillow
python -m PyInstaller --onefile --windowed --name DesktopMario --hidden-import pystray --hidden-import pystray._win32 --hidden-import PIL mario_enhanced.pyiscc installer.issContinuous work leads to stress and burnout. Sometimes you just need a 2-minute break doing something fun. Desktop Mario is always one hotkey away — no need to open a browser or launch a separate app.
If you enjoy Desktop Mario, consider buying me a coffee!
Sprite assets by webfussel — More-bit 8-bit Mario (itch.io). Thank you for the amazing SMAS-style sprites!
MIT License — see LICENSE for details.
