Hello. Has something gone wrong?
Don't worry. This page will walk you through everything step by step. Take your time. By the end, you'll have FlashBoss running beautifully.
A terminal is a text-based way to talk to your computer. Instead of clicking icons, you type commands. It looks like something from an 80s hacker movie, but it's actually quite friendly once you get the hang of it.
FlashBoss runs in a terminal because it allows backward compatibility to otherwise useless computers. The project is designed to take price out of the equation for language education. Using terminal gives us complete control over colors, sounds, and that retro aesthetic you're about to experience.
The classic way:
Windows + R on your keyboardcmd and press EnterThis opens the Command Prompt - Windows' original terminal from the DOS era. It works, but it's showing its age. The colors are limited, emojis don't display properly, and it's a generally unpleasant experience all around.
Once Windows Terminal is installed, you can type wt into the "Run" dialogue (small box with text field).
Windows Terminal is Microsoft's modern terminal app. It fixes everything wrong with the old ones:
Windows 11 users: Good news - Windows Terminal is already installed. You're done with this step.
Windows 10 users: You need to install it from the Microsoft Store. It's free.
Option 1: Microsoft Store
Option 2: Using winget (command line)
If you already have a terminal open, you can install with:
winget install Microsoft.WindowsTerminal
Once installed, Windows Terminal becomes the default. When Steam launches FlashBoss, it will automatically use Windows Terminal instead of the old Command Prompt.
Here's the fun part. Windows Terminal is fully adjustable. You can make it look exactly how you want.
To open Settings: click the small down arrow next to the tabs at the top of the window, then click "Settings".
For the authentic FlashBoss experience, set your background to:
#171421
— the same dark purple we use in the game
In Settings: Profiles > Defaults > Appearance > Background color
The terminal uses monospace fonts by default. Here are some we recommend:
You'll need to install these fonts on your system first (download from Google Fonts), then select them in Windows Terminal settings.
Start with 14pt font size and adjust from there.
Note: Non-monospace fonts might look odd in some terminals, but Windows Terminal handles them surprisingly well. Experiment and see what you like.
Once you're in the terminal, here's how to navigate:
cd stands for "change directory". The syntax is cd then a space, then the desired directory name. To navigate to the FlashBoss directory with the absolute filepath:
cd C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\FlashBoss
Or you can dig down one folder at a time from where you are by entering an available folder. Check available directories with ls or dir command. cd .. climbs back up a layer.
Once you're in the right folder:
.\FlashBoss.exe — run the game
.\FlashBoss.exe --hierarchyaudio — test audio playback
Note: Windows uses backslashes \ for file paths, unlike Mac/Linux which use forward slashes /. Because of course it does.
For more terminal knowledge, see this list of essential terminal commands for Windows.
That's it. Windows Terminal is installed, you know how to use it, and FlashBoss is waiting for you.
If you launched from Steam, everything should just work. If you're running FlashBoss on the terminal, navigate to the FlashBoss folder and run .\FlashBoss.exe.
Good luck, hero.