zPunch - mainframe meets punchline.
There dozen jokes in the DB. Categories: COBOL, JCL, abend, ISPF, TV parody, general. Rendered on a phosphor green terminal screen. Session history preserved so you can go back to the good ones.
It also has an API. Because of course it does.
https://infomanta.com/zpunch.html
Happy to add jokes if anyone has good ones.
The Change Management Cave has three snakes. They don't bite. They just ask for a business owner. It is 3:47 AM. There is no business owner.
I Built a browser game inspired by MVS. Runs in HTML/JavaScript no mainframe required. Everything is based on real conventions.
WHAT YOU DO:
Login with RACF - userid (2-8 chars) and password (min 8,rejects "password" / "mainframe" / your userid / sequential chars,runs a strength analyser, asks for confirmation). After auth you get a random EBCDIC art wallpaper - 11 of them, all Pulp Fiction mainframe mashups. "ROYALE WITH COBOL." "SAY 'ABEND' AGAIN." "WHOSE CHOPPER IS IT? ZED'S CHOPPER."
Then: ISPF → SDSF → examine failed PAYROLL1 → find COBPAY03 → read the code → find the HR migration in the change log → fix the PIC clause → compile (cave with stalactites) → linkedit (IEWL oracle resolves external references) → Change Management Cave (three animated pixel snakes, RFC forms going back to 1987, emergency approval at 3:47 AM) → deploy → T-Rex victory dance with Python/Java/Zed/AI/Quantum celebrating.
THE COBOL FIX IS TECHNICALLY CORRECT:
COBPAY03 had WS-BASE-SALARY defined as PIC S9(7)V99 COMP-3. The HR migration changed incoming data to zoned decimal. Fix: remove COMP-3 from the PIC clause. COBOL's MOVE handles packed/zoned numeric conversion automatically - the field just needs the right PIC definition to match the incoming format.
The snakes are metaphorical. The RFC forms are not.
Play it: https://infomanta.com/games/quest-mainframe.html
Happy to answer questions about the COBOL fix or anything else in the game that looks wrong.