diff --git a/pkgs/by-name/hi/highscore-unwrapped/cores-dir-from-envvar.patch b/pkgs/by-name/hi/highscore-unwrapped/cores-dir-from-envvar.patch
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..5c728842924c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/by-name/hi/highscore-unwrapped/cores-dir-from-envvar.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+diff --git a/shared/config.vapi b/shared/config.vapi
+index 1b0d8d7..e25bfbc 100644
+--- a/shared/config.vapi
++++ b/shared/config.vapi
+@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ namespace Config {
+     public const string VERSION_SUFFIX;
+     public const string VCS_TAG;
+     public const string PROFILE;
+-    public const string CORES_DIR;
+     public const string DATA_DIR;
+     public const string RUNNER_PATH;
+ }
+diff --git a/src/core-register.vala b/src/core-register.vala
+index 892aca7..2485cc7 100644
+--- a/src/core-register.vala
++++ b/src/core-register.vala
+@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ public class Highscore.CoreRegister : Object {
+         suggested_cores = new HashTable<string, SuggestedCore?> (str_hash, str_equal);
+ 
+         try {
+-            scan_directory (File.new_for_path (Config.CORES_DIR));
++            scan_directory (File.new_for_path (Environment.get_variable ("HIGHSCORE_CORES_DIR")));
+         } catch (Error e) {
+             critical ("Failed to scan cores: %s", e.message);
+         }
diff --git a/pkgs/by-name/hi/highscore-unwrapped/package.nix b/pkgs/by-name/hi/highscore-unwrapped/package.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..1a309c758d21
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/by-name/hi/highscore-unwrapped/package.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,117 @@
+{
+  lib,
+  stdenv,
+  fetchFromGitLab,
+  blueprint-compiler,
+  meson,
+  ninja,
+  pkg-config,
+  vala,
+  glib,
+  gtk4,
+  desktop-file-utils,
+  itstool,
+  python3,
+  json-glib,
+  libgee,
+  libadwaita,
+  libarchive,
+  libglycin,
+  libhighscore,
+  libmanette,
+  sqlite,
+  libGL,
+  libepoxy,
+  libpulseaudio,
+  SDL2,
+  librsvg,
+  libmirage,
+  feedbackd,
+  unstableGitUpdater,
+}:
+
+let
+  libmanette-1-alpha = libmanette.overrideAttrs (prev: {
+    version = "0.2.13-unstable-2025-10-10";
+    src = fetchFromGitLab {
+      domain = "gitlab.gnome.org";
+      owner = "GNOME";
+      repo = "libmanette";
+      rev = "9b1b45e2aa3221938cd23e5f87a79b69e1996f64";
+      hash = "sha256-4Vinc3sBU2PJmOZUOrod6AJbRq6W2nNLcC//FVHGuhg=";
+    };
+
+    buildInputs = prev.buildInputs ++ [ libadwaita ];
+  });
+in
+stdenv.mkDerivation (finalAttrs: {
+  pname = "highscore-unwrapped";
+  version = "0-unstable-2026-01-01";
+
+  src = fetchFromGitLab {
+    domain = "gitlab.gnome.org";
+    owner = "World";
+    repo = "highscore";
+    rev = "c9f537e06414a32632e9f9d7a73d9028b788f275";
+    hash = "sha256-6sBfjVFIFg0w3apzJBYMYEIjTavnOAE0YK3ayzoyDks=";
+  };
+
+  patches = [
+    # Highscore finds cores under $out/lib/highscore/cores/
+    # Allow the wrapper to override it with $HIGHSCORE_CORES_DIR
+    ./cores-dir-from-envvar.patch
+  ];
+
+  postPatch = ''
+    substituteInPlace meson.build --replace-fail \
+      "run_command('git', 'rev-parse', '--short', 'HEAD').stdout().strip()" \
+      "'${finalAttrs.src.rev}'"
+  '';
+
+  nativeBuildInputs = [
+    blueprint-compiler
+    meson
+    ninja
+    pkg-config
+    vala
+    glib # For glib-compile-resources
+    gtk4 # For gtk4-update-icon-cache
+    desktop-file-utils
+    itstool
+    # Used in build time, detected by meson
+    (python3.withPackages (ps: [ ps.pygobject3 ]))
+    # To prevent double wrapping, not wrapping it here
+    # wrapGAppsHook4
+  ];
+
+  buildInputs = [
+    glib
+    libgee
+    gtk4
+    json-glib
+    libadwaita
+    libarchive
+    libglycin
+    libhighscore
+    libmanette-1-alpha
+    sqlite
+    libGL
+    libepoxy
+    libpulseaudio
+    SDL2
+    librsvg
+    libmirage
+    feedbackd
+  ];
+
+  passthru.updateScript = unstableGitUpdater {
+    hardcodeZeroVersion = true;
+  };
+
+  meta = {
+    description = "Rewrite of Highscore, formerly gnome-games";
+    homepage = "https://gitlab.gnome.org/World/highscore/";
+    license = lib.licenses.gpl3Plus;
+    inherit (libhighscore.meta) maintainers platforms;
+  };
+})