diff --git a/desktop.pl b/desktop.pl
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..18b68ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/desktop.pl
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+#!/usr/bin/perl
+
+# Make .desktop files for the puzzles.
+#
+# At present, this script is intended for developer usage: if you're
+# working on the puzzles and want to play your bleeding-edge locally
+# modified and compiled versions, run this script and it will create a
+# collection of desktop files in ~/.local/share/applications where
+# XFCE can pick them up and add them to its main menu.
+#
+# (If you don't use XFCE, patches to support other desktop
+# environments are welcome :-)
+
+use strict;
+use warnings;
+use Cwd 'abs_path';
+
+die "usage: desktop.pl [<outdir> [<bindir> <icondir>]]\n"
+    unless @ARGV == 0 or @ARGV == 1 or @ARGV == 3;
+
+my ($outdir, $bindir, $icondir) = @ARGV;
+$outdir = $ENV{'HOME'}."/.local/share/applications" unless defined $outdir;
+$bindir = "." unless defined $bindir;
+$icondir = "./icons" unless defined $icondir;
+$bindir = abs_path($bindir);
+$icondir = abs_path($icondir);
+
+open my $desc, "<", "gamedesc.txt"
+    or die "gamedesc.txt: open: $!\n";
+
+while (<$desc>) {
+    chomp;
+    my ($id, $win, $displayname, $description) = split /:/, $_;
+
+    open my $desktop, ">", "$outdir/$id.desktop"
+        or die "$outdir/$id.desktop: open: $!\n";
+
+    print $desktop "[Desktop Entry]\n";
+    print $desktop "Version=1.0\n";
+    print $desktop "Type=Application\n";
+    print $desktop "Name=$displayname\n";
+    print $desktop "Comment=$description\n";
+    print $desktop "Exec=$bindir/$id\n";
+    print $desktop "Icon=$icondir/$id-48d24.png\n";
+    print $desktop "StartupNotify=false\n";
+    print $desktop "Categories=Game;\n";
+    print $desktop "Terminal=false\n";
+
+    close $desktop
+        or die "$outdir/$id.desktop: close: $!\n";
+}