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Looking to the Past to Chart the Future – The Most Exciting Titles in the Game Boy Color Homebrew Scene

Mod Retro Chromatic hardware

Looking to the Past to Chart the Future – The Most Exciting Titles in the Game Boy Color Homebrew Scene

In the era of 4K 60FPS gaming and stunning photorealistic visuals, thanks to advanced game creation tools such as Unreal Engine 5, one of the last things most of us expected was to see a resurgence of the Game Boy Color. But thanks to the readily available creation tools (such as GB Studio) and a small handful of boutique handhelds using Game Boy Color FPGA hardware, the homebrew development scene is absolutely bursting with some incredible and unique titles developed specifically for Nintendo’s legendary handheld console. And while several of these games are available digitally (and, in many cases, completely free or very reasonably priced), some very impressive Game Boy Color homebrew titles have received their very own physical releases that are compatible with hardware new and old.

Companies like Analogue and Mod Retro have released their own Game Boy Color FPGA handhelds — the Analogue Pocket and Mod Retro Chromatic, respectively — to meet the swelling demand from both players and developers alike to have new, functional Game Boy Color hardware capable of playing classic Game Boy and GBC titles along with the newer homebrew releases, and these devices are proving to be incredibly popular, selling out their initial runs quickly and fetching inflated prices on the secondary market. Beyond the Game Boy Color homebrew scene, there are several indie developers releasing titles for Steam and other platforms using the popular GBC aesthetic, showing that there’s an entire generation of gamers who have a deep-seated fondness for the console and its games. These are 15 titles from the GBC homebrew scene that mix retro aesthetics with modern genres and ideas to great effect.

AFTER

After gameplay
  • Release Date — February 12, 2023
  • Developer — Eligos
  • Genre — Adventure, Horror

AFTER (stylized as AF+ER) is an ambitious horror game developed for the Game Boy Color about a boy trapped in a strange alternate reality. Notably, the game was originally finished years before its original release, but a corrupted version of the complete game files required the developer to go back and essentially rework entire portions of the game code. Mechanically, AFTER is an adventure game with horror elements where players explore environments and search for clues on how to progress, with some light combat elements utilizing an RPG-style turn-based system. But, in true horror game fashion, sometimes running is the best option, meaning players need to be strategic with how they approach encounters lest they run the risk of needing to scrap their save and start over from the beginning due to a soft lock.

Cargo

Cargo gameplay
  • Release Date — October 24, 2022
  • Developer — Eligos
  • Genre — Adventure, Horror

The sci-fi horror game Cargo comes from the same developer as AFTER and is, in many ways, a sort of spiritual successor to that title despite releasing beforehand (thanks to AFTER‘s troubled development and corrupted files). The premise for Cargo is one straight out of a classic sci-fi horror film such as John Carpenter’s The Thing or Paul W.S. Anderson’s EventHorizon, with players heading to a derelict spaceship in hopes of retrieving the mysterious titular cargo it’s carrying. Of course, things are immediately off when the protagonist arrives, and it’s up to players to manage their oxygen and ammo as they navigate this vessel in a first-person perspective. Cargo may be on the shorter side, but it packs plenty of genuine scares during its brief runtime.

Cookie’s Bakery

Cookie's Bakery gameplay
  • Release Date — December 20, 2020
  • Developer — Leafthief
  • Genre — Adventure

While there are plenty of horror-centric titles being developed in the Game Boy Color homebrew scene, that’s not to say they’re the only genres being represented. An experience that’s practically the polar opposite of games like AFTER and Cargo, Cookie’s Bakery is a cozy, heartfelt adventure game about — you guessed it — running a bakery. Interestingly, Cookie’s Bakery shares a lot in common with the similarly cozy and heartfelt VA-1 Hall-A, except instead of running a dystopian cyberpunk bar and listening to your customers’ problems while mixing up their favorite drinks, you make small-talk with your neighbors and customers as you make them their favorite cookie recipes, provided you can find all the right ingredients.

Reception to Cookie’s Bakery was so strong that it went from being a title created during a Game Jam to its own standalone release, and it’s playable for free right in your web browser from its itch.io page.

Dangan GB2

Dangan GB2 gameplay
  • Release Date — October 20, 2023
  • Developer — snorpung
  • Genre — Shmup

There were a small handful of shoot ’em up games (shmups) officially released for the Game Boy and Game Boy Color, but those systems largely missed out on the advancements in the genre that came about thanks to developers like Toaplan, Compile, Raizing, and Cave (in other words, the invention of the danmaku style of shmup, aka “Bullet Hell”). Dangan GB2 is a homebrew Game Boy Color title that aims to remedy the subgenre’s absence on the platform, and it’s every bit as intense as you might imagine an 8-bit bullet hell shmup to be. While it’s not the only bullet hell in the homebrew scene, Dangan is arguably one of the best, with some well-designed and animated character portraits and story segments in between the frantic, boss-rush-style bullet hell action.

Decline

Decline gameplay
  • Release Date — May 29, 2022
  • Developer — Ben Jelter
  • Genre — Adventure, Horror

Indie developer Ben Jelter has not one, but two horror games developed for the Game Boy Color, the most recent of which is the excellent Decline. Similar to Jelter’s highly acclaimed Opossum Country, Decline is an adventure game with horror elements that places an emphasis on its characters and narrative rather than traditional survival horror mechanics related to combat or inventory management. Decline is a deeply introspective, story-driven title that sees players assuming the role of an aging detective who not only needs to solve a murder but also fight against the oncoming effects of old age, memory loss, and dementia. As an added bonus, Decline is one of the few horror titles developed for the Game Boy Color with multiple endings that branch out from players’ choices during the main story.

Delia: The Traveling Witch

Delia - The Traveling Witch gameplay
  • Release Date — May 20, 2022
  • Developer — Kaimatten
  • Genre — Action, Platformer

Some of the best games being developed in GB Studio are short but sweet experiences that choose to not overstay their welcome in favor of delivering concise, bite-sized fun. One such title is Delia: The Traveling Witch, a platformer and shmup hybrid created in just 12 weeks by solo developer Kaimatten. Players can likely complete Delia in roughly 90-120 minutes, making it a great experience to sit down and tackle in one sitting. Delia‘s obvious Studio Ghibli inspirations and charming, quaint gameplay help to set it apart from many other similar homebrew titles for the Game Boy Color, and its place as a free title on itch.io (as well as the ability to play it within the web browser rather than needing to download the Game Boy Color ROM) give it a low barrier to entry.

Dragonyhm

Dragonyhm gameplay
  • Release Date — December 16, 2024
  • Developer — Spacebot Interactive
  • Genre — Action RPG

One of the more ambitious titles on this list, and a game that you’d be forgiven for thinking is a brand-new AAA Game Boy Color title, is Dragonyhm. The sequel to/remake of the classic Game Boy Color homebrew title Dragonborne, Dragonyhm began its life as a colorized version of Dragonborne called Dragonborne DX (similar to the Game Boy Color version of Link’s Awakening) before eventually expanding in scope to include new content that makes it a sort of sequel/full-blown remake of that excellent action RPG. Like Dragonborne, Dragonyhm is a retro-inspired action RPG with elements of Zelda, Dragon Quest, and Pokemon, and its high production values and impressive visuals are on par with or better than most official GBC releases.

Feed It Souls

Feed It Souls gameplay
  • Release Date — September 11, 2023
  • Developer — Grumpy Function
  • Genre — Metroidvania

Grumpy Function’s Feed It Souls is a horror-themed Metroidvania developed in GB Studio for the GBCompo23 game jam, eventually gaining its own full release thanks to a positive response (similar to Cookie’s Bakery). Like recent cult classic Metroidvania Carrion, Feed It Souls puts players in the role of not the hero, but instead a monster, traveling around the game’s world in search of (what else?) souls. Each soul that the player ingests grants them new abilities in a clever twist on the classic ability-gating and progression inherent to the Metroidvania genre, and multiple difficulty modes and a slew of collectibles give players a reason to keep coming back to the title time and again.

Fighter on the Path of Glory

Fighter on the Path of Glory gameplay
  • Release Date — February 11, 2024
  • Developer — Circle Yousu ga Okashii
  • Genre — Action, Platformer

Fighter on the Path of Glory is a brilliantly old-school action platformer title. Similar to classic games like Adventure Island or even Super Mario Bros. 3, Fighter splits up its gameplay into different types of stages. Each level is comprised of both “Road” stages consisting of more traditional platforming and fighting enemies, and “Boss” stages that pit the player against more imposing foes. Defeating three of these stages in each level results in advancing to the next. It all sounds simple, but therein lies the beauty of Fighter on the Path to Glory. The game’s scaled-back approach and understanding of the fundamentals (and limitations) of 8-bit game design make this newer title feel like a long-forgotten classic from the Game Boy Color.

The Melting Apartment

The Metling Apartment gameplay
  • Release Date — November 18, 2023
  • Developer — Flower Studio
  • Genre — Adventure, Horror

Flower Studio’s The Melting Apartment is a standout in the crop of Game Boy Color homebrew titles. Similar to games like Decline or After, The Melting Apartment is an adventure horror game. However, what sets Apartment apart is its unique blending of genres. Inspired by equal parts Junji Ito and Italian slasher films, The Melting Apartment is as close as we’ll likely ever get to playing through a Lucio Fulci movie, and its mechanics are strong enough to back up its excellent style. Like Decline, there are multiple endings to The Melting Apartment that branch out from the player’s actions during gameplay, and it’s worth experimenting to see each one play out in impressive detail on the Game Boy Color’s hardware.

Opossum Country

Opossum Country gameplay
  • Release Date — December 14, 2020
  • Developer — Ben Jelter
  • Genre — Adventure, Horror

Prior to developing and releasing Decline, Ben Jelter would put out the excellent Opossum Country. A quick glance at the title’s itch.io page shows that the game has a legion of fans who appreciate its story-driven and narrative-heavy approach to horror, something that Jelter would continue with Decline. Opossum Country draws from a lot of horror films and television shows that peer into the seedy underbelly just beneath the surface of everyday life, following a similar thematic trail as the works of David Lynch. While the game doesn’t feature any traditional combat elements we associate with the survival horror genre, it’s still capable of delivering plenty of suitably creepy and unsettling moments through its dialogue and cutscenes.

Repugnant Bounty

Repugnant Bounty gameplay
  • Release Date — December 7, 2023
  • Developer — Starlab
  • Genre — Metroidvania

Metroidvanias are one of the more common genres for indie developers to work in, so it should come as no surprise that there are a handful of excellent games in the genre developed as part of the Game Boy Color homebrew scene. Perhaps the best of the bunch is Repugnant Bounty, which is a visually impressive and surprisingly large Metroidvania title. In terms of its gameplay, Repugnant Bounty borrows heavily from Metroid II: The Return of Samus. Players take on the role of a female protagonist as she scours a strange planet searching for the 28 monsters who killed her family (similar to Samus’ hunt for every last Metroid on SR388). That Repugnant Bounty was developed by one person in GB Studio belies its detailed visuals and animations, and the game has since gone on to have a sold-out physical release via Limited Run Games.

Soul Void

Soul Void gameplay
  • Release Date — June 28, 2023
  • Developer — Kadabura
  • Genre — Adventure, Horror

Like many other homebrew Game Boy Color titles, Soul Void is a short experience that packs a lot into its 1-3 hour runtime. Another adventure horror game, Soul Void takes a slightly different approach to the genre from many of its homebrew contemporaries. Rather than opt for more realistic-looking visuals, Soul Void is highly stylized and clearly takes cues from horror manga and anime in its aesthetics, character designs, and environments. However, despite its visual differences, Soul Void is still all about its story. The game features both smaller, character-driven moments as well as a climactic finale that will be sure to stick with players long after they finish.

Swordbird Song: The Iron Owl Tower

Swordbird Song gameplay
  • Release Date — October 7, 2022
  • Developer — frienicke
  • Genre — Action, Adventure

Take one look at Swordbird Song and it’s readily apparent what its biggest inspiration is. An obvious homage to the incredible Link’s Awakening, Swordbird Song is a great take on the classic 2D Zelda formula that swaps human characters for avian ones. As the Bird Hero stranded on a mysterious island, it’s up to you to stop the nefarious Owl King. However, unlike Link’s Awakening, most of Swordbird Song‘s dungeon crawling takes place in a single location, the Owl King’s Tower. As players advance through the game and acquire new equipment and abilities, they can advance further into the tower, giving Swordbird Song a little bit of Metroidvania flavor along with its clear Zelda lineage.

Usurper Ghoul

Usurper Ghoul gameplay
  • Release Date — November 13, 2020
  • Developer — evandahm
  • Genre — Adventure, RPG, Puzzle

Veteran homebrew developer evandahm’s Usurper Ghoul is perhaps their best game yet. A top-down action-adventure title with puzzle elements similar to Link’s Awakening, Usurper Ghoul takes its inspirations full circle, combining elements of both The Legend of Zelda and Dark Souls in its world design and storytelling. Part of the game’s challenge comes from simply figuring out where to go and what to do next, requiring players to pay special attention to environmental clues and item descriptions just like in FromSoftware’s Dark Souls trilogy.

Studios & Titles to Look Out For

Companies such as Limited Run Games, Mod Retro, and Incube8 are regularly releasing new titles for the Game Boy Color, including several of the games above. In particular, Incube8 Games has a handful currently in-development homebrew Game Boy Color games that should be releasing in the coming months, including newer titles from several of the same developers of games on our list. Keep an eye out for the following GBC homebrew titles:

  • Aaling The Ghost (RPG)
  • D*Fuzed (Puzzle)
  • Dracula: Dark Reign (Action Platformer)
  • Infinity (RPG)
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