AI retro game maker: make Game Boy Color, GBA, and N64-style games

What each retro engine makes

Each file needs any one purchase, from $2.99. These engines compile games you make in Shiny Gen. They are not emulators and cannot load other people's ROMs.

From idea to ROM

1. Pick a retro engine. In Shiny Gen press +, choose New, and pick the GBA, GBC, or N64 engine. A new game starts empty on purpose.
2. Describe the game. Say what the player does and what the screen shows. The agent writes it, builds it, and plays it with the keypad to find and fix bugs.
3. Keep changing it. Ask for another level, a new enemy, different music. You can play it in the browser the whole time.
4. Press Share, then export. Shiny Gen builds the file, boots it in a fresh emulator to check that it starts, and hands it to you. A .gba or .gbc file goes on a flash cart's SD card.

The full walkthrough, including save types for flash carts, is in the guide to exporting a ROM, and the GBA guide covers that engine in depth.

Retro games made by the AI

All of these are in the free catalogue. Pixel art is shown at its real, tiny resolution, scaled up.

• 
  GBC engine

  Shiny Fighter Color

  A platform fighter with eight fighters, from a parcel courier to a chef with a frying pan.

• 
  GBC engine

  Shiny Monsters Color

  Team up with a young monster and win back the stolen Prism to bring color home.

• 
  GBC engine

  Shiny Kart Color

  Race tinker-bots in three-wheel buggies around three tracks, seen from above.

• 
  GBA engine

  Shiny Monsters Advance

  Befriend monsters, win your matches, and chase the cloud off Pinwheel Hill.

• 
  GBA engine

  Spark Garden

  Crabby gathers falling sparks and grows them into a lantern tree, a windmill, and more.

• 
  N64 engine

  Shiny Kart 64

  Six cars, three tracks, three laps, with CPU drivers that fight for position.

• 
  N64 engine

  Sky Courier 64

  Fly a paraglider courier between seven floating islands above the clouds.

• 
  N64 engine

  Shiny Mine 64

  Dig a quarry in blocky 3D and bring stone to the altar before the day ends.

• 
  DS engine

  Garden Keeper

  Harvest toadstools before sunset, with the garden in 3D on the top screen.

Want it on a Nintendo 64?

Cart64 is a free tool from the same team. It takes a Game Boy Color or Game Boy Advance game file you own the rights to, such as one you made, and packs it with our own player into a .z64 file for an N64 flash cart. The work happens in your browser and the file never leaves your device.

That gives you a second route for a GBA or GBC game you made here: export the ROM, then run it on an N64 through Cart64.

On a phone or a handheld

Shiny Gen runs in a browser and in iPhone, iPad, and Android apps. The Android app also runs on Retroid-class handhelds with controller support.

Questions about the AI retro game maker

Is there an AI retro game maker that makes real ROM files?

Yes. In Shiny Gen you pick the GBA, GBC, or N64 engine, describe a game, and the AI builds it. You can then export a real ROM (.gba, .gbc, or .z64). Exporting needs any one purchase, from a $2.99 starter pack.

Will the ROM run on real hardware?

GBA and GBC ROMs run on real consoles through a flash cart, and we have tested that: GBA on a Game Boy Advance and a DS Lite, GBC on a Game Boy Advance and a ModRetro Chromatic. N64, DS, and GameCube files are tested in emulators only so far, and we do not claim real hardware for them.

Which emulators play the files?

For example mGBA on a computer or Delta on an iPhone for .gba and .gbc, melonDS for .nds, and Dolphin for GameCube files. We test N64 ROMs in ares.

Is this an emulator or a ROM loader?

No. The retro engines compile new games that you make in Shiny Gen. They cannot play, open, or convert commercial or third-party ROMs.

Are the games really Game Boy Color and GBA games, or just a retro look?

The engines are built for those machines, so games are made within their limits instead of being modern games with a filter on top. The GBA and GBC engines compile real games for those systems, and the ROM is what you export.

What does it cost?

Making and playing cost nothing, and AI generation draws on gems: new accounts get free gems and a few free AI turns, then a free prompt each day. Exporting a ROM needs any one purchase, from $2.99, once.

Can I export a ROM from the Android app?

Not yet. The export button is not in the Android app. Open the game at shinygen.ai in a browser on your phone or computer and export it there, with the same account. The iPhone and iPad app saves the file to Files.

Can I try a ROM before I make one?

Yes. The cartridge games in the catalogue, such as Shiny Monsters Advance, offer a Download ROM button under Share to anyone logged in, with no purchase. It is a good way to check your emulator or flash cart setup.