gb-studio

GB Studio is a desktop application that lets you create retro-style adventure games for the original Game Boy handheld console without writing code. It is available for Mac, Windows, and Linux. You design your game using a visual editor and the tool compiles everything into a ROM file, which is the format the Game Boy reads. That ROM can be played on original hardware using a cartridge flasher, on a Game Boy emulator, or as a web build you can share online.

The application is built on Electron, which is a framework for making desktop apps with web technologies, and under the hood it uses GBDK, a development kit for writing Game Boy games in C. When you publish your game, GB Studio handles all of that compilation work so you do not have to deal with the underlying toolchain yourself.

Aside from the graphical editor there is also a command-line interface for users who want to automate parts of the workflow. The CLI can export a project to GBDK source code, compile a Game Boy ROM file, compile a file for the Analogue Pocket handheld, or produce a web build, all from a project file created in the visual editor.

The project is open source under the MIT license and has been actively developed since 2019. It has a community on Reddit and Discord, and the author accepts support through Patreon. Documentation lives on the GB Studio website. Translations for the interface into other languages can be contributed by editing JSON language files in the repository.

GB Studio is aimed at people who want to make games in the style of classic Game Boy titles without learning the low-level programming those games originally required. The barrier to entry is intentionally low.