# drhelius/Gearboy

Game Boy / Game Boy Color / Super Game Boy emulator, debugger and embedded MCP server for macOS, Windows, Linux, BSD and RetroArch.

Repository: https://github.com/drhelius/Gearboy
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/gearboy
Homepage: https://x.com/drhelius
Language: C++
License: GPL-3.0
License Family: copyleft
Topics: game-boy, emulator, raspberry-pi, gameboy-emulator, gameboy-color-emulator, gameboy, linux, nintendo-gameboy, retroarch, libretro, bsd, emulation, mcp, vgm, mcp-server
Last push: 2026-09-02T14:19:39+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 100/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 100, release rhythm 100, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5158, "days_push": 0, "days_rel": 1, "gap_med": 14, "n_releases_24m": 24}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1194, forks 162 (observed 2026-09-03T02:15:11.380737+00:00)

## What it is
Gearboy is an accurate cross-platform Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Super Game Boy emulator written in C++, available as a desktop app, a RetroArch/libretro core, and with a built-in debugger. It also embeds an MCP server enabling AI-assisted debugging and development.

## Use cases
- play game boy games on my computer
- emulate game boy color roms on mac
- debug game boy homebrew code
- run gameboy emulator on raspberry pi
- use an emulator core in retroarch
- let an AI agent inspect a game boy emulator via mcp

## When to choose
- you need an accurate GB/GBC/SGB emulator across Windows, macOS, Linux, or BSD
- you want a libretro/RetroArch core for Game Boy emulation
- you're developing or debugging Game Boy homebrew and want built-in debugger or AI/MCP tooling

## When to avoid
- you need emulation of other consoles like GBA, DS, or NES
- you want a mobile (Android/iOS) emulator
- you prefer a simpler end-user emulator without debugging features

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: active
- function: game-engine, simulation, mcp, developer-tools
- domain: gaming-tools, developer-tools, cross-platform
- platform: windows, bsd, cpp, cross-platform
- tags: game-boy, game-boy-color, super-game-boy, emulator, debugger, retroarch, libretro, mcp-server, raspberry-pi, vgm, game-development, macos, linux, desktop

## Member repositories
- drhelius/Gearboy (main) score 100

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-09-03T02:15:11.380737+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T06:22:28.961442+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/drhelius/Gearboy (fetched 2026-09-03T02:15:11.380737+00:00, sha 5a9540cab366)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.