# pound-emu/pound

Open source emulator for the Nintedo Switch 1 and 2. Highly work in progress

Repository: https://github.com/pound-emu/pound
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/pound
Language: C
License: GPL-3.0
License Family: copyleft
Topics: emulation, emulator, switch, switch-2, homebrew, nintendo, nintendo-switch, nintendo-switch-2
Last push: 2026-08-23T18:28:32+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 63/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 35, longevity 32
- inputs: {"age_days": 454, "days_push": 10, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1081, forks 49 (observed 2026-08-28T04:03:30.729636+00:00)

## What it is
Pound is an open-source emulator for the Nintendo Switch 1 and 2, written in C and still highly work-in-progress. Development is focused on building a new ARM recompiler (Ballistic) to maximize emulation performance.

## Use cases
- play nintendo switch games on pc
- emulate switch 2 games on linux
- open source switch emulator
- run switch homebrew on desktop
- test switch game dumps without a console

## When to choose
- you want an open-source, GPL-licensed Switch emulator and can tolerate instability
- you run Linux and want to follow or contribute to cutting-edge emulator development
- you're interested in emulator internals like JIT recompilation and Vulkan translation

## When to avoid
- you need a stable, polished emulator for everyday gaming today
- you rely on Windows builds, which lag behind Linux
- you expect broad game compatibility from a mature project

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: experimental
- function: simulation, graphics, compiler
- domain: gaming-tools, simulation, developer-tools
- platform: windows, cpp
- tags: emulator, nintendo-switch, switch-2, jit-recompiler, vulkan, homebrew, work-in-progress, linux

## Member repositories
- pound-emu/pound (main) score 63

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:30.729636+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 2026-08-30T06:51:23.586829+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/pound-emu/pound (fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:30.729636+00:00, sha 642ddd0cdbb0)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.