# LIJI32/SameBoy

Game Boy and Game Boy Color emulator written in C

Repository: https://github.com/LIJI32/SameBoy
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/sameboy
Homepage: https://sameboy.github.io/
Language: C
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Topics: gameboy-color, gameboy, emulator
Last push: 2026-07-10T15:37:20+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 78/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 91, release rhythm 49, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3806, "days_push": 54, "days_rel": 182, "gap_med": 141.0, "n_releases_24m": 5}
- flags: no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 2177, forks 271 (observed 2026-08-28T04:06:22.857353+00:00)

## What it is
SameBoy is an open source, highly accurate Game Boy (DMG), Game Boy Color (CGB), and Super Game Boy emulator written in portable C. It ships with native Cocoa, SDL, iOS, and libretro frontends, plus a powerful text-based debugger for ROM developers.

## Use cases
- play game boy and game boy color games on my computer
- accurate gameboy emulator for mac
- debug and test my homebrew gameboy rom
- libretro core for game boy emulation
- emulate game boy color boot animation and palettes
- run super game boy games with borders and palettes
- test rom compatibility against blargg test suites

## When to choose
- you need extremely accurate, cycle-accurate Game Boy or Game Boy Color emulation
- you are a ROM developer who needs conditional breakpoints, watchpoints, and a disassembler
- you want a libretro core for RetroArch or native frontends on macOS, Windows, Linux, or iOS
- you care about accurate audio, LCD timing effects, and open source boot ROMs

## When to avoid
- you want to emulate other consoles beyond Game Boy family
- you need a simple plug-and-play multi-system emulator rather than a dedicated one
- you require a license without additional exceptions (custom Expat variant)

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: active
- function: game-engine, simulation, gui, cli
- domain: gaming-tools, cross-platform, developer-tools, simulation
- platform: windows, cross-platform
- tags: emulator, gameboy, gameboy-color, super-game-boy, libretro-core, sdl, cocoa, cycle-accurate, debugger, boot-rom, debugging, macos, linux, ios, desktop

## Member repositories
- LIJI32/SameBoy (main) score 78

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:22.857353+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 2026-08-30T02:48:50.113317+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/LIJI32/SameBoy (fetched 2026-08-28T04:06:22.857353+00:00, sha 7be597d0083f)
  - homepage: https://sameboy.github.io/ (fetched 2026-08-29T10:28:46.090203+00:00, sha a34005242ad8)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.