A lone gameboy developer finds the perfect game jam to enter. Self doubt and reverence  for the great classics hold her back as she journeys to come up with the perfect game idea.

Untitled GB Game is a retro walking simulator that you can actually play on a GameBoy, or emulator, or in your browser.

* Updated to v1.01 fixing a game breaking bug in the forest at the beginning and making the correct route a bit more obvious.

Source Project

The source project and assets for Untitled GB Game are now available on GitHub at https://github.com/chrismaltby/untitled-gb-game so you can take it apart and see how it works! You can open this project using GB Studio.

Controls

Movement - Arrow Keys / WASD

Interact - Alt / Z / J

Start - Enter / X / K

Credits

Programming
Chris Maltby

Graphics
Chris Maltby

Story
Chris Maltby

Music
...

chrismaltby.com

StatusReleased
PlatformsWindows, macOS, Linux, HTML5
Rating
Rated 4.7 out of 5 stars
(68 total ratings)
AuthorChris Maltby
GenreRole Playing
Tags2D, Game Boy, JRPG, Retro, Walking simulator

Download

Download
untitled-gb-game-rom.zip 39 kB

Install instructions

You'll need a Game Boy Emulator to run this .gb file.

For Mac I'd recommend OpenEmu: https://openemu.org/

For Windows & Linux, I think KiGB should be good: http://kigb.emuunlim.com/

Thanks for downloading my game, I hope you enjoy it!

Comments

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<333

Great game!!! Love it.

(+1)

Nice game. I've been messing around with your editor and I really like it too. Good job, man!

(+2)(-1)

The Fisrt GBstudio Game EVER!
You are Cool 8)

Omg cool and interesting game!!!1!!!1!!!1

Lets speedrun this

nice :) thanks for making this

adding to install instructions, you could also use mgba on a hacked nintendo 3ds

I like it!

nice, thank you!

(+1)

Aaw you got me real excited when I heard there was a "gem of music" in this game xD

(1 edit) (+2)

I'm not a big fan on RPGs, but this game is really fun and it's still a masterpiece even if it's released 30 years before!

(+2)

Wow! Such a great and meta game!

(+1)

Thanks! :-)

(+1)

Nice! Inspired to use GB Studio now :)

(+2)

So impressed by how nicely we can play it on mobile 🥰

I love the references to The Legend Of Zelda (Link's Awakening DX I think...)

Cute!

(+1)

Chris, thank you so much for everything! This and GB Studio is an incredible gift to the community! Chapeau! There will be a new Game Boy game in my profile too soon ;)

(-1)

Nice, you didn't even put music, as the ending said! also the game is not pong

xD This was funny

(+2)

I love the classic macintosh! I put that in my game as my main character's computer too .I just think it's so fun and iconic

(+4)

Just released the source project and assets for this on GitHub at https://github.com/chrismaltby/untitled-gb-game by the way, so you can take it apart and see how it works! You can open this project using GB Studio.

(+1)

That was really fun and it gave me a lot of ideas, thank you Chris!

I have noticed something: while using KiGB the game has the default GB pallet (all green) but when I try to open in VBA (emulator) the game become colorful, pink hair for the main character for example. Why is that?

Anyway, keep doing the amazing work with the engine.

(+1)

The GBA added colours to black-and-white GB games. So did the gameboy colour. When you turn it on while holding different button combinations, they choose a different colour theme to apply.

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That's true but as far as I know, this game was made with the default green theme. But what VBA is showing is much more than than a single pallet:

(+2)

Well that is unexpected! I can't explain it but enjoy your colour version then!  :-D

(+3)

It fits very well!

(1 edit) (+1)

Just researching for a different game I want to make, and stumbled across this which may explain some things?

"For dozens of popular Game Boy titles, the Game Boy Color has an enhanced palette built in featuring up to 16 colors - four colors for each of the Game Boy's four layers. If the system does not have a palette stored for a game, it defaults to a palette of green, blue, salmon, black, and white. However, when the user turns on the system, they may choose one of 12 built-in color palettes by pressing certain button combinations (namely a direction key and optionally A or B) while the Game Boy logo is present on the screen."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Boy_Color#Color_palettes_used_for_original_Game_Boy_games

On the Gameboy Advance page, they also say this: "Game Boy games can be played using the same selectable color palettes as on the Game Boy Color."

Hehehe I loved it!

Loved it! Really liked the ending with Pong :D

REALLY GOOD !!

(-1)

haha, this was great. loved the twist at the end, and everything in between.
we might share the same humor, so you might enjoy my game "coffee please", and i am not saying this to advertise, I'm doing it just because i think you would have a giggle or two too.

(+1)

This was cute. I like the use of a pseudo-Mabe Village from Link's Awakening to represent the dream in a literal sense. I think it feels very slightly rushed, but that's kind of the point, isn't it? I like the ending (pre-pong); ignoring the negative feedback was a really sweet little way to wrap it up. The use of familiarity among difference made me nostalgic, but not just for Link's Awakening. I feel like it represented the journey that leads someone to who they become. Even if I'm reading too far into it, I don't care. It's a nice little game.

(+1)

Thanks for the kind words! :) and haha, you’re not actually reading too much into it at all. There’s a video games exhibit at the V&A museum in London at the moment, one of the things there was a spreadsheet that the Journey devs made mapping the sections of the game to the stages of the monomyth I took a photo if you’re interested. That inspired me to do the same so I spent a few hours mapping out the journey in a similar way, really helped putting a structure in place. The game’s not as long as I’d like but the deadline was 7 days from start to finish but there’s always room for a sequel!

(1 edit) (+3)

Sequel name: Untitled GBC game

PS: Is there supposed by any SFX? (cause I can't hear any)

(+2)

My game engine doesn’t support sound effects or music yet but I do make reference to that in the story xD GBC is probably next!