Apps
CrankBoy
A full-speed GB emulator, plus 4 specially included titles .
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Description
A full-speed GB emulator, plus 4 specially included titles . Add your own library; download homebrew, romhacks, and cover art in-app. For certain games we offer custom support to take advantage of the Playdate's features -- widescreen, crank input, in-game maps, and more. Features : multiple save slots; 44.1 kHz audio; various dither patterns; numerous per-game settings for power-users (and sensible defaults for everyone else); softpatching; overclocking; and more. CGB not presently supported. Add games to /Shared/Emulation/gb/games/ or use CrankBoy Manager . Included Titles : Life's Too Short GB by Pixel Ghost, a GB spinoff of the popular Playdate game of the same name Dashosaur DX by Sleeping Panda Games, a precision platformer about dashing and dodging GBBS95 by Beatscribe, a nostalgic narrative adventure Lo-Fi GB by Beatscribe, a music album (but for your GB (but really for your PD))
- Crank: Not used
- Tilt: Not used
- Microphone: Not used
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Credits
Credits : Code : Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH), stonerl; some additional contributors Based on : SameBoy , PlayGB (RPDev), Peanut-GB (DeltaBeard), Greg's GB Emulator (Greg Tourville) Graphics Assets : tinyevilwizard, monseki , rae QA : Ophelia Bee Testing : Exguardi, Boozook, Captain_Barge Libraries : miniz , mini_gzip , lz4 , stb Special Thanks : SonoSooS, StiNKz, FReDs72, Dustin Mierau, GB Dev Wiki, Megan Sullivan, PD Squad, Data Crystal , JStFFP, gbdev.io Included Titles : Life's Too Short GB , Dashosaur DX , GBBBS95 , Lo-Fi GB . If you would like to see your own GB homebrew title featured in CrankBoy, please contact the developers. Additional credits listed in-app . Generative AI : Lead developer carefully hand-coded and optimized this emulator without any GenAI whatsoever. You can read about the advanced techniques used . However, other contributors were not required to disclose use of GenAI code.
Accessibility
3 of the 4 included titles are widely accessible. Dashosaur DX is a rather precise action game.
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roundup
Roundups / YourCoolUncleMarisa
Cool Uncle Reviews: Six New Playdate Games You Should Try! Plus - Gameboy Emulation on Crankboy!
Elsewhere in the community
Independent write-ups / not member ratings
Playdate: The Unofficial Website
CrankBoy
Nick Simberg
2026-07-24
The only Game Boy emulator for Playdate you’ll ever need
Age note: App (including bundled roms) are appropriate for everyone. Parental lock is available to prevent downloading additional homebrew.
AI: This game's developer created it without the use of generative AI.