emulators in your browser · free · beta
RetroBox
A retro arcade that runs in your browser, with nothing to install: Atari, Nintendo, Sega, Commodore, MS-DOS and more systems. It works on computers, tablets and phones, with keyboard, touch or a controller.
RetroBox at a glance
beta- 200+ free gamesfreely licensed and ready to play
- Dozens of systemsfrom the Atari 2600 to the PlayStation, plus Commodore, MS-DOS and arcade
- Your ROMs, wherever they arecomputer, NAS, FTP/SFTP, GitHub, links; Drive, OneDrive and Dropbox coming soon
- No files on the servergames stay on your devices and in your own storage
- One account, every devicelibrary, sources, favourites and recent games go with you
- Link with a code6 characters, no need to type the password
- Save and resumesave your game at any point
- Covers and descriptionslooked up automatically for your games
- Controller, keyboard or touchon-screen gamepad and virtual keyboard
- Visual effectsold-TV filters and upscaling
- Cheats and achievementscheats and RetroAchievements on supported systems
- English and Italianpause menu and settings included
Free, no ads, nothing to install. It is in beta: if something does not work, let me know. How to use it: the guide with screenshots.
More than 200 free games, ready to play
As soon as you open RetroBox you find a library of free games: homebrew and games their authors give away, each with its own licence. There are titles for Atari 2600 and 7800, NES and Super Nintendo, Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance, Master System, Game Gear and Mega Drive, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, MSX, Amstrad CPC, MS-DOS and a few arcade games. The full list, with authors and licences, is on the licences page.
Your games, from wherever you keep them
You can add your own ROMs by connecting a source: a file or folder on your computer, a folder on your home network (NAS), your own FTP or SFTP server, a public GitHub repository or a link. Google Drive, OneDrive and Dropbox as direct sources are coming soon; meanwhile their folder synced on your computer works. RetroBox reads the files from there, when needed. The step-by-step how-to is in the guide.
Nothing is uploaded to the gerla.cc server. Files from your computer, your NAS and links go straight from your storage to your browser. The only technical exception is FTP and SFTP: browsers cannot use those protocols, so the server connects to your server for you and passes the file on as it reads it, without ever saving it.
With an account, on every device
Without an account everything stays in your browser. If you create an account, your library follows you: on your phone, tablet or another computer you find the same games, connected sources, favourites, recently played games and settings. To link a new device a code is enough, no need to type the password again.
The account syncs the lists, not the files: each device reads the games from your sources.
While you play
Esc or the controller's menu button opens the pause menu, in the RetroBox style and in your language: resume, save or load your game, view the controls, switch discs in multi-disc games, open cheats and achievements, go back to the library. The pause menu, in the guide.
In each system's settings you choose the screen size, bilinear filtering, vertical sync, on-screen controls and visual effects, such as filters that imitate old TV sets. Phones and tablets get an on-screen gamepad; vintage computers also have a virtual keyboard.
ROMs and BIOS files: what the law says
Emulators are legal programs: they reproduce how a machine works. The ones in RetroBox are free software, with their licences.
ROMs are the games, and they are works protected by copyright like books or music, even when the game has not been sold for decades: “abandonware” is not a legal category. Downloading the ROM of a commercial game from the internet without permission from the rights holder is not allowed, even if you own the original cartridge. A copy you make yourself, from a game you own and for personal use, may be allowed in some countries and under certain conditions: it depends on the law where you live.
BIOS files are the internal software of some consoles (for example PlayStation, Saturn, Neo Geo) and are needed only for some systems. They are protected by copyright too and the same rules apply: RetroBox does not provide any.
RetroBox publishes only the program, the emulators and the free games. It does not offer, link or recommend sources of protected games or BIOS files. What you add is your choice and your responsibility: use only games and BIOS files you have the right to use.
This is general information, not legal advice. Anyone who believes something published by RetroBox infringes their rights can report it from the legal notes: it is examined and removed promptly.
What stays on the server
- games and BIOS files never: they stay on your devices or in your sources
- without an account nothing about you
- with an account user name, password as a hash, lists of games and sources, favourites, settings, FTP and SFTP servers with encrypted passwords
- game information name, year, author and links to pictures, shared by everyone, with no personal data
- statistics system, title and length of play sessions, to see what to improve: anonymous, or tied to your user name if you are signed in
- cookies only the technical session cookie, no advertising or profiling
The account can be deleted at any time, with all its data, from Account › Delete account. The details are in the RetroBox legal notes.