GameQ

GameQ turns a spare COLDCARD Q into a Game Boy handheld: walk to a shelf, choose a game, and play with the Q’s keys.

0.1.7GQ is an early tested release. Pokémon Red walking, CAPS fast-forward, and save/reload have been confirmed on a physical Q. These guides are public; installation files are currently available to invited testers.

Get started

Your game room

An actual test-harness capture of GameQ’s renderer, enlarged 2×. This is not a device photograph.

What you can do

• Choose a game from a shelf. Walk around the room with the arrow keys. Eight shelves hold your games; the clerk opens controls and system information.
• Speed through familiar parts. Tap SHIFT/CAPS to turn fast-forward on or off while playing.
• Pick up where you left off. Use the game’s own SAVE command, return to the room, and choose CONTINUE next time. Saves stay on microSD.

Before you start

Use a Q dedicated to games, with its wallet and notes already backed up. GameQ replaces the wallet interface and supports the COLDCARD Q only. Installation needs a FAT32 microSD card, a card reader and USB power.

The room is built into the firmware; game files and saves live on the card. Pokémon Red is the tested game. Broader Game Boy compatibility has not been established, and this release does not include audio, Game Boy Color or playable DOOM.

The source repository and starter downloads remain private. Invited testers can follow the installation guide; everyone can read these guides and explore how GameQ works.

Read the controls and save guide, see the hardware test record, or explore the architecture.

Preview and edit these guides

Contributors edit guides in docs/ and this overview in site/src/content/docs/index.mdx. With Node 22.12+, Bun 1.3.13 and Python 3, run bun install –frozen-lockfile, bun run build, and bun run preview from site/. Open the preview’s /GameQ/ path. Documentation changes merged into main publish automatically.

A project by Cinderworks.