
GbBBS95
The internet has been shut down and your friend has been blamed for releasing a virus. Can you find proof to clear his name? A nostalgic cozy game inspired by memories of growing up in the 1990s.
It's 1995, a long autumn weekend has just started and you got your brand new Gameboy Modem to go online. Experience the 90's world of dial-up Bulletin Board Systems, solve a small town mystery and explore a lush world in this cozy game backed by lofi hip hop vibes and midwestern emo inspired soundtrack. Massive original soundtrack by Beatscribe also includes a song by 90s math-rock slowcore legends C-Clamp and LoFi chill master A L E X.
Features
- Explore an Online ANSI art world based on the 'scene' from the 1990s pre-www online world. Contains actual ANSI art converted to Gameboy formats.
- Play online door games on the BBS's, trade in-game resources with Game Link cables and battle your friends.
- Explore a city full of 40 different locales filled with interesting characters.
- Solve puzzles and uncover the mystery behind the hack.
- Mini-games and side quests to keep you busy (can you get 100% completion, can you find both VHS tapes?)
- Atmospheric audio tricks never seen on the Gameboy such as dynamic music that reacts to your surroundings, sound-based puzzles and more.
- Super Game Boy and Game Link Cable features but neither are needed to complete the game.
- Secrets that stretch beyond the Gameboy ROM into other electronic mediums.
- Runs great on DMG with most special effects retained (recommended to play on color for full experience though).
- Fast forward mode if you don't enjoy fetch quest or reading lore, experience the plot and main game points in just 20 minutes (you will miss some things, better to enjoy the journey - you can't get best ending doing fast-foward)
- 3 different endings depending on the decisions you make during the game.
- Massive soundtrack of over 20 songs and 60 unique sound effects, you can get the album here.
- Full Spanish Translation (separate ROM)
Video of Special Audio Environmental Effects
If you enjoy the game, leave a comment, it makes me super happy to hear about your experiences.
Programming by
Beatscribe
IRL maps by
Faultbox
Sprites by
howdyriceball
ProtoPixel
FaultBox
ANSI art by
Beatscribe
Additional art by
GumpyFunction
Music and SFX by
Beatscribe
"Dropped My Cassette Tape" composed by A L E X
Arranged by Beatscribe
Used with permission.
"In Tow" "written by C-Clamp (Frantz H. Etienne, Thomas A. Fitzgerald, Nicholas A. Macri).
Published by Terre Etienne (ASCAP), TFITZ (ASCAP), Al’s Candid Music (ASCAP).
Arranged by Beatscribe.
Used with permission.
"Come on!" sound recreated from scratch. Not taken from any Sega title.
No AI was used to generate any part of this game.
Testing / QA by
Q48E
2bitcrook
xCelfr
attackemartin
Font by
2bitcrook
Frame design by
2bitcrook
Dos terminal readout by
Pautomas
Enter name plugin by
Finny
XL switch plugin by
Comorant42
Consulting by
RubenRetro
Jeltron
Q48E
Pautomas
2bitCrook
Pearacidic
attackemartin
Ansi2png by
James Lin
Gbbgtxt by
James Park
Tileswap Plugin by Fredrik
VgmGbStudionator by
PotatoTeto
Interior tileset elements
By Royal Graphics
(asset pack)
Sprite elements
By Sleepless7
(asset pack)
7-11 Interior Tiles
By Reakain
Spanish translation
by Monicapo
Tested On
- Gameboy DMG
- Gameboy Color
- Gameboy Pocket
- ModRetro Chromatic
- Super Gameboy
- Super Gameboy 2
- BittBoy
- mGBA Emulator
- Emulicious Emulator
- Sameboy Emulator
| Status | Released |
| Platforms | HTML5 |
| Rating | Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars (10 total ratings) |
| Author | beatscribe |
| Genre | Role Playing, Adventure |
| Tags | Cozy, Game Boy, Game Boy ROM, Pixel Art |
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- Physical Release Now Available!34 days ago
- Now out in Spanish65 days ago
- Minor Bug Fixes v1.4.579 days ago
- All About ANSI Art!88 days ago
- Color vs DMG89 days ago
- The Origins of GbBBS90 days ago









Comments
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I very much enjoyed this game. You did a great job capturing the vibe of BBSing back in the day. Wish there was more BBS nostalgia games like this … the only other one I know of is Digital A Love Story.
thanks , you might like Uplink; it’s not exactly bbs era but similar deal. It had an amazing ost done in demoscene mod style
I found your game through C-Clamp's ig post and wow. I'm blown away by the love and creativity that went into this game. The BBS parts were fun and nostalgic, the adventure parts felt like an honest to god 90s GB game like Links Awakening. But seriously, every detail feels like it was considered. The music, the locations... The reflections in the puddles! Amazing work. My only wish is that I could rewind the two hours or so and experience it again. Thank you.
thanks that really means a lot. There are three endings if you do want to play again :)
Really love the music! gotta find some time to dig in...
thanks! It’s about a 2 hour game but you can save any time
Great game! Keep up the good work!
thanks for your awesome resources!
wonderful music and artstyle!
thank you so much for your comment I hope you enjoy the full game
Wonderful way to spend a couple hours. This has such a strong sense of time and place - and brings back many memories. Thank you.
Thank you so much for playing, I apreciate it!
this was such a cool game! very nostalgic (also much longer than i expected!)
everything is also just beautifully put together... really feels like you're skating around a town.
thank you for taking the time to play it, it means a lot
What a great game! Made me feel a lot of a mix of nostalgia and anemoia. Played through the whole game in one go. Actually I wanted to test a bunch of GB Compo games last night but ended up playing only this one for almost 2 hours.
It took me a while to get into it, reading through and trying to memorize the jargon glossar, but oh boy was it worth it!
Only reached 96% completion, because the ending caught me a little off guard and I hadn't saved in quite a while. Only encountered very few actual glitches but nothing game-breaking and they kind of even added to the 90s homebrew tech vibes of the game.
I certainly hope this won't be your last game 😊
Thanks! Your words mean a lot. It is exactly what I hoped it would make people feel. It is mostly based on actual memories (we never found a mysterious complex in the woods though) from childhood. The typos on the BBS are intentional, typos were everywhere back then because, well, everyone was like 15!
Love the mix of gameplay types and all the attention to detail that really add to the vibe, like rain, cloud puddle/reflection.Even things like little typos in bbs chat make it feel more alive/real!(the puddle reflection had me like :o haha)
Obviously top tier music XD love the cclamp song and first cutscene songs. I think the cave song was my top fave so far
(still playing through tho)I even went back to try to hear it again haha
(When you get to your house and first go on bbs, you get this feeling that you're playing something with a lot of heart :) those are my favourite)
Thank you so much for taking the time to share. It’s funny everyone loves the cave song and I probably spent the least amount of time on that lol! You can get it here: https://beatscribe.bandcamp.com/album/gbbbs95
I’m glad you enjoy the game I really did try to put a lot of heart into each scene. Aside for the mystery it’s more or less based on real memories.
Hahah ya so many great tracks tho! Thanks for the link!
Enjoyed it really cool, music is sweet, and I love some of the effect like the reflections and exploring was fun
I’m so glad! thank you for taking the time
Did you implement an iMuse-like system for the GB? :O
Still playing, but I can already say that this is one of my favourite games of all time for the GB. Good job! 👏
Playing on an Analogue Pocket + everdrive, and so far everything works perfectly.
Your comments mean a lot thank you! I put a lot of effort into the game. I wish I could get to the level of a modern iMuse-like system, but at least we have some cool changes happening at key moments that make sense! Really pushing the gameboy and Gb Studio to the limits. I am glad you noticed :D
Now this is nostalgic! Reminds me of playing on my own bulky computer as a kid, while the air conditioner was blasting in a midwestern heat wave. Waiting for some buddies to come by on bikes and go on an adventure in the woods. Well done Beat!
I can almost hear Wonderwall playing on the radio...
Thanks for your kind words!
this game was so cool to play, even longer than I expected. I was born in 1998 so I didn't get half the references haha.
Love the digital brutalism in the fonts, tho. And the music is everything here. I liked LoRT cave the most!
Congratulations!
lol the font choice was intentional :D
thanks for playing it it means a lot!
So happy with what we created!
Your art brought it to life!
love it!
Couldn't have done it without your help!
I played the whole game and I have to say I loved it. The atmosphere perfectly captures the BBS era; it made me so nostalgic...
That is so much what I was going for, that makes me so glad!
This game is a whole vibe. The pixel art is fantastic. The atmosphere is just so nostalgic. And the music is banging. Never heard anything like it on a GB game. Awesome work!
Thanks so much for trying it out!!