gamebuino_classic_vircon32

Gamebuino Classic games ported to vircon32 selectable in one convient menu

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Project maintained by joyrider3774 Hosted on GitHub Pages — Theme by mattgraham

Gamebuino Classic → Vircon32

A Vircon32 cartridge that ports 99 games from the Gamebuino Classic library (an Arduino-based handheld with an 84x48 Nokia 5110/PCD8544 monochrome display and 7 real digital buttons) behind one shared game-select menu - the same overall shape as the sibling tinyjoypad_vircon32 project, reusing its menu system and column-atlas rendering trick, adapted for Gamebuino Classic’s own smaller display and genuinely-classed, real-framebuffer API instead of TinyJoypad’s byte-stream one.

Vircon32’s GPU is a texture-region blitter with no CPU-writable framebuffer, so display output is routed through a 256-tile “column atlas” (one pre-baked texture tile per possible PCD8544 byte value) instead of writing pixels directly - see CLAUDE.md for the full architecture writeup.

This port was built with the help of Claude AI (Anthropic), directly reusing the methodology and much of the shared infrastructure already proven in the sibling tinyjoypad_vircon32 project.

Controls

Console input	Used for
D-pad	Move / navigate the menu
Button A	Confirm / Gamebuino’s own Button A
Button B	Gamebuino’s own Button B
Button X	Gamebuino’s own Button C
Button Y	Toggle sound on/off globally - works on the menu, mid-game, and during the quit-confirmation dialog
Button L	Toggle a pixel-grid overlay on/off - only while a game is actually running (no effect on the menu)
Button R	Toggle real solid-gray rendering on/off - GB_GRAY normally renders as real hardware’s own flickering checkerboard dither; this shows it as a real, solid, flat gray instead. Works globally (menu, mid-game, dialog) like the mute toggle above, though it’s only visible in games that actually draw GB_GRAY content
Button Start	Pause mid-game and open the quit-confirmation dialog (YES/NO, defaults to NO)

Which physical keyboard key or real gamepad button maps to which of these is up to the Vircon32 emulator’s own input configuration - this cartridge doesn’t assume a specific keyboard layout.

License

This project is GPLv3 (LICENSE.txt): several of the games shipped in this cartridge (Agaruino, CrazyCar, Shufflepuck Cafe, Taquin) are themselves GPLv3, and combining GPLv3 code into one cartridge binary makes the cartridge as a whole a GPLv3 combined work. This covers this project’s own new code (the shim layer, the menu, portVircon32.c) - each individual game’s own original license/attribution is preserved unmodified in its own header comment in src/games/, and is also listed per-game in the table below.

Known concern: Firemen’s own upstream LICENSE.md says only “GPL V2”, with no “or later version” clause found - GPLv2-only code is not license-compatible with GPLv3 the way every other GPL’d game in this cartridge (all GPLv3) is, so combining it into this same GPLv3 binary as-is is a real, unresolved licensing conflict, not just a compatible-license bookkeeping detail. Flagged here rather than silently ignored; not yet resolved.

How these ports are built

Every game below is a real, faithful port of its actual upstream C/C++ source - not a rewrite. The same handful of translation patterns recur across almost all 99, since this dialect (see VIRCON32_C_DIALECT.md) diverges from standard C/C++ in a few consistent ways:

• C++ classes → plain structs + free functions. No classes/methods in this dialect, so every real class becomes a named struct plus functions taking an explicit pointer (or array index, for games with multiple instances like bullets/enemies).
• Blocking loops → explicit state machines. Real gb.titleScreen()/ gb.menu()-style blocking calls become named states in a flat switch/if-else chain, since a game may only run one gbUpdate()/ gbRenderFrame() pair per engine tick.
• Struct-by-value returns → out-pointers. Functions can’t return more than one word here, so anything upstream returned by value (a vector, a small struct) takes an extra output-pointer parameter instead.
• No ternary operator. Every a ? b : c becomes an explicit if/else.
• Bitmap data ported byte-for-byte, converting Arduino’s B01011010 binary literals to hex where needed, with element counts checked against each bitmap’s own declared size rather than hand-transcribed.
• EEPROM saves use a fresh-cell sentinel check (==0xFFFF/ ==0xFFFFFFFF) before trusting a value read off a blank card, matching real hardware’s own factory-erased state.
• Narrow AVR integer types are audited by hand where they matter. This dialect’s int is always a full 32-bit word (no 8/16-bit narrowing or wraparound), so anywhere real upstream code relied on that - especially composed EEPROM values - was traced through and fixed if the two platforms would actually diverge.
• Real upstream bugs are preserved, not fixed by default - including gameplay quirks that look like mistakes - unless they’d crash, hang, or make the game genuinely unplayable on this platform specifically, or (a smaller set, fixed on direct request) were judged a genuine negative hit to player experience. See BUGS.md for the full list of what’s deliberately preserved vs. what was fixed and why.
• Sound is a real port of the actual tracker/pattern/track engine (notes, patterns, tracks, and instrument envelopes/slide/arpeggio/ tremolo commands), not just one-shot tones - with one real, documented gap: there is no noise instrument. Real hardware drives its speaker from a genuine pseudorandom noise generator for any instrument step flagged as noise (e.g. playTick()); this port has no noise waveform at all, so a noise-flagged step plays as a plain tone at the same pitch/ duration instead. Each game also gets its own short, unique global/ function name prefix to keep 99 games’ worth of C code collision-free in one shared build.

Games

Click a thumbnail for the full-size screenshot. Every game here runs on the same real Gamebuino Classic hardware (an ATmega328 driving an 84x48 PCD8544/Nokia 5110 display). In the cartridge’s own menu, a handful of titles are shown in red text instead of white - a plain visual “known unfinished” warning (e.g. missing scoring/win-lose conditions, built from a genuinely incomplete upstream source, or a known bug like a ball that can get stuck). They’re still fully selectable and playable like any other game, just flagged.

The table also includes Sound Test, which uses the same red-text flagging but for a different reason: it’s not a ported game at all, just an in-cartridge diagnostic tool for exercising the sound shim’s own primitives directly (playOK()/playCancel()/playTick(), a raw pitch sweep, and a few instrument/volume/slide extras).

Game	Author	License	Save	Source	Screenshot
101 Starships	Zoglu	None	—	zoglu.net (no stable link)
A to K	Carlos Mari	CC-BY 4.0 (+ no-selling note)	✅	carloslabs.com (no stable link)
Aerial-Assault	SkylarHylar	None	—	Strike Down
Agaruino	ogbaba	GPLv3	—	Agaruino
Aimbuino	Baptiste Pouget (hosted under ogbaba’s account)	GPLv3	✅	Aimbuino
Another 2048	grafMakulaDer2te	None	—	another2048
Armageddon	wuuff	GPLv3	✅	armageddon
Artillery	Frakasss	None	—	Artillery
Asterocks	Yoda Zhang	None	✅	yodasvideoarcade.com
AsteroidRipper	ripper121	None	—	Recovered via direct download (no stable link)
B-Rally	scmar	MIT	✅	B Rally
Bang! Bang!	RackhamLeNoir	GPLv3	—	gamebuino bangbang
BigBlackBox	STUDIOCRAFTapps	Custom (non-commercial, keep credit - see source)	✅	akkera102 08 gamebuino
Blob Attack	LudumDareDevelopment	None	✅	Blob Attack
Blockdude	Sorunome	None	✅	blockdude gamebuino
BlocksBuino	frthery	None	—	BlocksBuino
Bomber	Clement83	None	—	Bomber
Breakout Ripper	ripper121	None	—	Recovered via direct download (no stable link)
Bub	smogheap	GPLv3	✅	smogheap.github.io/bub
Castle Defence	kh9282	None	✅	CastleDefence
Catcher	qubist	None	—	Gamebuino Catcher
Community RPG	Sorunome	None	—	gamebuino community rpg
Conduit	adekto	MIT	—	conduit
Copter	Clement83	None	—	Copter
CopterStrike	Frakasss	None	—	CopterStrike
Crabator	Rodot	None	✅	Crabator
CrazyCar	Baptiste Pouget	GPLv3	—	CRAZYCAR Gamebuino
CrazyTown	Clement Quintard	None	✅	CrazyTown
Cruiser	Michael Specht	None	—	cruiser
Dark Tower	Marcus Hutchings	GPLv3	—	DarkTower
DarkShmup	Clement83	None	—	DarkShmup
DeathMaze	msevilgenius	None	✅	Recovered via direct download (no stable link)
Descent into Hell	etienne72230	None	✅	DescentIntoHeel
Digger	scmar	None	✅	Digger
Elventure	trodoss (original, TEAM a.r.g.) / wuuff (Gamebuino port)	GPLv3	—	Elventure
Fifteen	Tnxec2	None	✅	fifteen
FireBuino!	LADBSoft	LGPLv3	✅	makerbuino firebuino
Firemen	Vicking69	GPLv2	✅	firemen
Flappy Birdo	Forklift5	None	✅	FlappyBirdo
Footlol	Baptiste Pouget (hosted under ogbaba’s account)	GPLv3	—	FOOTLOL Gamebuino
Gamebuino2048	Josiah Winslow	None	✅	Mediafire (no stable link)
Gemgem	Tnxec2	None	✅	gemgem gamebuino
GlaciGlaca	Clement83	None	—	GlaciGlaca
Gruniozerca	Arkadiusz Kaminski (arhneu)	Unlicense	✅	gruniozerca gamebuino
Invaders	Yoda Zhang	None	✅	yodasvideoarcade.com
Jezzball	RackhamLeNoir	GPLv3	✅	gamebuino jezzball
Kill Race	Yoda Zhang	None	✅	yodasvideoarcade.com
Lander	Yoda Zhang	None	✅	yodasvideoarcade.com
Lights Out AD	94k	WTFPL	—	Recovered via direct download (no stable link)
Maruino	ajsb113	None	—	Dropbox (no stable link)
Master Kebab	ogbaba	GPLv3	✅	RMKebab
Maze	Andy O’Neill	MIT	—	gamebuino maze
microHexagon	valdenthoranar	None	✅	microhexagon
Minesweeper	dirksteindorf	None	—	Gamebuino Minesweeper
Mole Control	grafMakulaDer2te	None	—	mole control
MotoCross	Clement83	None	—	MotoCross
MyRPG	Frakasss	None	—	MyRPG
No Name Platform Game	Frakasss	None	—	NoNamePlatformGame
Paqman	Yoda Zhang	None	✅	yodasvideoarcade.com
Parachute	Jicehel	None	—	Parachute Gamebuino
PetitMonstre	Clement83	None	—	PetitMonstre
PinBall	Clement83	None	—	pinBall
Pong 2017	yawn-g	None	—	pong 2017
Pong Local Multiplayer	qubist	None	—	Gamebuino PongLocalMultiplayer
Pong Solo	Aurelien Rodot	LGPLv3	—	Gamebuino Classic examples
Punkt	Andy O’Neill	MIT	✅	gamebuino punkt
Ralph	Clement83	None	—	Ralph
Robot	Frakasss	None	—	Robot
Save Princesse	Clement83	None	—	SavePrincesse
Senet	Maximilian Timmerkamp	Apache 2.0	—	Recovered via direct download (originally hosted on Bitbucket, no stable link)
shipwrek	yawn-g	None	—	shipwrek
ShootBuino	frthery	None	✅	ShootBuino
Shufflepuck Cafe	AWOT83	GPLv3	—	Gamebuino Shufflepuck cafe
Simonbuino	Jerom (Forklift5)	None	—	Simonbuino
Skibuino	Mike Del Pozzo	GPLv3	✅	skibuino
Smash-and-Crash	Skyrunner65	None	—	Smash and Crash
Snake 5110	Lady Awesome & MakerSquirrel	CC-BY-SA 2018 / GPLv3 (unresolved conflict, see source)	✅	Gamebuino Classic Snake 5110
Snake ABC	frthery	None	—	SnakeAbcBuino
Snake Classic	Ripper121 (original), Tnxec2 (fork)	None	—	snake gamebuino classic
Sokobuino	martinsustek	None	✅	Recovered via direct download (no stable link)
Solitaire	Andy O’Neill	MIT	✅	gamebuino solitaire
Sound Test	willems davy	GPLv3 (this project’s own code)	—	Not a ported game - a sound-shim diagnostic tool, see above
Spin Spin Spinbuino!	Charly Piva “Zoglu” / Margot Piva “Isil”	None	✅	zoglu.net (no stable link)
Star Honor	Wenceslao Villanueva Jr (original) / wuuff (Gamebuino port)	MIT	—	StarHonor
StickFighter	Clement83 (art by Quirby64)	None	—	StickFighter
Stijn’s Pong	Stijn Caerts	MIT	—	Gamebuino (StijnCaerts)
Stijn’s Snake	Stijn Caerts	MIT	—	Gamebuino (StijnCaerts)
Super Crate Buino	Aurelien Rodot	None	✅	Super Crate Buino
Super Space Shooter	msevilgenius	None	—	Gamebuino SuperSpaceShooter
T-Rex Quest	Awot83	GPLv3	—	Gamebuino TREX QUEST
Taquin	RackhamLeNoir	GPLv3	—	gamebuino taquin
Tetrino	j0ff	MIT	—	tetrino
Thunder Shoot	Awot83	GPLv3	—	Gamebuino Thunder Shoot
Tron	Clement83	None	—	Tron
UFO Race	Rodot	None	✅	UFO Race
Under the Tower	wuuff	GPLv3	✅	under the tower
Video Poker	Mike Del Pozzo	GPLv3	✅	videopoker gamebuino
World’s Hardest Game	Sorunome	None	✅	Worlds Hardest Game Gamebuino
Xonix	Tnxec2	None	—	xonix gamebuino
ZombiEscape	Frakasss	None	—	ZombiEscape

Credits / References

• Gamebuino Classic library (Aurélien Rodot, LGPLv3) - this project’s own gamebuinoShim.h/.c reproduces its real API (buttons, display, sound) on top of Vircon32, and its own real font5x7/font3x5/font3x3 bitmap fonts are ported verbatim for text rendering.
• Gamebuino Classic - the original hardware/company this library targets.
• Each game in the table above links to its own original source repo and author - see that repo/the game’s own header comment in src/games/ for its own license and full credit.
• Vircon32 - the fantasy console this cartridge targets.
• tinyjoypad_vircon32 - the sibling project this one’s menu system, column-atlas rendering trick, and general porting methodology are directly reused from.