Embraceware

New Alpha Pairs (NES) demo featuring our updated title screen and gameplay. Dr. Atoz now walks and talks, Alphy hops around, logo shimmers and menus animate. We're aiming for November for release. #nesdev #nes #homebrew

Meet The Daily Cart: a retro game magazine with a new issue every morning, right inside Ultimate Game Guide 📰 Cover story, Mystery Cartridge, pop quiz, Game Genie cheats, price checks and more. NES and SNES editions. Keep your streak alive. https://embraceware.com/ultimategameguide

App Store links: iOS: apps.apple.com/app/id118254... Android: play.google.com/store/apps/d...

Working on something fun for Ultimate Game Guide: The Daily Cart. Every day the app gets a new magazine-style issue with fresh content and trivia. Like the old game magazines, except the next one shows up tomorrow. Coming soon to iOS and Android. #RetroGaming #NES

play.google.comUltimate Game Guide - Apps on Google PlayManage your NES and Super NES game collections and view info, reviews and more!

The new update is available for Android now: play.google.com/store/apps/d... iOS coming very soon (it's currently in the Apple review process).

Agora em português! The Embraceware site and the Ultimate Game Guide game database now speak Portuguese, joining French, Spanish and Japanese. https://embraceware.com/pt/apps/ultimate-game-guide/ #RetroGaming

embraceware.comNES & Super NES Game Database | Ultimate Game GuideEvery NES and Super NES game in one searchable database: box art, cartridges, screenshots, reviews, release details, rarity and daily collector prices.

The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) marks its 41st anniversary today. Our Ultimate Game Guide app now has a companion database on the web - explore the entire NES library: embraceware.com/en/apps/ulti...

Our Ultimate Game Guide app now has a companion database on the web. All 1,610 NES and Super NES games, free to browse, with daily collector values and a rarity meter on every page. Get the app for full reviews, codes, collection tracking and the media archive. embraceware.com/en/apps/ulti...

embraceware.com/en/news/2026...

embraceware.comIntroducing the Ultimate Game Guide Game Database - EmbracewareEvery NES and Super NES game, now free to browse on the web: box art, cartridges, screenshots, reviews, rarity and daily collector prices for 1,610 games.

Our racing game in development (Rearview Rivals) now has a working rear-view mirror and a rival car on the track. Very early days in development - but making good progress. #nesdev #homebrew

Rough demo of a tunnel working with our track editor.

Okay, this is pretty cool. Alpha Pairs for the NES running on the Apple Vision Pro via the Scanline emulator. Thanks again to @dalecoop.bsky.social for posting a link to this awesome app. #nesdev #homebrew

Thanks to @dalecoop.bsky.social for the introduction to the Scanline emulator for Mac and Vision Pro! Here's Alpha Pairs running on it (Mac version) - the glow is back! Game info: embraceware.com/alphapairs Music by @musicvsartstuff.bsky.social #nesdev #homebrew

Our site has been updated to include all apps and games available now and coming soon, news, support, and more. embraceware.com

Our iOS apps have been updated to be fully compatible with all of the iPhone Duo screen options 🙌 embraceware.com/apps/ #iphone #ios #iphoneduo

embraceware.comSong Skipper | Now AvailableSkip Songs Automatically.

Song Skipper 2.0 for macOS is now available. Automatically skips songs in the Music app by artist, album, genre, or thumbs down. You can also use it to force your media keys to control the Music app only. embraceware.com/en/apps/song...

embraceware.itch.ioAlpha Pairs (NES) by EmbracewareFlip the cubes, win the letters, spell big words. A brand new NES puzzle game!

We just posted a demo of the Alpha Pairs game which presents the title screen and a tutorial option. The full game will be available soon. embraceware.itch.io/alpha-pairs #nesdev #homebrew

Very early demo of a racing game we're prototyping for the NES. You drive between ports, board a ship, and race in locations around the world. Branching routes, changing terrain, weather and time of day. The ability to go in reverse has been a fun addition. #nesdev #homebrew

We're experimenting with additional gameplay modes as well. For example, turning off to a point of interest or gas station will transition to a top-down view (much like the pit stop view in Al Unser Jr.'s Turbo Racing, etc).

Our custom "GameKit" development tool has been updated to build tracks for the game. Still tons to do, but it's coming together.

Alpha Pairs teaches itself. Here's the tutorial mode running on the NES - no manual required (but we'll still make one 😁). Game info: embraceware.com/alphapairs Music by @musicvsartstuff.bsky.social #nesdev #homebrew

embraceware.itch.ioAlpha Pairs (NES) by EmbracewareFlip the cubes, win the letters, spell big words. A brand new NES puzzle game!

Alpha Pairs for NES is now listed on Itch (embraceware.itch.io/alpha-pairs)! You can find the latest information and screenshots there. We expect the game to be available by November. #nesdev #homebrew

embraceware.comAlpha Pairs | Coming SoonMatch the pairs, spell the words, and keep your letters away from Alphy. Dr. Atoz's letter machine is coming soon for PC, Mac, mobile and consoles.

We also updated our site (embraceware.com/en/games/alp...) with more information and a link to Wishlist Alpha Pairs (16-bit version) on Steam.

Use your letters before Alphy eats the extras! 😋 Alpha Pairs is coming to NES and Sega Genesis later this year. #segadev #segagenesis #nesdev #homebrew

NES and Sega Genesis builds of Alpha Pairs are coming along in parallel. Here's where the Genesis version is at. #segadev #segagenesis #nesdev #homebrew

Our custom Sega Genesis emulator, built in Unity, now supports dynamic touch regions and widescreen, and the ROM still runs on original Genesis hardware. We're using it to bring Alpha Pairs to desktop, TV and mobile.

12 Sept

Work in progress on Beyond Sentinel: Justin and Erica's character animations in Aseprite. #screenshotsaturday #pixelart #indiedev #gamedev

12 Sept

Wrote an Aseprite script that tells you exactly which palette indices your indexed sprite uses, how much, and where. Click a color → jumps to its first frame/layer and selects the pixels. Great for NES/SNES palette budgeting. 🎨 #aseprite #pixelart

12 Sept

Music in the demo was composed by @musicvsartstuff.bsky.social for our upcoming game "Beyond Sentinel".

Been a lifesaver for trimming down to retro console palettes. You think you're at 15 colors but there's a rogue off-white, 4 pixels total, hiding in one frame of an animation. Now it sits at the bottom of the table, I click it, and it jumps right to those pixels. 😅

7 Sept

Alphy now follows the action with his eyes as you move around the board in Alpha Pairs. Small touch, but it makes him feel a lot more alive. Also new: a pause screen, complete with curtain. NES version shown.

6 Sept

We wanted anyone to be able to pick up Alpha Pairs and start playing right away, so there's a full tutorial built into the game. Here's how it plays on the NES version. Printed and digital manuals are coming too.

Alpha Pairs cover art for the Sega Genesis version featuring Dr. Atoz and Alphy. In development now, and coming to 5 other retro systems.

and Sega Master System.

Alpha Pairs is coming to the Sega Master System and 5 other retro systems. We hit corrupted sprites on real SMS hardware that didn't show up in emulators or even a Genesis in Master System mode. The EverDrive from @krikzz.bsky.social has been essential for catching bugs like that on every system.

youtube.comEmbracewareIndie game studio working on "Alpha Pairs" and "Beyond Sentinel" for NES, Game Boy, Super NES, Sega Genesis, Master System, Game Gear, and modern systems.

Devlogs for Alpha Pairs and Beyond Sentinel are going up on YouTube - NES, Super NES, Genesis, Game Boy, Master System and Game Gear builds, all in progress. www.youtube.com/embraceware

This is what the title screen looked like on real hardware before the fix. 😵‍💫

1 Sept

Devlogs for Alpha Pairs and Beyond Sentinel are going up on YouTube - NES, Super NES, Genesis, Game Boy, Master System and Game Gear builds, all in progress. www.youtube.com/embraceware #nesdev #segadev #homebrew

31 Aug

Added platform edge detection to Beyond Sentinel, so the character strikes a dramatic pose at ledges - inspired by Sonic, Aladdin and plenty of others. Running here on NES, Game Boy, Super NES, Genesis, Master System and Game Gear. #nesdev #gbdev #snesdev #segadev #homebrew

embraceware.comPainting Beyond Sentinel - EmbracewareOur latest game in development, Beyond Sentinel, is inspired by games of the 90s.

30 Aug

Announcing our second game: Beyond Sentinel, a metroidvania crossed with a horizontal shooter, in parallel development with Alpha Pairs. Mapping engine is operational, with a Super Metroid style mini-map. Level artwork is placeholder - character is finalized 😀 #nesdev #snesdev #segadev #homebrew

Game Boy demo 💚

We commissioned Roger Loveless - a cover artist from the 80s and 90s era - to hand-paint the Beyond Sentinel poster. The full story: embraceware.com/en/news/2022...

We have this mapping engine working on NES, Super NES, Sega Genesis, Sega Master System, Game Boy and Game Gear. NES and Super NES are shown in the video above. Floor slopes and elevators were just implemented. All level artwork is a placeholder for demo/debug purposes.

youtube.comAlpha Pairs on Sega Genesis - Title Screen with Voice ActingYouTube video by Embraceware

23 Aug

Alpha Pairs title screen on Sega Genesis - animated, original score, and actual voiced speech. Sound on for this one. www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqiE... #segadev #segagenesis #homebrew #pixelart

17 Aug

High scores screen finished for Alpha Pairs (NES). Battery-backed SRAM, so the board keeps your scores between sessions. #NESdev #homebrew #gamedev

14 Aug

Game Boy port is in progress. Alpha Pairs booting on a Game Boy Pocket and an Analogue Pocket. #gbdev #homebrew #gameboy

11 Aug

After some palette, tile and sprite acrobatics, we finally got Dr. Atoz and Alphy both on the title screen together. The letter cube rotation is working nicely too. #nesdev #homebrew #pixelart #gamedev

10 Aug

More progress on Alpha Pairs, running on real NES hardware. Getting the graphics compliant for NES was a fun challenge. Game Boy is next, and there's a peek at it in here. #nesdev #gbdev #segadev #homebrew

8 Aug

Fitting 53,901 words onto a NES cart. Alpha Pairs is a word game: make words from letters on a 6×6 grid, cart validates them. The dictionary ships in ROM as a DAWG, 168KB of the 256KB PRG. Those ten solid banks in my space checker are all dictionary. #NESdev #homebrew #gamedev