macOS
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brew install zboylocal Homebrew formula metadata
brew
Install zboy with Homebrew
GameBoy emulator. Version 0.71 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-18.
install
Additional install commands
overview
Package summary
GameBoy emulator
Project links
Commands and aliases
- zboy
history
Project history and usage
zBoy is Mateusz Viste's open-source emulator for the original monochrome Game Boy Classic, focused on portability and extra play conveniences rather than Game Boy Color or Advance emulation.
Project history
The project site carries copyright years 2010-2020 and SourceForge lists the project as registered in July 2013. Its public identity is deliberately old-school: a small emulator distributed from SourceForge, available for Linux, DOS, and Windows, and written for the classic DMG Game Boy.
Adoption history
zBoy appears to have remained a niche emulator rather than a flagship retro-gaming platform. Its durable adoption signal is portability across older desktop and DOS-like environments, plus packaging by Unix-style distributions for users who collect lightweight emulators.
How it is used
Users run zBoy with their own Game Boy ROMs and play with keyboard or joypad input. The emulator provides load/save support, PCX screenshots, battery-backed save emulation, graphics scaling filters, high-score preservation for some games, and LAN-based two-player link emulation.
Why package nerds care
zBoy is interesting as a compact retro-emulation package: narrow target hardware, simple local execution, uncommon DOS support, and a feature set that preserves link-cable and battery-save behaviors usually hidden behind larger emulator front ends.
Timeline
- 2010: Project site copyright range begins.
- 2013-07: SourceForge project registration date.
- 2023-11: SourceForge project page records a later activity update.
Related projects
- VisualBoyAdvance: broader Game Boy and Game Boy Advance emulator listed by SourceForge as a related project.
- gnuboy: another portable Game Boy emulator in the same retro-emulation niche.
Sources
security posture
Risk level: green
narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.
Risk classifier
green risk · low confidence · appliance
Why
- narrow executable package without higher-risk signals
Signals
- metadata:no-higher-risk-signals
Install behavior
- No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
- Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 13 platform targets.
- Installs with 1 runtime dependencies.
Recommended review
Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.
executables
Installed executables
| Command | Kind | Exposure | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
zboy | cli | global executable |
freshness
Version and freshness
These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.
page generated2026-07-08
manager version0.71
manager updated2026-06-18
local dataok
upstreamnot checked
latest detectednot detected
- infoRelease/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories.https://zboy.sourceforge.net/none confidence
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:zboy |
|---|---|
| Version | 0.71 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Package manager page | https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/zboy |
| Homepage | https://zboy.sourceforge.net/ |
| Repository | https://git.code.sf.net/p/zboy/code |
| Upstream docs | https://sourceforge.net/projects/zboy |
| License | GPL-3.0-or-later |
| Source archive | https://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/zboy/zBoy%20v0.71/zboy-0.71.tar.xz |
| Last updated | 2026-06-18T02:29:03-04:00 |
| Pulse | updated |
| Dependencies | sdl2-compat |
| Bottle | available (on arm64_big_sur, arm64_linux, arm64_monterey, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, arm64_ventura, big_sur, catalina, monterey, sonoma, ventura, x86_64_linux) |
| Homebrew post-install | not defined |
| Service | none declared |
registry facts
Source database details
| Source Database | Homebrew formula API |
|---|---|
| Tap | homebrew/core |
| Full Name | zboy |
| Version Scheme | 0 |
| Revision | 0 |
| Head Version | HEAD |
| Bottle Stable Root URL | https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core |
| Deprecated | no |
| Disabled | no |
| Keg Only | no |
| URL Keys |
|
source trail
Generated from repository data
This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.
Combined YAML source
View the package source record on GitHub.
Used sources
- Geiger risk classifier
- Nucleus package database
- av.db category and tag curation
- cross-ecosystem install command graph
- curated package history
- package relationship graph
- package version freshness
- package-page enrichment