Games
Play NES games in your browser
Pick a cartridge from the shelf or insert your own .nes file. The game runs right here, with save states and a controller on your phone’s screen.
Try it here, no account neededSave and continue on the desktop
Nothing to download here: save states stay in this browser, and the Retro app on the free desktop picks them up where you left off.
- NES and Sega Mega Drive games from your files
- Save to Files when you continue on the desktop
- Every tool in one place, no new tabs
Your saves come with you — same browser, no account.
What Retro Games can do
Two games on the shelf, both legal
Pong by zorchenhimer and Concentration Room by Damian Yerrick are homebrew: new NES games written by people who chose to let anyone share them, and their licences are on our licences page. Pong plays against the computer or a friend; Concentration Room is a card-matching game with a story mode. There are no commercial games here, and no links to sites that hand them out.
Save anywhere, carry on later
Save takes a snapshot of the whole console, and Load puts you back at that exact moment, even in a game that never had saving. Snapshots stay in this browser, filed under the game they belong to, so the Retro app on the nopa desktop finds them too.
Keyboard, gamepad or touch
On a computer, click the game and play with the arrows, X, Z, Enter and Shift; a USB or Bluetooth gamepad works as soon as you press one of its buttons. On a phone the controller sits under the screen. Turn the phone sideways in full screen and it wraps around the picture like a handheld.
What it does not do
This is a browser emulator, not a perfect one: a cartridge with an unusual chip may not start, and a timing-heavy game can stutter on an old phone. Mega Drive games play in the Retro app on the nopa desktop; this page plays NES only.
Related apps
Questions
Where can I get NES games legally?
From homebrew developers, who publish new NES games for free or for sale, or by copying cartridges you own with a cartridge reader. Downloading commercial games you do not own is usually against the law, and we do not link to sites that offer them.
Is my game file uploaded anywhere?
No. The .nes file is read inside this tab and played here; nothing is sent to a server. Close the tab and the page forgets the file. Only the snapshots you saved stay, in this browser.
Does a gamepad work?
Yes. Connect a USB or Bluetooth controller and press any of its buttons; the browser picks it up. On the keyboard: arrows to move, X for A, Z for B, Enter for Start, Shift for Select.
Can I play Mega Drive games here?
Not on this page, which plays NES only. The Retro app on the nopa desktop also opens Mega Drive / Genesis files, with the same save snapshots.