Save File 0
First-person survival horror for the Game Boy Color, coming to a real cartridge.
You’re covering the night QA shift at Oriole Software. The new build has a save bug nobody can reproduce, so you make a save, and the save index lists a second file that shouldn’t exist. Load it, and you’re back in the same office. You’re just not alone in it any more.
- Status
- In development · physical release planned
- Genre
- Survival horror
- Platforms
- Game Boy Color
- Engine
- GBDK (C and assembly)
About the game
Save File 0 isn’t a game made to look like a Game Boy game. It’s a real Game Boy Color ROM, written in C and assembly, that runs on the original console. A raycaster draws the office in first person, and it’s built to hold 30 frames per second on the Game Boy Color’s double speed mode.
Each save file is its own copy of the building, and when you load one you arrive exactly where you’re standing. Your save is the quiet office where you patch yourself up. FILE 0 is the same office, but wrong, and something in there can’t be killed. A shot only staggers it, so you break its line of sight, find a locker and keep very still.
I want to give Save File 0 a proper physical release: a real cartridge that keeps your saves on the cart, a complete-in-box edition with a printed box and manual, and a digital ROM. We’re exploring the best way to make that happen and will share release details when they’re ready.
Two saves, one office
Switch between your save and FILE 0 wherever you’re standing. A door opened in one stays open in the other.
Something you can’t kill
A shot buys you a few seconds. After that it’s lockers, line of sight and running.
Real Game Boy Color hardware
A native ROM with a first-person raycaster, built to run at 30 frames per second on the console.
A real cartridge
Saves are kept on the cartridge itself, and the cartridge has a few tricks a download can’t do.
Screenshots
Save File 0 updates
Want to know when you can play it?
We're working towards a free playable demo and exploring a proper physical Game Boy Color release. Join our studio mailing list and we'll share updates when there's something worth showing.
Devlogs about Save File 0
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We post development updates as we go, and the mailing list gets release dates first.