Simple Launcher, a powerful and flexible open-source frontend for emulators.
Main Window
Main Window in Grid View
Main Window in List View
Global Search Window
Favorites Window
If you like the software, please give us a star and consider making a donation.
Download the application from the release page.
Extract the ZIP file into a writable folder. We do not recommend using a network folder or installing it inside C:\Program Files.
If necessary, you may need to grant "Simple Launcher" administrative access. The application requires write access to its own folder.
For full functionality, especially on-the-fly file mounting, you must install Dokan from GitHub.
- Click the Easy Mode menu item.
- Follow the steps to install a system.
- Add ROM files for that system in the designated folder(s).
- Add cover images for that system in the designated folder.
- Return to the Main Window.
- If no system is selected, a visual System Selection Screen will help you choose your gaming platform. Otherwise, select the added system from the dropdown menu.
- Click the All button (or a letter/number filter) to display games for that system.
- Click the game you wish to launch.
- Intuitive User Interface: Modern WPF interface with light and dark themes, and customizable accent colors.
- System Selection Screen: A visual way to choose your gaming platform.
- Navigation Panel: Quick access to common actions like Global Search, Favorites, Play History, and UI adjustments (view mode, aspect ratio, zoom).
- Dual View Modes:
- Grid View: Displays game covers as interactive buttons with optional overlay buttons for quick actions.
- List View: Shows game details in a sortable table, including file size, play count, and playtime, with a preview image.
- Easy Mode: Simplifies adding new systems by automatically downloading and configuring common emulators and cores.
- Expert Mode: Allows manual and detailed configuration of systems, emulators, paths, and launch parameters, including multiple ROM folders per system.
- Global Search: Quickly find games across all your configured systems, supporting
AND/ORlogical operators. - Favorites Management: Mark games as favorites for easy access.
- Play History Tracking: See which games you've played, how many times, and for how long.
- Global Stats: Get an overview of your game library, including total systems, games, and image counts.
- Fuzzy Image Matching: Helps find cover images even if filenames don't perfectly match (configurable threshold).
- Image Pack Downloader: Download pre-made image packs for various systems.
- Context Menus: Rich right-click menus for games to launch, manage favorites, open external links (video/info), view local media (covers, snapshots, manuals), take screenshots, delete game files, and view RetroAchievements.
- Gamepad Support: Navigate the UI using Xbox and PlayStation controllers (configurable deadzone).
- Customizable UI: Adjust thumbnail sizes, button aspect ratios, and games per page.
- Sound Configuration: Customize notification sounds and enable/disable sound effects.
- RetroAchievements Integration: View game achievements, user profiles, game rankings, and unlock history directly in the launcher.
- Automatic Updates: Keeps Simple Launcher up-to-date with the latest features and fixes.
- Multilingual: Translated into 17 languages.
- Single Instance Enforcement: Prevents multiple copies of the application from running simultaneously.
- On-the-Fly File Mounting: Allows users to launch games directly from compressed or disk image files without needing to manually extract them first (requires Dokan). This includes support for RPCS3 (
.iso,.zip), Cxbx-Reloaded (.xiso), ScummVM (.zip), and XBLA (.zip).
Simple Launcher comes with a suite of utilities accessible via the "Tools" menu to help manage your game library:
- Batch Convert ISO to XISO (with integrity check)
- Batch Convert to CHD (supports CUE/BIN, ISO, IMG, ZIP, 7z, RAR, CSO, with integrity check)
- Batch Convert to Compressed File (ZIP or 7Z, with integrity check)
- Batch Convert to RVZ (with integrity check)
- Create Batch Files for PS3, ScummVM, Sega Model 3, Windows Games, and Xbox 360 XBLA.
- FindRomCover (Organize System Images, with MAME description support)
- RomValidator (Compare ROMs with No-Intro dat files)
We do NOT provide ROMs or ISOs.
If you are looking for MAME Sets, look it up on the PleasureDome website. I am not affiliated with PleasureDome in any way.
Image packs for some systems can be downloaded via Edit System -> Download Image Pack.
If an image pack is not available, or for more comprehensive collections, you can download cover images from websites like Libretro Thumbnails or EmuMovies. I am not affiliated with these websites in any way.
For more detailed information on Expert Mode, emulator parameters, and advanced configurations, please refer to our Wiki.
A list of common emulator parameters can be found on our Wiki.
A software map of 'Simple Launcher' can be found on our Wiki.
- MAME Utility: A tool for managing full MAME driver information in XML format available on the MAME website. It can generate multiple simplified (and smaller) XML subsets and copy ROMs and image files based on the generated XML.
- FindRomCover: An application that helps organize your cover image collection. It attempts to match image filenames with ROM filenames, and users can choose from different similarity algorithms.
- SimpleZipDrive: This application mounts ZIP archive files as virtual drives or directories on your Windows system using the DokanNet library.
- BatchConvertToRVZ: A Windows desktop utility for batch converting GameCube and Wii ISO images to RVZ format with verification capabilities.
- BatchConvertToCompressedFile: A Windows desktop utility for batch compressing files to .7z or .zip formats and for verifying the integrity of existing compressed archives.
- BatchConvertToCHD: A Windows desktop utility for batch converting various disk image formats to CHD (Compressed Hunks of Data) format and for verifying the integrity of existing CHD files.
- BatchConvertIsoToXiso: A GUI application for extract-xiso that provides batch converting Xbox ISO files to the optimized XISO format and testing their integrity. Supports both Xbox 360 ISOs and original Xbox ISOs.
- CreateBatchFilesForPS3Games: A batch file creator for RPCS3 emulator.
Simple Launcher is developed in C# using Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) and Microsoft .NET 9 Framework.
This program is Windows-only and has been tested on Windows 11. It supports win-x64 and win-arm64 architectures.
Did you enjoy using the Simple Launcher frontend?
Consider donating to support the project or simply to express your gratitude!
- Peterson Fernandes - GitHub Profile
- RFSVIEIRA - GitHub Profile