A Flash Game Rebuilt With AI's Help Now Runs on Switch
A case has emerged of using AI to analyze an old game and port it to new hardware. IsaacRecomp, a free fan project, runs only if you have the original files you own, and installation requirements differ from device to device.
On October 14, indie game developer Popcar highlighted a set of cases in which AI is being used to analyze existing games and port them to new hardware. Simon Willison also weighed in, pointing to the implications for game preservation and for experiments that blend different games together. The upside is a new path for playing old games in modern environments; the flip side is unease about what it means to reconstruct the code of existing software.
What changed for this Flash game
The most concrete example is IsaacRecomp, a free fan project. Its developer says that, with help from AI, they rebuilt the 2011 Flash game The Binding of Isaac as a C++ program. Both a ready-to-run executable and the source code have been released. The target is the original Flash version only; later entries starting with Rebirth are not included.
The project reads the game data out of the original executable and runs Flash-era code translated into C++. According to the developer, the game’s internal logic still runs 30 times per second, while the display can render at 60 frames per second or higher and at high resolution. In other words, the original gameplay remains intact, but the picture is smoother and sharper.
Can you run it on your own device?
To run IsaacRecomp, you need the Isaac.exe file from the Steam release, which you must own separately. What is distributed for free is the fan project itself; the original game files are not bundled. The developer states plainly that this is a nonprofit project unaffiliated with the original studios and that no game assets are distributed.
Builds are available for Windows, Linux, Android and the Nintendo Switch, but the setup differs by platform. On Android you install an APK file rather than going through an app store, and on Switch you need a homebrew environment capable of running unofficial software. Save data from the old Flash version cannot be carried over, so picking up where you left off years ago is not really an option.
Did AI do all the reconstruction on its own?
Reverse engineering, the practice of pulling apart an executable to work out how a game functions, is nothing new. OpenGOAL has documented the process of analyzing and converting game code so it can run on new hardware. What is different now is that AI is being brought into that workflow. The IsaacRecomp developer likewise described the rebuild as having been done with AI’s help.
The methods for moving a game also vary from project to project. AnyPS5, which Popcar mentioned, is a project in development with the goal of bringing PS5 games to PC. Popcar described it not as an emulator but as a compatibility layer similar to Proton, the software that lets Windows games run on Linux. Popcar voiced concern that even paid software could end up being released publicly, with little practical way to stop it.
The change users will feel is clear enough: there is now an option to run old games you already own on other devices. At the same time, that option comes with its own conditions: the original game files, the installation environment and save data. The questions going forward are which games and devices each project supports, and how much of a player’s earlier experience can actually carry over.