Let’s Play “htmx 4: the game” — Seth Larson

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Let’s Play “htmx 4: the game”

Seth Larson @ 2026-08-01

Moments ago I just finished playing “htmx 4: the game”, the first<br>JavaScript library published exclusively for Game Boy and Game Boy Color.<br>I've recorded my play session and published the video to YouTube:

When I first saw this announcement it was pure blog bait for me. Game Boy,<br>open source software, reverse-engineering, oh my. I purchased the cartridge<br>within moments of seeing the announcement.

The Game Boy cartridge arrived earlier today inside a custom cardboard box<br>and plastic case which I appreciate! The box was tight to open without ripping<br>the cardboard, I managed with the help of some tweezers. The game is on a<br>Game Boy cartridge with a label. The cartridge itself reads “Game” instead of “Game Boy”<br>to avoid running afoul of Nintendo trademarks and licensing.

I was unable to dump the ROM using my Epilogue GB Operator, the cartridge<br>didn't fit into the slot unless I angled it weirdly and even then the<br>cartridge wouldn't give the GB Operator the consistent connection it<br>needs to dump the ROM. This was unfortunate, I wanted to dig into the<br>ROM itself more for this post, but that will have to be another day.<br>I suspect the tolerances for the cartridge are just outside<br>what the Epilogue will tolerate.<br>I switched over to my Game Boy Player to capture footage<br>of game play with my HDMI-modded GameCube. Here the cartridge<br>fit and worked just fine.

The game is tough (especially The Slop Factory, yeesh)<br>and took me over an hour to complete,<br>and I didn't even find all 4 HTMX letters in each stage...<br>hinting that there is more to be discovered! There<br>was pervasive lag while playing which the game’s story<br>blames on... React. A likely story! ;)

Going in I wasn't sure how they were going to distribute the<br>final source code... Would there be a QR code to the source code<br>(which would have been a disappointment) or would<br>the htmx team actually make you type it in yourself<br>like a BASIC program from a magazine?<br>I was so happy to see that the htmx team went all the<br>way, it means I'm even more excited to dig into this ROM!

As a software distribution mechanism... including<br>ordering the game, waiting for delivery, beating<br>the game, and then typing in the source code by<br>hand from the Game Boy screen... Let's say it's<br>slightly less user-friendly than npm install :)<br>But that's the fun of a project like this.

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