# Show HN: Play SNES games while Claude is working

> Source: <https://github.com/LaurentiuGabriel/retro-break>
> Published: 2026-11-11 20:36:25+00:00

A [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code) plugin that gives you something to do while Claude works.

When Claude has been working on a task for a minute, retro-break opens a **random SNES or GBA game** from your ROM folder. When Claude finishes, you get a **Windows notification**, so you can play until you reach a save point and then go back to work.

You only bring the ROMs. The emulators download themselves the first time they're needed:

| System | Emulator | File types | 
|---|---|---|
| SNES | [Snes9x](https://github.com/snes9xgit/snes9x) 1.63 | `.sfc` ,`.smc` | 
| GBA (and GB/GBC) | [mGBA](https://mgba.io) 0.10.5 | `.gba` ,`.gb` ,`.gbc` | 

At the prompt of a Claude Code terminal session:

```
/plugin install retro-break --marketplace LaurentiuGabriel/retro-break
```

Answer `y` to add the marketplace, then pick a scope (user scope enables it in every session).

From a shell:

```
claude plugin install retro-break --marketplace LaurentiuGabriel/retro-break
```

In the desktop app, click **+** next to the prompt box, then **Plugins**, **Add marketplace** with `LaurentiuGabriel/retro-break`, then **Add plugin**.

The install asks for two settings. You can change them later in `/config`:

- **ROM folder** : where your ROMs are, e.g.`D:\Games\ROMs` . Subfolders are searched, so a folder per game works. To use several folders, separate them with`;` .
- **Seconds before a game opens** : 60 by default. Tasks shorter than this never open a game.

- **You send a prompt:** a countdown starts.
- **Claude is still working when the countdown ends:** a random ROM opens in the right emulator, in a window 60% of the screen's height, centered. If a game is already open, it is left alone and no new one starts.
- **Claude finishes:** if the task ran past the countdown, a Windows notification says Claude is done. The game keeps running, so close it when you're ready.
- **Quick answers** and tasks you interrupt don't open a game or send a notification.

The emulators go into `%LOCALAPPDATA%\retro-break\emulators`. Save files and emulator settings are kept there too, so they survive plugin updates. To start fresh, delete that folder.

Everything the plugin does outside Claude Code, listed in full:

| What | When | Details | 
|---|---|---|
| Lists your ROM folder | First game of a session | Reads file names only, up to 4 subfolders deep. Never reads, copies or uploads ROM contents. | 
| `tasklist.exe` | Before opening a game | Checks whether `snes9x-x64.exe` or`mGBA.exe` is already running. | 
| [`scripts/install-emulator.ps1`](https://github.com/LaurentiuGabriel/retro-break/blob/main/scripts/install-emulator.ps1) | Before opening a game | If the emulator for that system isn't there yet, downloads one pinned file over HTTPS from its official GitHub release ( [Snes9x 1.63](https://github.com/snes9xgit/snes9x/releases/download/1.63/snes9x-1.63-win32-x64.zip) ,[mGBA 0.10.5](https://github.com/mgba-emu/mgba/releases/download/0.10.5/mGBA-0.10.5-win64.7z) ), unpacks it with Windows' built-in`tar.exe` into`%LOCALAPPDATA%\retro-break\emulators` , and prints the emulator's path. For mGBA it also creates an empty`portable.ini` there, so mGBA keeps its settings and saves in that folder. | 
| [`scripts/launch-game.ps1`](https://github.com/LaurentiuGabriel/retro-break/blob/main/scripts/launch-game.ps1) | When the countdown ends | Starts the emulator with the chosen ROM, then resizes and centers its window through `user32.dll` . | 
| [`scripts/notify.ps1`](https://github.com/LaurentiuGabriel/retro-break/blob/main/scripts/notify.ps1) | When a long task finishes | Shows a Windows toast through the Windows notification API. If that fails, Claude Code's own notification ( `$.ui.notify` ) is used instead. | 

Each script runs as `powershell.exe -NoProfile -NonInteractive -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File <plugin>\scripts\<script>.ps1` with plain arguments: the system name, the emulator and ROM paths, the window size, and the notification text.

**Data:** the plugin reads the file names in your ROM folder and nothing else of yours. It never reads your prompts, Claude's replies, your code or your files, and it sends nothing anywhere: no telemetry, no analytics. The only network traffic is the one-time emulator download from GitHub, which sends nothing but the download request.

**Files it writes:** only inside `%LOCALAPPDATA%\retro-break\emulators` (the emulators, `portable.ini` for mGBA, and the emulators' own saves and settings).

- Windows 10 or 11 (it uses PowerShell, `tar.exe` and Windows notifications).
- A recent Claude Code with plugin support.
- Your own ROM files. This plugin doesn't include or download any games.

MIT for this plugin. Snes9x and mGBA have their own licenses and are downloaded from their official GitHub releases, not redistributed here.