Nottingham pop-punk band Pillow Fort are releasing their debut album as a Pillow Fort GBA rhythm game, packaging all the songs from Indefinite, but not Forever into a self-developed Game Boy Advance cartridge, alongside vinyl, tape cassette, and a digital download on Bandcamp.
The album is set to release on 2 October, and the band confirmed preorders are already open across all formats. That the GBA release exists at all is the sort of thing that makes you put down your cup of tea and stare at the screen for a moment. A working rhythm game, on a cartridge, featuring an entire debut album’s worth of original songs, developed by the band themselves. It’s the kind of project that takes genuine commitment to both the music and the hardware.
How the Pillow Fort GBA Rhythm Game Was Built
‘We’ve developed a rhythm game for the GBA featuring all the songs on the album!’ the band wrote on Bandcamp. The physical edition includes the cartridge and box, and Pillow Fort are candid about the experience: ‘Just be aware, this is a *surprisingly* difficult game!’
The box artwork mirrors the vinyl sleeve design, with one key difference: the figure on the front is rendered in a pixelated 32-bit style, a neat nod to the platform. Look closely and the box credits the developer as Cushion Castle, a quietly charming touch from a band who clearly have a feel for the detail. Physical copies are limited to 30 units, making the cartridge release properly scarce, though a digital version of the game will also be available for those who miss out on the physical run.
Pillow Fort announced the project on social media in August, confirming the new single Robots vs Wrestlers was streaming alongside the preorder launch. The album title, Indefinite, but not Forever, and a track called Robots vs Wrestlers suggest a band with a particular sensibility, which makes the choice of the GBA as a release platform feel entirely consistent rather than a gimmick bolted on for attention.
A Growing Tradition of Albums on Retro Hardware
Pillow Fort are joining a small but devoted group of artists who use retro hardware as a genuine release format rather than a novelty. German techno artist Remute has made something of a specialism of it, releasing albums for platforms including the SNES and the Panasonic 3DO. The appeal is not hard to understand: the physical constraints of older hardware force creative decisions that a standard digital release never would, and the resulting object carries a weight that a streaming link simply cannot.
The Game Boy Advance, with its ARM7TDMI processor and capacity for surprisingly capable audio output, is a reasonable choice for a rhythm game project. Anyone who has played a GBA cart knows the satisfying click of pushing one home into the slot, and a self-published rhythm game featuring original pop-punk songs is exactly the kind of thing the format deserves more of.
For a debut release, the scope here is ambitious. Writing, recording, and releasing an album is already a considerable undertaking for an independent band. Designing and developing a working GBA rhythm game on top of that, complete with custom box art and a studio name, is something else entirely. Time Extension first brought the project wider attention, and it is easy to see why: the Pillow Fort GBA rhythm game sits at the precise intersection of music fandom and hardware enthusiasm that retro collectors respond to.
Preorders for all formats, including the Game Boy Advance cartridge, are open now on Bandcamp ahead of the 2 October release. With only 30 physical copies available, anyone keen on owning one would be wise to move quickly.
