Water
Play DS games on PC
Water is a game launcher for Windows that plays Nintendo DS games. The first time you install one, it downloads the RetroArch emulator, checks it and sets it up. Then Play starts the game fullscreen, with your controller ready.
The DS emulator, set up for you
Water plays Nintendo DS games with melonDS DS, the free, open-source Nintendo DS emulator, in RetroArch, both made by their own teams; Water isn’t affiliated with any of them. Water downloads its official release, checks it before using it, and sets what each game needs before it starts:
- Fullscreen, straight into the game, with no setup wizard and no settings to open.
- Both screens side by side, the 3D drawn at four times its size.
- Saves for each profile, so nobody plays over someone else’s game.
- Your controller mapped: DualShock 4, DualSense or Xbox, with no driver to install.
- The right stick moves a pointer over the touch screen and pressing it (R3) touches; R2 changes how the two screens are laid out.
What your PC needs
Nintendo DS games play on any PC Water runs on: Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit.
Settings › PC Specs in Water compares your PC with each console.
By hand, or with Water
Playing a DS game on a PC by hand is an evening of setup:
- Download the emulator and work through its settings: graphics, saves, controller.
- Find a copy of the game you can trust, and unpack it.
- Point the emulator at it, and map your controller button by button.
With Water, you press Install, then Play.
2,335 DS games
Water lists 2,335 Nintendo DS games, every one an English release with its cover, screenshots and details, shared by people on the BitTorrent network.
The other consoles Water sets up: PS2 emulator, PS3 emulator, GameCube and Wii emulator, PSP emulator, PS1 emulator, GBA emulator, N64 emulator, SNES and NES emulator, Xbox emulator, and PS Vita emulator.
Try it with a DS game
Your first install is free: Water installs any one game, PC or console, and it stays installed. Press Install: the emulator, the game and your controller are set up by the time you press Play.
