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Ask HN: How can I recover and run my old mobile game from the 2010s?

56 points diasks2 | 2 comments | 25 Aug 25 06:41 UTC | HN request time: 0.422s | source

I developed a game called "Putter King Adventure Golf" for iOS and Android back in the 2010s. It's long since disappeared from the app stores, but my son recently asked if he could play it, which got me thinking about whether it might be recoverable.

I'm wondering if there's any way to find a copy of it somewhere on the web (I assume it was probably pirated at some point during its lifetime). And if I could find it, what would be the best approach to get it running again?

Has anyone here successfully recovered and revived their old mobile apps? I'd appreciate any suggestions on:

* Where to look for archived APKs or IPAs * How to sideload/run old mobile apps on modern devices * Whether emulators might be a viable option

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r0ckarong ◴[26 Aug 25 14:08 UTC] No.45026797[source]▶
You can use Android Studio (or other virtualization / emulation) to set up an older version of Android and then you use one of the various sites that "archive" games:

https://developer.android.com/studio/releases/past-releases/... https://www.mobygames.com/game/54420/putter-king-adventure-g...

I've used Bluestacks to play the entire somewhat recent Monkey Island game on PC because I could not be bothered to play it on my phone but I have no idea how far back their versions go.

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1. diasks2 ◴[26 Aug 25 16:43 UTC] No.45029028[source]▶
Thanks! Looking into this.

I found the apk file and I played around with Android Studio today but was having trouble getting the Nexus device with KittyKat or Lollipop to not crash when trying to open the device. Will keep trying different options.

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2. RobRivera ◴[26 Aug 25 17:08 UTC] No.45029414[source]▶
Based Bluestacks