Retro

Play classic games in Gym for reinforcement learning.

DecliningOpen SourceLow lock-in

Pricing

Free tier

Flat rate

Adoption

Cooling

License

Open Source

Data freshness

Aging · Jun 8, 2026

Overview

What is Retro?

Retro provides a collection of classic video game environments for use with the OpenAI Gym framework, enabling developers to train and test reinforcement learning algorithms on these games.

Key differentiator

Retro stands out as a specialized tool within the OpenAI Gym ecosystem, offering a unique collection of classic game environments tailored specifically for reinforcement learning research and education.

Capability profile

Capability Radar

Ease of StartEcosystemValueMaturityFlexibilityScale Ready

Honest assessment

Strengths & Weaknesses

↑ Strengths

Integration with OpenAI Gym for reinforcement learning.medium

Supports a wide range of classic video games.medium

Allows developers to train AI agents on game environments.medium

↓ Weaknesses

Limited support for modern gameshigh

Retro primarily supports classic video game environments which may not be suitable for developing advanced reinforcement learning algorithms.

Performance issues with complex game statesmedium

Games with high-resolution graphics or complex state spaces can lead to slow performance and increased computational requirements.

Documentation lacks depth for advanced use caseshigh

The documentation focuses on basic setup and usage, but does not provide detailed guidance for more sophisticated reinforcement learning tasks or custom game environments.

Fit analysis

Who is it for?

✓ Best for

Researchers looking to benchmark their reinforcement learning models against classic game environments.

Students and educators who want to teach reinforcement learning using familiar video games.

✕ Not a fit for

Developers needing real-time interaction with the environment for applications like robotics or autonomous vehicles.

Teams working on large-scale distributed training systems that require cloud-based solutions.

Cost structure

Pricing

Free Tier

Available

Open source — free to use

Starts at

$0

Model

Flat rate

Enterprise

None

Performance benchmarks

How Fast Is It?

Ecosystem

Relationships

Next step

Get Started with Retro

Step-by-step setup guide with code examples and common gotchas.

View Setup Guide →