Soundtracks
Play the eXoDOS game soundtracks as albums inside the app, and start from the track you want.
Plays the collections by the eXo team
- eXoDOS
- eXoWin3x
- eXoWin9x
- eXoDemoScene
- eXoScummVM
- eXoIF
- eXoAppleIIGSplanned
Runs them in Mac emulators
DOSBox Staging · DOSBox-X · 86Box · ScummVM · Spatterlight · RetroArch
How it works
Set up once, then play.
Silverbox runs eXo's setup itself, so you don't need a Windows PC. A collection already set up on Windows works too.
- 1
Download an eXo collection
Get the torrent for eXoDOS or another pack from retro-exo.com, and open it in a BitTorrent client such as qBittorrent or Transmission. Use the full download for now; the larger packs take a while.
- 2
Add it to Silverbox
Drag the folder onto the window. Silverbox asks whether to unpack into the download itself, as on Windows, or into a separate local folder that leaves the download as it came.
- 3
Install the emulators
DOSBox Staging for most eXoDOS games, and the others for the packs you have. Silverbox shows which ones it found, and notices one you install while it is open.
- 4
Pick a game
Press Play. The first time, Silverbox installs the game from its archive in the background. Then it starts the emulator eXo chose for that game, with a config translated from eXo's launch script.
Media and extras
Every manual, map and cluebook, a click away.
Each game shows its box art, title screen, gameplay and video, scaled pixel-perfect, beside its credits and the story behind it. Below them is everything eXo kept from the box: the manual, and the cluebook, map and spellbook that came with it. Quick Look pages through all of it.
A game whose emulator isn't installed still shows, with all of it.
- Box front
- Title screen
- Gameplay
- Video
- Manual
- In the box
Launching
The right DOSBox for every game.
eXoDOS picks a DOSBox build per game: 0.74, ECE, Staging, SVN Daum or DOSBox-X. Silverbox matches each to a Mac build, sending Daum and DOSBox-X games to DOSBox-X and everything else to DOSBox Staging, and translates the game's config from eXo's Windows launch script.
Want something different? Change the emulator for any game in its info sheet, or edit a copy of its config. Changes are kept in the local data folder; the eXo files are not changed.
eXo/eXoDOS/!dos/ultima5/dosbox.conf
eXoDOS runs it with DOSBox Staging 0.81.1 · Mac emulator: DOSBox Staging
Sound and picture
The music the games were written for.
Games set up for the Roland MT-32 use MT-32 emulation with the ROMs that come with eXo. General MIDI plays through FluidSynth and the eXoDOS Sound Canvas SoundFont, as on Windows; DOSBox-X and DOSBox Staging 0.83 or later have FluidSynth built in. Where eXo's in-game sound menus pick General MIDI, Silverbox sends them to the same synthesizer.
FluidSynth ready in DOSBox Staging
General MIDI games play with the eXoDOS Sound Canvas SoundFont.
The picture can stay as each game was configured, or take a CRT shader in DOSBox Staging. Start in full screen, and skip the emulator's start-up banner.
- Roland MT-32
- Sound Canvas
- General MIDI
- CRT shader
The library
More than the games.
A full set of eXo collections holds thousands of games, and the books, magazines and music that came with them. Silverbox keeps all of it easy to look through.
Menu music
Where eXo supplies it, each game's music plays as you browse, tracker modules included. Turn it off any time.
Manuals, magazines and books
Read what eXo collected alongside the games, from hint books to old computer magazines.
Search as you type
One search covers every pack at once, and narrows the library with each letter. Other Versions finds the same game in your other packs.
Box art or a list
Browse by cover in a grid you can size, or as a list you can sort.
Your favorites, and eXo's
Keep your own favorites, or start with the games the eXo team marked as eXo Favorites.
Play history
Installed and Recently Played, with when you last played each game, for how long, and how often.
Keyboard and controller
Browse the whole library from the keyboard, or from the couch with a PlayStation, Xbox or MFi controller, manuals and maps included.
Read-only is fine
Keep the collection on another drive or a NAS, even one a Windows PC shares. Installs, saves and caches go to a local data folder.
Emulators
The emulators do the hard part.
Games run in Mac emulators that you install yourself, each made by its own team. Put them in Applications, or choose them in Settings. Silverbox starts every game in the one eXo chose for it, with eXo's settings for that game.
eXo ships Windows builds of the same emulators; Silverbox doesn't use them. And you need none of them just to browse.
- DOSBox StagingMost eXoDOS games, eXoWin3x, and the MS-DOS versions in eXoIF
- DOSBox-XWindows 98 for eXoWin9x, most eXoDemoScene demos, and the eXoDOS games eXo runs in DOSBox-X or SVN Daum
- 86BoxThe thirty or so eXoWin9x games eXo runs in 86Box
- ScummVMEvery eXoScummVM game, with 2026.4 or later (a daily build for five of them)
- SpatterlighteXoIF's Infocom and other story files
- RetroArcheXoIF's Commodore, ZX Spectrum, Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Amstrad and Amiga versions
- GSpluseXoAppleIIGS. Planned.
What plays
Nearly every game, in most packs.
With the right Mac emulators installed, nearly every game in the DOS and Windows packs, the demo scene pack and the ScummVM pack can start. "Can start" means a Mac emulator is known to load the game; not every game has been played through.
| Pack | Games | Can start | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| eXoDOS | 7,667 | Nearly all | DOSBox Staging or DOSBox-X. A few menu choices need a Windows helper. |
| eXoWin3x | 1,139 | Nearly all | Windows 3.1 in DOSBox Staging or DOSBox-X. |
| eXoWin9x | 665 | All | Windows 98 in DOSBox-X, about thirty games in 86Box. Network play isn't supported; games start in Solo mode. |
| eXoDemoScene | 2,425 | About 99% | DOSBox. The three MartyPC demos aren't supported. |
| eXoScummVM | 832 | About 99% | All of them with a ScummVM daily build. |
| eXoIF | 2,331 | About 64% | Story files, MS-DOS and most 8-bit versions; the 8-bit versions in RetroArch are new and lightly tested. BBC Micro, TRS-80 and some other machines aren't supported yet. |
| eXoAppleIIGS | 460 | Not yet | Setup and installing work. Planned: GSplus for about 84% of the games. |
Beyond eXo
Your LaunchBox library, too.
Underneath, the eXo collections are LaunchBox libraries, so Silverbox reads others as well. Point it at a LaunchBox folder from Windows and your console, computer and arcade games join the list, with the metadata and media LaunchBox already gathered. Launching them in RetroArch, Dolphin, MAME and Mednafen is built, but not yet tested with real games.
Silverbox doesn't scan ROMs or fetch art itself; building the library is LaunchBox's job. Silverbox isn't affiliated with LaunchBox.
Questions
Frequently asked
Is this an official eXo project?
No. Silverbox is an independent app, not affiliated with or endorsed by the eXo project. The collections are made by the eXo team; Silverbox only reads them.
Does Silverbox come with any games?
No. It includes no games, media or emulators. Download the eXo collections from retro-exo.com and the emulators from their own sites.
Do I need a Windows PC?
No. Silverbox runs eXo's setup itself. A collection that was set up on Windows works too.
Will it change my eXo folder?
Only if you ask it to. By default, installed games, save backups, edited configs and caches go to a local data folder, and the eXo folder can be read-only. Setting up inside the download, or installing games in place as eXo does on Windows, are choices you make.
What about eXoDOS Lite?
Not yet. Use the full download for now; downloading games on demand is planned.
Can I share a collection with a Windows PC?
Yes. Keep it on a NAS or network share both can reach. Don't open the same folder on both at once unless the Mac unpacks into its own local folder.
Can I use it for consoles?
With a LaunchBox library, you can browse them now; launching them is built but not yet tested. Silverbox uses the metadata and media LaunchBox has already registered; it doesn't discover or scrape games on its own.
Is it related to LaunchBox?
No. The eXo collections come set up for LaunchBox, a Windows front-end, so Silverbox reads its library format. LaunchBox is a separate product by its own developers.
What does it need?
macOS 15 or later on Apple silicon or Intel, one or more eXo downloads, and the emulators for the packs you play.
Does it need an account, or send anything about me?
No account, and nothing is sent. Silverbox makes no network requests: it reads your collections and starts the emulators on your Mac. See Privacy.
Who makes it?
One software engineer with decades of industry experience and an interest in preserving classic games and media. It was built with extensive help from AI coding tools, under his close direction.
What does it cost?
Nothing. Silverbox is free, and its code is open source under the MIT License on GitHub. The name and the icon stay with the author.
Your eXo collection, on your Mac.
Version 0.3 · Free and open source · macOS 15 or later · Apple silicon and Intel
Acknowledgments
Built on other people's work
The eXo team, for eXoDOS and the other collections at retro-exo.com, and the years of preservation behind them.
The emulators: DOSBox Staging, DOSBox-X, 86Box, ScummVM, Spatterlight and RetroArch. Each is installed separately and keeps its own license.
stb_vorbis and libxmp-lite, included under their own licenses, play Ogg Vorbis and tracker-module menu music. FluidSynth, inside the emulators, plays General MIDI.
LaunchBox, whose library format the collections use.