GBA Eval B

Name: GBA Eval
Creator: Mechanize
Keywords: Coding

AI benchmark · Coding

Publisher: Mechanize
Domains: Coding
On X: @MechanizeWork ↗
Tier: B why
Snapshot: October 11, 2026

Open benchmark ↗mechanize.work/technical-blog/introducing-gba-eval/

Latest from Mechanize on X

@MechanizeWork ↗

Join the most interesting AI data startup. We are hiring more aggressively than ever.
— MechanizeWork (@MechanizeWork) Aug 20, 2026
Dario claims that AI will write basically all code, and that within a year thereafter a large share of software engineering jobs will be lost. While his prediction about the automation of coding is right, the conclusion about jobs does not follow. Coding models are differentially automating coding. But there are many more things that matter, such as making good design decisions and understanding what users want. Progress on these is much slower. As coding is automated, engineering effort is reallocated toward these other things, which raises the overall output of the industry. It also raises the marginal value of the time engineers spend creating software.
— MechanizeWork (@MechanizeWork) Jun 17, 2026
Coding models will often do things that are reasonable during training but produce a terrible user experience. Models trained to conserve tokens will happily rerun 10-minute commands, wasting your time to avoid using a few more tokens.
— MechanizeWork (@MechanizeWork) Jun 17, 2026

What is GBA Eval?

GBA Eval measures whether frontier AI coding agents can write a complete Game Boy Advance emulator in Rust/WebAssembly from scratch within 24 hours, graded against Mesen2 on gameplay replays, procedural tests, and audio.

Coding mostly
“We task models with writing, from scratch, a Game Boy Advance (GBA) emulator in Rust that compiles to WebAssembly.”
mechanize.work/technical-blog/introducing-gba-eval/ ↗

Who built GBA Eval

Mechanize built it
“We’re releasing GBA Eval as an example of what it looks like to invest time in careful grading for a single long-horizon SWE task.”
mechanize.work/technical-blog/introducing-gba-eval/ ↗

Tier B

Established: 15 or more models scored, or curated RL directories rate it.

How much stands behind a tier: usage, who backs it, a confirmed line from its own site or paper, and a clear read on X. High with three of the four, medium with two, low otherwise.

11 models scored
built by Mechanize
in curated RL directories (9 pts)

How we got to tier B

Adoption: 11 models scored; built by Mechanize. Tier C.
Not yet read on X.
In curated RL directories: 9 points, a floor of B. Raised to B.
Confirmed: a line from its own site or paper places it.

A clear view on X moves a tier one step up or down; most entries don't move. How tiers work.

Where GBA Eval sits

Its realm in the universe, live. Hover a star for its name; click to open it. Open it in the universe

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Next: browse all benchmarks. Entry from the RL Research daily scrape of public sources, 2026-10-11 snapshot.