Game Boy and Game Boy Pocket repair
1989–1998 · Mail-in from anywhere in the United States, or drop it off at an event.
Two faults account for most Game Boys that come in. The first is corrosion: a handheld left in a drawer with batteries in it leaks, and the terminals turn white and green until the console won't power on. The second is the famous missing screen lines, where the ribbon cable bonding the LCD to the board has lost contact and rows of the display go blank.
Both are fixable. Corroded terminals get cleaned or replaced, and the screen ribbon can be reflowed to bring the lines back — the original Game Boy hardware is generously built and very repairable.
Common Game Boy problems
Horizontal or vertical lines missing from the screen
The LCD ribbon cable bond has degraded and needs reflowing.
No power with fresh batteries
Corroded battery terminals or a broken power switch.
White, green or crusty deposits in the battery bay
Leaked alkaline batteries — needs neutralising and cleaning before it spreads.
No sound or crackling volume
Failed speaker or a dirty volume wheel.
Buttons need a hard press
Worn rubber membranes and dirt under the button pads.
Game Boy repair pricing
- Full clean & reassembly$35
- Battery terminal corrosion repair$45
- Screen replacement$69
Plus parts.
- Speaker or volume wheel replacement$35
- Button membrane & shell refresh$35
- No power board repair$89–$129
Console work carries a $35 diagnosis fee per console, credited toward an approved repair. See the full pricing page for everything else.
Take the batteries out of any handheld you're storing. Every corroded Game Boy on the bench got that way from batteries left in for a decade.
Game Boy cartridges that save — the Pokémon games above all — use a CR1616 cell soldered inside the cart. That's a cartridge job, not a console one, and it's the reason your old save finally vanished.
Game Boy questions people ask
Can missing lines on a Game Boy screen be fixed?
Yes. The lines go missing because the heat-bonded ribbon connecting the LCD to the board has loosened. Carefully reflowing that bond brings the rows back. It's delicate work on a thirty-year-old display, and if the screen is beyond it, a replacement is quoted instead.
My Game Boy won't turn on — is it dead?
Usually not. Check for corrosion in the battery bay first; leaked alkaline cells eat the terminals and break the circuit. Terminal corrosion repair is $45, and if the fault is deeper in the board it's $89 to $129 after diagnosis.
How much does Game Boy repair cost?
A full clean and reassembly is $35, battery terminal corrosion repair is $45, speaker or volume wheel work is $35, and screen replacement is $69 plus the part.
Why did my Pokémon save disappear?
The save battery inside the cartridge died. Red, Blue and Yellow use a CR1616 cell that keeps the save alive, and those cells are long expired. Replacing it is $12 on top of a $10 cartridge clean — and the old save can't be recovered once it's gone, so it's worth doing before it happens.
All work is carried out under the repair authorization & risk acknowledgment.