V2 Update: Updated games should no longer crash on Android 10+.

Unfortunately I have found that these MAME based games will crash on launch in Android 10 and above. They DO work in Android 9 and should work in Android versions below 9 also.

WORKAROUND for Android 10 and above(1)

(In brief you are moving the game rom from one folder to another)

1) Install MAME4droid (0.139u1) from the Google Play Store

2) Download Files. (Please note this app is required to access the Android > data folder.

3) Open Files and navigate to the roms folder. This depends on whether you selected OLD WAY or NEW WAY (RECOMMENDED) when you first launched the game.

i) If you selected OLD WAY when you launched the game, the roms folder is located here:

(Phone Name) > MAME4droid > roms

ii) If you selected NEW WAY (RECOMMENDED) when you launched the game, the roms folder is located here:

(Phone Name) > Android > data > com.phoenix_retro_games.game_name (eg game_name = rainbow_islands_new) > files > roms

4) Copy the rom (zip) file eg rainbow.zip ie press on file to select it, then press copy to...(three dots on top right of screen)

5) Navigate to the rom folder for the MAME4droid (0.139u1) app you downloaded.

i) If you selected OLD WAY when you launched MAME4droid the first time, the roms folder is located here:

(Phone Name) > MAME4droid > roms

(The exact path in the Android file system is: ‘/storage/emulated/0/MAME4droid/roms/’)

ii) If you selected NEW WAY when you launched MAME4droid the first time, the roms folder is located here:

(Phone Name) > Android > data > com.seleuco.mame4droid > files > roms

(The exact path in the Android file system is: ‘/storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.seleuco.mame4droid/files/roms/’

ii) Tap COPY when in roms folder.

ii) Now exit to the android home screen and launch MAME4droid to play the game.

(1) For Android 13

1) When launching the game for the first time select NEW WAY (RECOMMEND). This will install the roms folder here:

(Phone Name) > Android > data > com.phoenix_retro_games.game_name (eg game_name = rainbow_islands_new) > files > roms

NOTE: If you select OLD WAY, the installation may fail and you will have to UNINSTALL and RE-INSTALL the app and then select NEW WAY (RECOMMENDED) in order to access the Rom folder.

2) When launching MAME4droid (0.139u1) for the first time select OLD WAY. This will install the roms folder here:

(Phone Name) > MAME4droid > roms

(The exact path in the Android file system is: ‘/storage/emulated/0/MAME4droid/roms/’)

I understand that this may be confusing but this workaround is due to the inability to WRITE to the Android > Data folder. What you are doing in Android 13 is installing the game in Android > Data > com.phoenix_retro_games.game_name and then moving the game rom to (Phone Name) > MAME4droid folder.