so, why mod/hack your 3ds system?

a lot of reasons.

  • nintendo has ended eshop services. your favorite digital only games and dlc are now no longer avaliable to be bought legally. even if you wanted to buy it now you cant.
  • physical copies of certain games have inflated heavily passed inital selling price. pokemon games are a pretty big example, a copy of any of the ds era pokemon games physical is now going for typically at least 75 dollars, which unfortunately bbecause of demand will probably only keep going up.
  • many more features and creations that fans have created are now available, such as custom themes or custom games ranging from originals to demakes of other games.
  • access previously reigon locked games, sometimes with their own english patch. a lot of gems were simply missed on the transition to countries outside of japan. with a modded 3ds you can now fully access those games and enjoy them!
  • its completely safe to mod your 3ds in 2024. nintendo has not banned 3ds for years. the only caution i would advise if when transffering over pokemon from a 3ds game to home if youre running... less legitement pokemon, since they are still banning from the switch.

so, ive hacked my ds from 3ds.hacks guide, now what?

congrats! welcome to your new 3ds. your system, if you followed the guide, now has a few programs.

  • anenome 3ds - a theme ediotr to custom upload themes. visit themeplaza for other custom themes that are easy to download, just scan the qr code using the app!
  • universal updated - its not exactly an updater like the title implies. its actually more like a shop where to download additional applications. this is where people will post their own applications such as games or utelities! everything downloaded here does admittedly update automatically, so it kind of lives up to the name.
  • godmode9 - use to make backups of games! it does a lot of other technical things with coding and all, but i dont know too much about those features. proceed with caution when messing with code!
  • twilight menu- download from universal downloader. used to run games natively from the 3ds, which allows for better speed and performance since it isnt running via emulator. this is my biggest recommendation to running non-3ds games on the 3ds, and will do anything as old as atari to as new as ds games. youll have to open games in the application's menu, unless you download...
  • nds forwarder - an application that will allow for nds (nintendo ds) files to be opened on the main menu rather than going through twilight menu. saves an extra moment of opening the other app, and it still runs natively, so huge plus!

so ive downloaded everything, but now i want to play games! what do i get?

of course, first you should download the games you want. obviously. but as for recommendations from me...

  • puyo puyo tetris
    • - a japan exclusive game with an english patch to download. youll have to download the game first, then apply the patch with the above instructions. seeing as theres no other way to play this game legally, and the way the game is tailor made to be picked up and put down again for small bursts i HIGHLY recommend this one! i was already obsessed with the switch version, as both tetris and puyo are sort of easy to pick up but hard to master expereience that has you coming back for more.

  • style savvy: fashion forward
    • - a fun little game i initally dismissed for being 'too girly' when i was young, its actually a pretty in depth fashion simulator that appeals to anyone! im only a few hours in the game but ive already found it hard to put down, its satisfying to get a customer the outfit they want, and all the characters have cute quirks to them that makes me happy to see returning customers. as someone looking to improve their fashion sense the outfits have a variety of styles that look like theyd be fun to imitate in real life.

  • flappy bird
    • - fine ill say it. this game is fun. made by a user and able to be gotten through universal downloader, like what else can i say. you know flappy bird. its on your 3ds. it works, and well. play it.

  • fire emblem fates
    • - hold on. i know what youre thinking. to most people, this is the absolute worst fire emblem, with nonsense story and lackluster characters. and its true. but adding the unofficial gay fates add-on will make the game 10x more enjoyable. it adds nearly 300 new supports both platonic and romantic, still allows for children, and comes in a batch with other mods containing qol changes like better balancing and having better availability for certain characters.