Zarel's Guide to Getting Games

To send games to your calculator, you will need a link cable, a cable that connects your calculator to your computer. Most newer calculators come with a link cable, but if yours didn't, you will need to buy one:

There are many places to download games from, but I recommend ticalc.org. It's widely considered the best:

Note that these are the most popular sections for games. There are other sections, even on ticalc.org, but I will not list them here.
You may browse ticalc.org for them:

Once you've downloaded the game, you'll find that it's usually a '.zip' file.

If you have Windows XP, you can open the '.zip' file by right-clicking it, clicking 'Extract All...', and following the directions.

If you have an older version of of Windows, I recommend you use 7-Zip to open your '.zip' files. Consult the 7-Zip documentation for how to open '.zip' files with 7-Zip.

If you have a Mac, you can use MacZip. Consult the MacZip documentation for how to open '.zip' files with MacZip.

For instructions on how to play a specific game, there should be a 'readme.txt' or '[gamename].txt' file in the game's zip file. The file is known as the 'readme'. Read it.

You will need to download and install TI Connect before you can use your calculator. Make sure to install it before you plug the Connectivity cable in. (Windows users who own the TI-82 or 85, download and use the Graph Link software instead.)

Plug the Connectivity cable into your computer and calculator.

Run TI Connect. Turn the calculator on if it is not. Use TI Connect's ScreenCapture program to get a screen capture from the calculator or use TI Connect's DeviceExplorer to view the contents of your calculator's memory. If successful, your Connectivity cable is properly connected and configured and you are ready to use it.

To send files to the calculator, drag and drop them from the Windows File Explorer window into TI Connect's DeviceExplorer Window. Alternately, right click the file and choose Send To TI Device. Do not merely double click them in Windows File Explorer as Windows won't know what to do with them.

After you have done this, it is recommended that, if you have a calculator with Flash memory (any calculator but TI-85/86), you archive the game (put it in Flash memory).

On a TI-89/TI-89 Titanium/Voyage 200/TI-92 Plus, press 2ND+VAR-LINK, go down to the game you want to archive/unarchive, press F1, and select 'Archive' or 'Unarchive'. Archived games will have a symbol that looks kind of like a '*' next to them.

On a TI-89/TI-89 Titanium/Voyage 200/TI-92 Plus, press 2ND+− (VAR-LINK) when you're at the Home Screen (the screen you get by pressing HOME, 2ND+Q on a 92+/v200), NOT the Apps Desktop. Scroll down until you find the game you want to play, press Enter, type ), press Enter.

Alternately, you can use TICT Explorer for running your games.

To run a Kernel program, you will need to install PreOS. Note that the links I gave you earlier are all Asm programs, so you do not need PreOS to play those games.

Sometimes, a game may crash. If this happens, hold down 2ND+LEFT+RIGHT+ON on a TI-89/89 Titanium or 2ND+LOCK+ON on a TI-92 Plus/Voyage 200. If that does not fix it, take out one battery, hold ON for a second, then replace the battery. This will delete everything in RAM, but everything in Flash memory will be safe.