Big Box provides a controller-friendly big screen experience perfect for showing off your collection.

Whether you're using Big Box on an arcade cabinet, a home theatre PC, or a gaming handheld, nothing beats the joy of seeing your game collection come alive with rich media like videos, logos, and box art.

To help elevate that experience, Big Box has two idle modes designed to showcase your games in style:

Screensaver Mode

A mode that transitions between individual games at set intervals, showing full-screen artwork, metadata, and other rich media to highlight your library.

Attract Mode

Inspired by old-school arcades, attract mode was used to draw attention when the machine was idle — often showing gameplay footage, animations, or demo loops to entice players. Big Box's Attract Mode takes this concept and runs with it.

While Screensaver Mode displays games in fullscreen slideshows, Attract Mode actively simulates in-app navigation — like scrolling through a wheel or grid — using your current Big Box theme. This makes it perfect for themes that heavily feature rich visuals and transitions.

💤 Screensaver Mode

Screensaver mode is a great way to show off your games, but it’s also a surprisingly fun tool for rediscovering hidden gems in your library. If a particular title catches your eye, you can even jump right into that game directly from the screensaver.

How to Enable

From Big Box's System Menu, go to Options > Screensaver and turn on Enable Screensaver.

Screensaver Options

Once enabled, you can fine-tune your experience with the following settings:

View
The default Big Box theme comes with four distinct screensaver views. Custom themes can include their own views too, offering a wide range of visual styles for your screensaver.

Wait Time
This sets how long Big Box will wait before launching the screensaver after you stop interacting with it.

Minimum Time Between Games / Maximum Time Between Games
These settings control how often the screensaver cycles from one game to the next.

• Set both to the same value if you want a consistent cycle time.

• Set different values to randomize the transition interval.

For example, if you set the minimum to 30 seconds and the maximum to 1 minute, the screensaver will switch games at a random interval between 30 and 60 seconds.

Skip Games Missing [Media Type]
Allows you to filter out games that don’t have a specific media type (like a background image or video), ensuring your screensaver stays visually polished.

Exploring Games from the Screensaver

With your settings dialed in, sit back and relax as your screensaver takes over showing off your glorious games. Depending on the theme and view you’re using, it may also display handy metadata such as your total playtime or whether the game supports achievements.

Even better — you can press your designated Big Box action button to explore the currently displayed game, which will take you straight to its Game Details page. It’s a great way to dive deeper into something that catches your eye!

🕹️ Attract Mode

Inspired by old-school arcades, Attract Mode in Big Box replicates the idea of drawing users in with enticing visuals and gameplay. But instead of demo reels or static loops, Big Box’s Attract Mode cycles through your collection using your currently selected view, creating a dynamic and immersive experience.

This is especially great for showing off themes that use rich media like videos, background animations, or marquee artwork. Unlike Screensaver Mode, which shows games as fullscreen slides, Attract Mode simulates actual navigation — scrolling through game wheels, grids, or text lists — to highlight games in a more interactive way.

Another key difference: while Screensaver Mode transitions between games on a blank canvas, Attract Mode does so using the current in-app layout. So if you’re using a vertical wheel, it’ll simulate scrolling up/down the wheel to highlight the next game.

How to Enable

From Big Box's System Menu, go to Options > Attract Mode and turn on Enable Attract Mode.

Attract Mode Options

Switch Between Platforms/Filters
By default, Attract Mode cycles through games within the current selection (e.g., a single platform or playlist). Enabling this option will allow it to randomly switch between different platforms or filters.

Wait Time
The amount of idle time before Attract Mode begins.

Time In-Between Movements
This controls how frequently Big Box will move to the next game once Attract Mode has started. For example, if set to 10 seconds, it will simulate navigating to a new game every 10 seconds.

Maximum / Minimum Speed
Adjusts how quickly Big Box scrolls or transitions between games. A higher speed means quicker scrolling, while a lower speed offers slower, more deliberate movement.

Play Navigation Sound(s) During Attract Mode
When enabled, Big Box will play sound effects (like wheel clicks or transition swooshes) as it navigates through your collection. This enhances the nostalgic feel, especially for arcade-style setups.

Taking Back Control

With those settings set, let Big Box take over navigation with Attract Mode. As soon as Big Box registers an input (like moving a joystick or pressing a button), Attract Mode will stop — allowing you to jump right in and explore or launch the game it landed on.