How to Install .jgp Packages on JoiPlay (Pokemon Reborn Method)
Most games reach JoiPlay the manual way: download a ZIP, extract it, then add Game.exe or index.html yourself. A few games skip all of that and ship as a single .jgp file instead, and the best known example is Pokemon Reborn, which offers an official .jgp package for JoiPlay players. If you have downloaded one and are hunting for where it goes, the answer is a menu option many players scroll straight past: Install Package. This guide explains what a .jgp package is, how to install jgp package joiplay style in a few taps, and how to fix the small problems that can appear along the way. Our wider guide on How to Play Pokemon Games on JoiPlay covers the fan games themselves if you want more titles after this one.
What Is a .jgp File?
A .jgp file is a game packaged specifically for JoiPlay. Instead of a loose folder of game files that you extract and point the app at yourself, the developer has bundled the whole game into one package file with the structure JoiPlay expects.
That gives you a few real advantages:
- ✅ No manual extraction: no unzipping thousands of small files with a separate app
- ✅ No wrong file mistakes: you cannot pick the wrong .exe or folder, because the package knows its own layout
- ✅ A cleaner library entry: the game arrives in JoiPlay named and set up the way the developer intended
- ❌ Less control: you do not choose where the files live, because JoiPlay manages the installed copy itself
Not every game offers one. The .jgp format only exists where a developer chose to publish it, and Pokemon Reborn is the release most players meet first.
Before You Download: Size and Source Checks
A .jgp contains an entire game in one file, so expect a large download. For a game of Reborn’s size, that means gigabytes rather than megabytes, moving parts and all. Two minutes of checking before you start saves a failed install later:
- Use a stable connection, ideally Wi-Fi. A multi gigabyte file on a flaky connection is how partial, unusable packages happen. If the download stalls, restart it rather than trusting a resumed file that looks complete.
- Confirm the free space twice over. Keep free storage comfortably above the package size, because the install needs room for the extracted game alongside the package itself. A phone with barely the file’s size free is the most common cause of installs dying near the end.
- Check what the download page actually offers. Official pages often list several downloads side by side: Windows builds, older versions, patches and the JoiPlay package. Make sure the file you take is the .jgp one, not a ZIP of the Windows version with a similar name.
What You Need Before Installing
Have these four things ready and the install takes minutes:
- ✅ JoiPlay installed and up to date: the Install Package option lives in current builds, so update first if your menu looks different
- ✅ The RPG Maker Plugin installed: Reborn is an RPG Maker XP game at its core, so JoiPlay still needs the plugin to run it. Our JoiPlay RPG Maker Plugin guide covers getting it set up
- ✅ Enough free storage: the package is extracted during install, so keep free space comfortably above the size of the .jgp file itself. Reborn is a large game, and a nearly full phone is the top cause of failed installs
- ✅ The .jgp file from the official source: for Reborn, that means the game’s official download page. Packages from random reupload sites are a needless risk
How to Install a .jgp Package on JoiPlay
The process uses the same + button as adding a normal game, with one different choice inside the menu:
- Download the .jgp file from the game’s official page and leave it in your Downloads folder. Do not try to extract it or rename it.
- Open JoiPlay.
- Tap the + icon, usually at the top right of the library screen.
- Choose Install Package. Do not choose Add Game this time, because that option expects an extracted game folder.
- Browse to the .jgp file and select it.
- Tap Install and wait. JoiPlay extracts and registers the game, which can take a few minutes for a large package.
- Stay on the screen while it works. Do not switch apps or let the phone sleep mid install.
- When the confirmation appears, find the game in your library and launch it.
💡 Tip: turn on auto-rotate and hold the phone in landscape during the install. In portrait, the progress and status text at the bottom of the install screen can be cut off, so you cannot see whether it finished cleanly or hit an error.
First Launch After Installing
A packaged game behaves like any other JoiPlay game once it is in your library, with the usual first run prompts:
- Permissions: the game may ask for storage and other permissions on first launch. Allow what it requests, tap it again if it asks to extract or prepare anything, and let it finish.
- A long first load is normal: big fan games build caches and indexes on the first start. Give Reborn several minutes before you assume anything is stuck.
- Runtime prompts: if a message about a Runtime Package or RTP appears, follow it, because some content still needs that shared package even in a bundled install.
After the title screen appears, start a new game briefly and save once. A working save confirms the whole chain, package, plugin and permissions, is healthy.
.jgp Install vs Manual Add Game
| .jgp package | Manual add game | |
|---|---|---|
| File you download | One .jgp package | A ZIP or RAR archive |
| Extraction | Handled by JoiPlay during install | You extract it yourself first |
| Menu option used | Install Package | Add Game |
| File you select | The .jgp file | Game.exe or index.html in the extracted folder |
| Who controls the layout | The package, so it is always correct | You, so mistakes are possible |
| Available for | Only games the developer packaged | Almost every supported game |
If a game offers both, the package is the easier route. If it offers only a normal download, use the manual method in our guide on How to Download Games for JoiPlay.
Where Does the Installed Game Go?
New players often go looking for the extracted game folder afterwards, to move it, inspect it or copy a save out, and cannot find it where they expected. That is normal. When JoiPlay installs a package, the app unpacks and manages the game itself, in the storage area it uses for installed packages, rather than asking you to pick a folder the way Add Game does.
Two practical consequences follow. First, you do not need to manage the files yourself at all; the library entry is the game, as far as daily use goes. Second, if you ever want to work with the game’s save files directly, for a backup or a transfer, check inside the game first and allow a little hunting time, because a package install’s layout is the app’s choice, not yours. If direct file access matters a lot to you for a particular game, the manual Add Game route keeps everything in a folder you chose.
Updating a Game You Installed as a .jgp
Fan games release new versions, and packaged games are no exception. When the developer publishes an updated package, the usual pattern is to install the new .jgp the same way as the first, and let it replace or sit alongside the existing install.
Protect yourself before any update:
- ✅ Back up your saves first. An update that goes wrong is an annoyance; an update that takes a long save with it is a disaster. Copy the save files out if you can reach them, or at minimum finish and save your session before installing anything.
- ✅ Read the developer’s update notes. Fan game teams usually say whether saves from the previous version carry over, and occasionally they warn that they do not. Believe them.
- ✅ Install, then test before tidying up. Launch the updated game and load your save before deleting the old package file or any old copy of the game.
If the new build refuses your old save, the backup and the previous package are your way back, which is exactly why they are kept until the test is done.
Troubleshooting .jgp Install Problems
There is no Install Package option in the + menu. Your JoiPlay build is out of date, or you opened a different menu. Update JoiPlay from an official source, reopen the app, and tap the + icon on the library screen again.
The install stalls or seems frozen. Large packages take time, and the progress text is your only guide, which is why the landscape tip above matters. Keep JoiPlay in the foreground, keep the screen on, and wait. If it truly stops with an error, free up more storage and try again, because a nearly full phone interrupts extraction.
The game installed but errors when it launches. A package fixes file layout, not every launch problem. Confirm the RPG Maker Plugin is installed for Reborn, allow the game’s permissions, then work through our JoiPlay Not Working fixes if it still fails.
JoiPlay cannot see the .jgp file. Make sure the download actually finished and the file ends in .jgp, not .zip. Some browsers and download managers rename or leave partial files. Redownload it fully and pick the fresh copy.
Conclusion
A .jgp package is simply a game pre-packed for JoiPlay, and installing one is a short job: download the file from the developer’s official page, tap the + icon, choose Install Package, select the file and let the app do the extraction.
Remember the two details that trip people up. Pick Install Package, not Add Game, and rotate to landscape while it installs so you can actually read the progress text. Do those, keep enough free storage, and Pokemon Reborn will be sitting in your library ready to play.