How Small Is Too Small for a Game Boy? The Thumby Might Have the Answer

As a lot enjoyable because the Nintendo Switch is, it’s not precisely probably the most transportable or pocket-friendly gadget. There are a lot smaller alternate options on the market, however the Thumby takes portability to a different stage with a tiny display and even tinier controls on a handheld that appears no larger than a postage stamp.

When we reviewed one other tiny handheld gaming gadget earlier this yr, the FunKey S, we walked away suitably impressed with the standard of the GBA SP clone’s 1.52-inch full-color folding display and its fundamental controls that have been small and cramped, however nonetheless very playable. We assumed that the FunKey S represented absolutely the limits of how small a handheld could possibly be, however the creators of the Thumby presumably took one have a look at the FunKey and questioned why it was so gigantic.

The Thumby appears rather a lot like the unique Nintendo Game Boy, however one uncovered to Wayne Szalinski’s shrink ray from Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. Even pictures of it sitting atop the unique Game Boy can’t put together you for simply how small the Thumby is whenever you first decide it up, and whereas its diminutive measurement means the impossibly tiny ‘Start’ and ‘Select’ buttons on it are only for present, it does embody a fully-functional four-way directional pad, two motion buttons, and a sliding energy button on the highest.

The management buttons are all very clicky, with a really audible ‘tick’ each time they’re pressed. But on this case, that’s an excellent factor as a result of it’s nearly the one method you realize for certain that you simply’ve truly efficiently pressed one among them with the tip of your finger given how little journey all of them have. People with smaller fingers might need a better time with the Thumby, however my huge mitts struggled to precisely and reliably use the directional pad. It was ‘playable’, however in the identical method that standing on the very fringe of an lively volcano could be thought-about ‘safe.’ This isn’t a console for high-rating seekers. It’s a novelty in the beginning, an illustration {that a} handheld may be made this tiny and nonetheless technically work, however at no level are you going to really take pleasure in gaming on it.

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Handhelds like the FunKey S and the excellent Anbernic consoles provide gamers with access to thousands of games through their use of emulators that can play retro titles released years ago on older consoles. The Thumby instead takes an approach that’s more reminiscent of Kevin Bates’ Arduboy, where a color screen is replaced with a simple 1-bit black and white display, with custom games (often clones of popular titles) sourced from a community of devoted users and developers.

With the console itself measuring just 1.2-inches tall, the Thumby’s OLED display is roughly a third of that height, and it musters a resolution of just 72×40 pixels. Up close through a camera’s zoom lens it certainly looks pixelated, but to the naked eye the screen is so physically small it’s nearly impossible to see individual pixels.

Developers have a little over 2,000 on-screen pixels in total to play with. That might sound like a lot, but in reality, it will force them to become very clever and creative with their game’s graphics. Out of the box the Thumby will include five games to enjoy/attempt to play including TinyTris, a Nokia-esque growing snake game called TinyAnnelid, a dungeon crawler named TinyDelver, TinySaur Run, and RFSD (short for Royalty Free Space Debris) which is a space shooter similar to Asteroids which you can see being played in the GIF below.

There’s no denying the Thumby’s graphics are about as basic as video games can get (despite the handheld being powered by a very capable Raspberry Pi RP2040 processor) but that lo-fi aesthetic will presumably be another part of its charm. Users can also easily develop their own games for the system by simply plugging it into a computer with a microUSB cable and opening a specific website where they can code and edit the Python files directly on the Thumby. If you’ve ever been itching to learn to code, this could be a fun place to start as the limits of the hardware means simpler games are actually the best approach.

A paltry 40mAh lithium-polymer battery still manages to provide enough power for about two hours of gaming on the Thumby, while 2MB of storage should actually provide more than enough room for a decent number of games. The handheld can be charged using the microUSB port on the bottom, but the port also facilitates multiplayer gaming when using an optional Thumby to Thumby link cable. That option wasn’t quite ready for me to test out just yet, which is unfortunate, because multiplayer Tetris is still one of my favorite Game Boy experiences.

TinyCircuits goes the crowdfunding route to convey Thumby to players (with glorious eyesight) by means of a Kickstarter campaign that is launching today. The first 50 ‘early bird’ backers of the campaign can score a Thumby for just $9, with delivery in November. For everyone else, the price will be $19, with delivery expected sometime in 2022 as a result of the global semiconductor shortages. Higher (more expensive) tiers will also be available, with Thumbys in different colors and one that includes additional accessories, like the multiplayer link cable.

The regular dangers with crowdfunded merchandise nonetheless apply right here, particularly throughout an ongoing pandemic that has thrown provide chains and transport into chaos, however that is removed from being the primary product TinyCircuits has produced and bought, and the corporate’s being very upfront about delays for anybody who orders one after the primary 50 are claimed. Besides, you’re getting a totally functioning handheld gaming system for simply $19. It’s no Switch, nevertheless it delivers precisely what TinyCircuits is promising: video video games saved in your keychain for excessive emergencies the place you haven’t any different approach to preserve your self entertained.