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

As much fun as the Nintendo Switch is , it ’s not exactly the most portable or pocket - well-disposed gimmick . There aremuch smaller alternativesout there , but theThumbytakes portability to another level with a tiny screen and even bantam controls on a handheld that looks no bigger than a postage cast .

When we reviewed another flyspeck handheld gaming gimmick in the first place this year , theFunKey S , we take the air off fittingly impressed with the timbre of the GBA SP clon ’s 1.52 - inch full - color folding screen and its canonical controls that were small and cramped , but still very playable . We take over that the FunKey S represented the out-and-out limit of how little a handheld could be , but the Creator of the Thumby presumably get hold of one look at the FunKey and wondered why it was so gigantic .

The Thumby looks a lot like the original Nintendo Game Boy , but one give away to Wayne Szalinski ’s shrink ray from Honey , I shrivel up the youngster . Even photograph of it sitting atop the original Game Boy ca n’t prepare you for just how small the Thumby is when you first pick it up , and while its diminutive size means the impossibly lilliputian ‘ kickoff ’ and ‘ Select ’ button on it are just for show , it does let in a fully - functional four - way directional pad , two action buttons , and a sliding power button on the top .

Photo: Andrew Liszewski - Gizmodo

The control buttons are all very clicky , with a very audible ‘ tick ’ every meter they ’re pressed . But in this typesetter’s case , that ’s a right thing because it ’s just about the only way of life you recognise for sure that you ’ve in reality successfully pressed one of them with the tip of your fingerbreadth given how little travel they all have . People with smaller hand might have an easy time with the Thumby , but my big mitts skin to accurately and reliably use the guiding pad . It was ‘ playable ’ , but in the same style that standing at the very boundary of an combat-ready volcano would be considered ‘ dependable . ’ This is n’t a console for high - score seekers . It ’s a freshness first and foremost , a demonstration that a handheld can be made this tiny and still technically work , but at no item are you going to truly enjoy play on it .

Handhelds like theFunKey grit the excellentAnbernic consolesprovide gamers with approach to thousands of game through their use of emulators that can play retro titles release twelvemonth ago on older cabinet . The Thumby instead take an approach that ’s more evocative ofKevin Bates ’ Arduboy , where a color CRT screen is replaced with a bare 1 - bit black and bloodless video display , with custom games ( often clones of popular titles ) source from a community of devoted users and developer .

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 solvent of just 72×40 pixels . Up tight through a camera ’s soar crystalline lens it certainly looks pixelated , but to the naked center the concealment is so physically low it ’s nearly impossible to see individual pixels .

The original Game Boy looks enormous compared to the Thumby.

The original Game Boy looks enormous compared to the Thumby.Photo: Andrew Liszewski – Gizmodo

developer have a little over 2,000 on - blind pixel in total to play with . That might sound like a wad , but in reality , it will impel them to become very clever and creative with their game ’s graphics . Out of the box the Thumby will let in five games to enjoy / attempt to play admit TinyTris , a Nokia - esque acquire snake secret plan called TinyAnnelid , a dungeon crawler cite TinyDelver , TinySaur Run , and RFSD ( curt for Royalty Free Space Debris ) which is a space hitman similar to Asteroids which you may see being played in the GIF below .

There ’s no denying the Thumby ’s graphics are about as basic as video recording games can get ( despite the handheld being power by a very capable Raspberry Pi RP2040 processor ) but that lo - fi aesthetic will presumptively be another part of its charm . Users can also well develop their own games for the system by simply plugging it into a electronic computer with a microUSB cable and open a specific internet site where they can code and blue-pencil 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 ironware means simpler game are actually the best approach .

A paltry 40mAh lithium - polymer battery still deal to provide enough ability for about two hour of gambling on the Thumby , while 2 MB of storage should actually provide more than enough elbow room for a decent number of games . The handheld can be charge using the microUSB port on the bottom , but the port also ease multiplayer gaming when using an optional Thumby to Thumby link cablegram . That option was n’t quite ready for me to prove out just yet , which is inauspicious , because multiplayer Tetris is still one of my favorite Game Boy experiences .

As someone on the verge of needing glasses, reading the Thumby’s teensy-tiny screen was a real challenge.

As someone on the verge of needing glasses, reading the Thumby’s teensy-tiny screen was a real challenge.Photo: Andrew Liszewski – Gizmodo

TinyCircuits is move thecrowdfunding routeto bring Thumby to gamers ( with excellent seeing ) through aKickstarter campaignthat is launching today . The first 50 ‘ early bird ’ backers of the safari can score a Thumby for just $ 9 , with delivery in November . For everyone else , the terms will be $ 19 , with delivery expected sometime in 2022 as a result of the global semiconductor dearth . Higher ( more expensive ) tiers will also be available , with Thumbys in different colors and one that includes extra accessories , like the multiplayer link cable .

The usual risks with crowdfunded products still go for here , particularly during an ongoing pandemic that has shed supply range and shipping into chaos , but this is far from being the first productTinyCircuitshas produced and sold , and the company ’s being very upfront about delays for anyone who orders one after the first 50 are claim . Besides , you ’re getting a fully function hand-held gaming organisation for just $ 19 . It ’s no Switch , but it delivers exactly what TinyCircuits is promising : picture game put in on your keychain for extreme exigency where you have no other way to keep yourself entertained .

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Gaming on a 72x40 1-bit OLED display is not going to be a treat for the eyes.