Raymond Wong

Reviews

World’s tiniest Game Boy is actually playable

Tiny Circuits’ Thumby is a teeny tiny Game Boy powered by an itty bitty Raspberry Pi with a working OLED screen, functional buttons, and five games.

Thumby Game Boy review: world's smallest gaming console is playable
Raymond Wong / Input

This is the Thumby. It’s exactly like it looks: a thumb-sized Game Boy. Made by Tiny Circuits, it’s billed as the “world’s smallest gaming console.”

Raymond Wong / Input

This thing is seriously tiny: 1.2” tall x 0.7” wide x 0.3” thick. I misplaced it while taking photos.

Raymond Wong / Input

$19

The regular price for Thumby. Limited time pricing is $9.

Raymond Wong / Input

The teeny tiny 0.38 x 0.27-inch monochrome OLED display has a whopping 72 x 40 resolution. Inside, it’s got a Raspberry Pi RP2040 microcontroller. There’s a Micro USB port to charge its lithium-ion battery.

Raymond Wong / Input

Actually playable

Despite it being a Game Boy for ants or Derek Zoolander, the Thumby’s D-pad and A/B buttons actually work. There’s a power switch on top.

Raymond Wong / Input

5

Number of preloaded games.

Raymond Wong / Input

The D-Pad and buttons are surprisingly clicky with distinct actuation. Fingernails are a must to press the buttons precisely. If you’ve got sausage fingers... it’s gonna be very difficult to press anything. There’s even a barely-audible speaker that makes blips.

Raymond Wong / Input

The five included games are cloned versions of titles like Tetris, Asteroids, and Snake. They’re playable, but you definitely wouldn’t want to spend hours with the Thumby’s tiny screen pressed up to your face.

Raymond Wong / Input

My 5-year-old self wouldn’t have believed this.

The screen is so tiny it was really hard to record any gameplay. Fortunately, Elliot Coll aka The Retro Future did. Have a looksie. Don’t like the games? You can program your own using Micro Python.

The Retro Future

The Thumby is clearly a toy — one that fits on a keychain. It’s not meant to play the next Legend of Zelda. That doesn’t make it any less fun or amusing. It makes for a great gift for anyone, gamer or not. Now, hopefully, its Kickstarter is funded.

Raymond Wong / Input

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