How small can you really make Nintendo's Game Boy Advance? That's the question TinyCircuits answers with the Thumb Colora GBA clone that measures just two inches in size that still manages to include a directional pad, shoulder buttons, a rumble motor, a 16-bit color display, and the ability to link two of them together with a USB-C cable for multiplayer gaming.
Unlike the countless Game Boy and GBA clones released by companies like Anbernic, the Thumby Color is not an emulator. It doesn't have enough processing power to run retro games, nor enough storage to store hundreds of ROM files.
It is powered by a 150 MHz engine. Raspberry Pi RP2350 processor That's paired with just 16MB of storage (yes, that's megabytes, not gigabytes). Not being able to play actual GBA games on the Thumby Color is probably a good thing because its 0.85-inch square LCD screen has a resolution of just 128 x 128 pixels, which is less than half the resolution of the GBA.
Instead, games are programmed in MicroPython. The Thumby Color will come with six open-source titles pre-installed, including a first-person shooter called monsters and a dungeon game called Thumbling 2It will also come with all the monochrome games that shipped with the original Thumby in 2021, which was the company's flagship product. amazon.com/TinyCircuits-Console-Playable-Programmable-Keychain/dp/B0B4Z915Q9/ref=asc_df_B0B4Z915Q9/?tag=theverge02-20″>Ultra small clone of the original Game Boy.
The Thumby Color isn't a handheld device you'll want to tinker with for hours on end, but it's one you can introduce into any environment where you want a distraction, without having to try to hide more conspicuous handhelds like the Steam Deck. It's also a good excuse to learn a programming language, as TinyCircuits has created. tutorials and guides Available for free through their website.
TinyCircuits has opted for a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter to bring the Thumby Color to consumers. Original Thumbelina It still sells for $42, but this new version with a color screen is available with a $49 pledge for a purple version, and is expected to ship in early November. If you want a Thumby Color with a clear purple case, the price jumps to $55, and if you want a Kickstarter-exclusive black version, it's $75.
Please note that there is always a chance that a crowdfunded product may not offer all of the features promised at the time of the campaign. It could also experience significant delays or may never be delivered, with no refunds. TinyCircuits has managed to Sent several Kickstarter products earlier, so there is a little less risk here, but there is no guarantee that the product will materialize, even if its funding goal has already been met.
