Are you an ant? Then I have some good news for you, a miniature Game Boy Advance-like handheld has been revealed by the makers behind the original Thumby, and its now funding on Kickstarter should you want to get your dirty little hands on one.
Wait… do ants have hands, or just feet? *HEY SIRI!!!*
The lovely team over at Tiny Circuits were kind enough to send us a pre-production sample to take a look at, this sample unit uses a 3D printed shell, whereas the official released product will feature injection molded plastic instead, which is much higher quality.
Tiny Circuits are renowned for making tiny electronics, and their two handhelds are open-source, allowing customers to tinker with them as they please alongside the ability to make and transfer their own games to the devices. There are over 100 free games to choose from within the Thumby library too, created by gamers from around the world and by TInyCircuits themselves.
It’s hard to understand how small this device is in pictures, it’s 51mm wide and the display itself is just 0.85″ small. It’s incredibly minute, and certainly not a handheld you’ll want to play on for hours on end in one go, but that’s what makes this thing so darn magical.
It’s technically designed to be transported on your keychain, just like its older brother and it does that well thanks to its size and unrecognisable weight. It’s taken obvious design inspiration from the Game Boy Advance, with some subtle changes but it mostly features the same buttons in the same areas, even the speaker grill is located in the same location.
Oddly, because of the horizontal form factor buttons can be pressed quite comfortably with the tinniest amount of pressure which in turn allows the user to keep a good grip. The screen has a fairly large bezel, but that adds to the GBA aesthetics.
The display used is surprisingly colourful and bright, featuring a resolution of 128 x 128, and the games designed for it feature text large enough to see. There was only one game called “SAND” that my eyes struggled with, which is one of the 5 games pre-installed on here.
Viewing angles are good on here too, and the brightness is strong enough for it to be visible when you’re outside, which is where I find myself playing with it the most, for example when I’m at a coffee shop waiting for a friend, or on public transport.
The OS itself reminds me very much of the FunkeyOS which is part of the Funkey Handheld. It’s super simple and you can scan your library by pressing left or right. Settings and credits can also be accessed by hitting the iddy biddy shoulder buttons. It’s obvious the team took some time developing this.
I did find myself struggling to exit a game and come back into the main menu. The only way I could do this with my pre-release unit is by turning the device on and off again. I am hoping they change this with their real units, even making it as simple as holding the start button to exit would be helpful.
Some games surprised me with a vibration which I was not expecting, and it turns out the Thumby Color features a mini rumble motor too, making games that extra bit more immersive. This is a neat feature and one other competitor mini handhelds have neglected.
The games made for this device come in a wide range of different variations. From classic games such as solitaire, connect 4 and chess, to independent games that get you to hunt mysterious beasts in a shoot em up style to unique puzzle games to super hero games that forces you to fly around a city throwing cards at enemies. The selection is superb.
The tiny speaker packs just enough punch to hear it in crowded areas or on a loud bus, although i can imagine some customers may want it to be louder in some games, but what can we expect from something this small?
The battery life is also reasonably small, stretching to 60 – 90 minutes on a single charge depending on what type of games you are playing on the internal Raspberry Pi RP2350 processor. This battery capacity is enough to get you through a quick car journey, or keeping you entertained on your lunch break but I do recommend taking a USB-C charging cable with everywhere you go, as it will catch you out at times. The LED indicator on the front does pre-warn you alongside the battery symbol on screen.
Overall it’s an adorable novelty for handheld enthusiasts to add to their collections and their keyrings. It’s well designed, both externally and internally, adds a couple of neat features when compared to the original Thumby and opens up gamers to new indie games on a unique form factor. You can even install original Thumby games too should you want to transfer your games, or make your own!
It makes a splendid gift for any retro gamer, and although it’s priced at $49 which puts it in the same market as the ANBERNIC RG28XX which can emulate Playstation 1 games, and for $10 more you could buy a RG35XXSP, one of the best retro handhelds released this year.
But they’re targeting two completely different demographics and you will be supporting a small team of real retro gaming enthusiasts who love to tinker.
We will post a full review of the Thumby Color when we receive a sample unit of the final devices, likely when they begin shipping after their crowdfunding has finished, which isn’t far away, so get backing if you want to snag one early on their Kickstarter page!
