The Arduboy FX-C is such an excellent time-killer, you may even forget you’re carrying it

As portable consoles Continue to grow And push the limits of what you can Actually holding it in your handsthe Arduboy FX-C comes in a great package that can fit in a pocket. It manages to squeeze the best features of previous models and some welcome upgrades into a portable device that’s still no bigger or thicker than a few credit cards. It’s the best version of Arduboy yet, especially for gamers who want to jump into the ever-expanding library of portable games and apps right out of the box, but one of its most compelling upgrades isn’t quite ready for primetime use.

The original Arduboy was a Tetris-Play business card Created by Kevin Bates to show off his electronics skills. This idea went viral in 2014, prompting Bates to turn the idea into a project Commercial device after a year It was a small open source gaming device and a tool that could help would-be developers learn programming.

After more than a decade Simple repetitionsthe Arduboy FX-C looks very similar to the original. Controls are limited to six buttons, four of which act as a D-pad. These have little movement considering the device is only 5mm thick, but they provide a satisfying amount of clicks when pressed. The piezoelectric speakers are high-pitched but loud enough, and the 1.3-inch, 1-bit OLED display is bright enough to play outdoors.

While the original 37-year-old Game Boy could display four shades of teal-gray, the Arduboy FX-C’s display is monochromatic and limited to white pixels only. Developers have to rely on visual tricks like dithering or flicker to create grayscale graphics. Also limiting is the FX-C’s ATmega32u4 processor which is paired with just 2.5KB of RAM. Compared to other black and white mobile devices such as Play dateThe Arduboy FX-C looks primitive but its limitations have forced game developers to get creative and experiment, which is a big part of this platform’s appeal.

My biggest frustration with the original Arduboy was the minimal storage space that caused me to regularly plug the device into my laptop when I wanted to play a different game. In 2020, Bates introduced the Arduboy FX with an additional flash chip on board that can hold 250 games. The FX-C inherits this chip, but in a slightly larger version, bringing the built-in game library to over 300 games, while also upgrading the device from microUSB to USB-C.

It would be nice if the FX-C had a color display, a proper D-pad, dedicated volume buttons, an improved audio chip, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and even a microSD card slot, but none of these upgrades really seem necessary. It’s a laptop that feels like it’s been pared down to the absolute necessities for gaming, but it works.

A small switch on the top edge of the FX-C operates the handheld device, but that can sometimes be a challenge if you have short nails like me. Almost immediately after booting up, you’re presented with a simple home screen and menu system. The collected games are categorized into several categories including Action, Adventure, Arcade, Runner, Puzzle, and Racing, which you can navigate by swiping left and right. Instead, games in each category scroll vertically by pressing up or down. It’s simple and easy to navigate, but I’d like to see an additional category that lists all the games alphabetically.

All games developed for Arduboy are distributed free of charge, so you won’t find any classic 8-bit games you know like… Super Mario Bros. or Castlevania Which Nintendo still offers on platforms like Switch. But there are plenty of excellent lookalikes who are similar enough to scratch the nostalgia itch while also being unique enough to keep lawyers at bay. Surprisingly, despite the FX-C’s limited processing power, there’s a lot more to it than just side-scrolling games and falling puzzle games. You’ll also find first-person shooters, dungeon crawlers, and racing games with excellent frame rates.

There’s a lot of fun to be had, but don’t expect the games to take weeks to finish. The Arduboy FX-C is best suited for quick capture-and-play sessions when you have a few minutes to spend.

due to bad luck, The feature that convinced me Buying a pair of FX-Cs isn’t quite ready. I was unable to play multiplayer via USB Some users on the Arduboy community forums It was a success. Bates says the feature is still under development. Arduboy multiplayer cleverly takes advantage of the additional connectors found in modern USB cables to pass game data back and forth, Bates explains in a forum postbut requires a more expensive USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt cable to work. After testing several different USB 3.0 cables from Amazon, I haven’t had any success. It’s a feature I know He can I work and expect the hiccup will eventually resolve, but if that’s the only reason you want to get a pair of FX-Cs, I’d hold off on it for now.

The Arduboy FX-C is still a solid upgrade. The original device was one of the last devices I had to keep microUSB cables for, but the huge collection of compiled games sourced from the Arduboy development community is the real reason one of these devices broke. I’ve barely tried 10% of them at this point, and while the quality varies, it’s hard to be disappointed when you’re not actually paying for them. The console is only as good as its library of games, and over the past decade, Arduboy has grown a loyal community that develops hundreds. If you go with an open mind and don’t worry about what you’re missing, you’ll thoroughly enjoy this laptop.

Photography by Andrew Leszewski/The Verge