The Kickstarter campaign for Thumby, a miniature Game Boy-style retro gaming system no bigger than a thumb, has smashed its target in less than 24 hours. The minuscule gaming machine is a fully functional device complete with an OLED display, and is already impressing gamers thanks to its innovation and simplistic design.
Crowdfunding platform Kickstarter has helped countless projects come to fruition over the years, including many gaming-related ideas only made possible by those interested in pledging money to support their development and bring them to market. Kickstarter lets players pledge however much they please to support a project, with different reward tiers depending on the size of the contribution. From board games to video games, Kickstarter has ensured products like an Assassin's Creed Valhalla physical Orlog dice game and Swery's upcoming PC and console game The Good Life have been brought to life, thanks to the financial contributions of backers. Earlier this year, the first Game Boy Advance game in over a decade also passed its Kickstarter goal in under a day.
As spotted by Kotaku, developer TinyCircuits has officially launched the Kickstarter for its next project, Thumby, the playable keychain. With a similar appearance to the Nintendo Game Boy, the tiny gaming device sports an OLED screen along with a four-way D-pad and two gameplay buttons, and even allows for multiplayer action via a Link cable. Thumby comes preloaded with five retro-inspired games similar to classics like Snake and Asteroids, all of which are free, open-source, and available for editing by the player. Coming in at a mere 1.2" X 0.7" X 0.3" (29.5mm x 18mm x 8.5mm), Thumby might just be the smallest functional gaming system to ever release. Thumby has already captured the hearts of retro gamers, smashing its Kickstarter goal in less than a day with over $33,000 in pledges - over double its original $15,000 goal. Thumby's estimated delivery date is February 2022, with the Thumby available with a minimum pledge of $19.
See the post on Twitter here.
Interest in the tiny console suggests Thumby will be a hit when it lands next year. The device should appeal to those interested in creating their own games, with Thumby supporting player-made games using the MicroPython programming language. TinyCircuits has created an all-in-one game designing tool to go alongside the microdevice, allowing creative Thumby owners to draw in-game images and program games in a single browser tab. As well as allowing users to make their own games, the developer has stated that more titles will be added to the device in the future.
Thumby won't be for every player, with its tiny screen and buttons possibly proving difficult for those with impaired vision or larger hands. Gamers have previously taken issue with small devices, such as the Game Gear Micro, criticizing the smaller size and difficult-to-use buttons. That being said, the market for retro games on smaller all-in-one devices is growing, with releases like the Playdate console already finding an audience.
Source: Kickstarter (via Kotaku)