An ESP32-C6 Powered Keychain Brings Retro Gaming to Your Pocket

With the low cost and tiny size of today’s electronic components, we can carry all sorts of useful gadgets around with us in our pockets. Akashdeep Singh took advantage of this fact to help us reclaim the time that would otherwise be wasted in our everyday lives. He has designed and built a tiny, keychain-sized arcade game that he can grab and play for the few minutes here and there that might otherwise be wasted while waiting for a bus or standing in a line.

The device was built around an ESP32-C6 development board. Chosen for its compact footprint and processing power, this chip provides enough memory and speed to handle simple graphics and responsive gameplay without inflating the device’s size. For visuals, Singh paired it with a tiny, 0.96-inch monochrome OLED display, delivering crisp, high-contrast graphics that lend the game a retro aesthetic reminiscent of early handhelds.

Input, however, is where things get interesting. Instead of a directional pad or multiple buttons, the console features just a single push button to minimize its size. This constraint directly informed the software design: Singh opted to create a minimalist clone of Flappy Bird, a game perfectly suited to one-button control. Press to flap, release to fall. Singh spent several hours fine-tuning the game’s physics and timing to ensure it felt responsive and fair on such a small screen.

The first prototype was assembled on a breadboard with jumper wires to verify connections and functionality. Once satisfied, Singh moved to a custom printed circuit board to achieve the final keychain form factor. The PCB design was sent off for fabrication, after which he carefully soldered the microcontroller, display, button, and a small rechargeable battery into place. The ESP32-C6 board’s built-in charging support simplified the addition of portable power.

The finished device includes a small notch in the PCB so it can attach directly to a keyring. Small enough to hold between two fingers, the console functions both as a playable arcade game and a high-tech fidget toy. With thoughtful design and modern components, even a spare moment can become game time.