The Kit That Brings Your LEGO Game Boy to Life
The BrickBoy is a simple DIY kit that turns your LEGO Game Boy into a playable console using a Raspberry Pi Zero.
The LEGO Game Boy that was released late last year has become a big hit among people who love both vintage tech and LEGOs (and there is almost total overlap in that Venn diagram). However, it doesn’t take long after setting this completed build on the shelf before the owner starts dreaming of playing real games on the LEGO Game Boy. This is such an obvious next step that a number of hobbyists have already made that dream a reality by stuffing an emulator and screen between the bricks.
But these solutions are generally one-offs, and they aren’t always documented very well. That makes it challenging for the individual who would like to buy a kit for a quick and easy conversion to make their own. That’s where the BrickBoy comes in. It’s a simple kit, consisting of just a few parts that can be clicked together like LEGO bricks, that makes the LEGO Game Boy fully playable. From start to finish, the process takes about five minutes.
Multiple kits are available, with each being powered by either a Raspberry Pi Zero or a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W. A 2.4-inch LCD display with backlighting does an admirable job of recreating the original experience, although, unlike the original Game Boy, you can play this one in the dark. Power is provided either by a pair of AAA batteries or a rechargeable battery pack.
The BrickBoy has already been successfully funded on Kickstarter, but you are not too late to get in on the fun. You can still Late Pledge for rewards, which currently start at $199. At that price, you could pick up an authentic vintage Game Boy for less on the second-hand market. But then it wouldn’t be made of LEGOs, now would it?