What is the Arduboy
Arduboy is both a device you can buy and an open specification(verification needed) for an Arduino-powered 8-bit gaming device. Think "open-source modern gameboy".
It comes in various configurations, with the most common being the Arduboy FX. This configuration gives you a credit-card-sized game system with the ability to store up to 16MiB of programs, called Sketches. Other configurations (such as the Original and older) didn't come with this extra storage and can only play one game at a time. See Determining Hardware(section needed) to figure out which device you have.
Hardware
Specifications
Board
All Arduboys are built around an Arduino Leonardo board, which has an ATmega32u4 micro-controller. This gives it:
- 16Mhz 8-bit CPU
- 2.5KiB RAM
- 32KiB Flash (program memory)
- Options for 2-4KiB protected Bootloader
- Various IO pins for input, screen, etc
Display
Arduboys are designed to use a 128x64 black and white (1 bit) display. Many Arduboy devices use a screen capable of running in a limited grayscale mode; you may see some games designed to take advantage of this.
All premade Arduboys use a black and white OLED panel, based on the SSD1306 display controller, which is capable of using the aforementioned grayscale mode.
Input / Output
Arduboys are designed to use 6 buttons: 4 cardinal direction inputs (d-pad) and two buttons (A and B). The Arduboy also has either a micro USB or USB-C port for flashing games and providing limited control over the system.
Additional Storage
Without "external storage" (external to the Arduino board, not generally something you insert or attach), the Arduboy is only capable of storing and running 1 game at a time, from its onboard 32KiB flash. The Arduboy FX and Arduboy Mini both have an additional 16MiB NAND flash soldered on, often referred to as just the FX chip, which allows the Arduboy to select from any game stored in a Flashcart.
This started as a mod chip for the original Arduboy, hence the name "FX chip", and eventually became part of the prebuilt system, now called the Arduboy FX. An original Arduboy modded with the FX chip is functionally equivalent to an Arduboy FX.
Arduboy Variants
Production Variants
- Dev Kits
- Arduboy (Original)
- Kickstarter Editions
- Arduboy Arduventure
- Arduboy FX
- Arduboy FX Mod-Chip
- Arduboy FX Special Edition
- Arduboy Mini
Prototypes and One-Offs
Related Devices
Production Variants
The following Arduboy variants have been manufactured and made for public sale.
Dev Kits
Content needed.
Arduboy (Original)
The original Arduboy was released after a successful Kickstarter campaign which was launched in 2015. The campaign originally had a goal of $25,000 but ultimately achieved $433,038 with 7,221 backers.
The original unit featured in the Kickstarter campaign can be identified by the conjoined A and B buttons and the large, black square immediately above these.
During the development phase of the Kickstarter, the layout of the PCB was changed to that shown below. Note the diodes on the left and right of the screen and the reshaped buttons.
Kickstarter Editions
Content needed.
Arduboy Arduventure
The Arduboy Arduventure was released after a successful Kickstarter campaign which was launched in 2017. The campaign originally had a goal of $7,500 but ultimately achieved $60,375 with 1,138 backers.
The unit featured an RPG game developed by Team A.R.G. and took almost two years to develop. Although functionally identical to the original Arduboy, the Arduventure version featured a black PCB, gold buttons and a screen printed backing plate with the Arduventure logo and original Arduboy details. The unit was shipped in a custom box and, optionally, with 'Flynn' the game's protagonist.
Arduboy FX
Released in 2021, the Arduboy FX was the first variant to feature a 16Mb flash memory chip and custom bootloader allowing it to store multiple games and flash these on selection to the unit itself. These units can be identified by the FX graphic above the A and B buttons on the right-hand side and by the visible 'FX' chip which is mounted immediately above the USB connector at the bottom of the unit.
Other than the inclusion of the FX chip, the unit is identical to the original unit.
Arduboy FX Mod-Chip
Release in 2021 alongside the Arduboy FX, the mod-chip was a pre-programmed FX chip that was delivered on a flexible PCB that could be installed on an original Arduboy to bring it up to FX specifications. In addition to the W25Q128 Flash Memory Module, a peripheral micro-controller (ATtiny85) was included to flash the new bootloader onto the unit once. This inclusion eliminated the need for an external programmer and allowed the Arduboy bootloader to be re-flashed in the future without opening the case.
Instructions can be found here.
Arduboy FX Special Edition
Release in 2024, the Arduboy FX Special Edition was released to celebrate the contributions of six developers and was shipped in one of 6 different covers that incorporated artwork for a featured game from each developer. The specifications of the unit are identical to the original Arduboy FX but it features an all black PCB, buttons and back plate.
The developer and featured games include:
- Hopper - @OBONO
- Ardugolf - Peter Brown @brow1067
- Trials of Astarok - Press Play On Tape, Simon Holmes @filmote, Stéphane Côté @vampirics
- Circuit Dude - Jonathan Holmes @crait
- Ardynia - Matt Greer @city41
- Catacombs of the Damned - James Howard @jhhoward
Arduboy Mini
The Arduboy Mini was released after a successful Kickstarter campaign which was launched in December 2023 with an original estimated delivery of June 2023. The campaign originally had a goal of $10,000 but ultimately achieved $66,316 with 1057 backers.
Like the previous Arduboy variants, the Mini was based on a 16mhz ATmega32u4 and a SSD1306 128x64 pixel black and white screen. The Mini also features a 16Mb flash memory chip as per the full-sized FX variant. The Mini is the first variant to include a 5mm piezo speaker, Qwiic (i2c) connector, an ISCP header and to have all the pins from the microcontroller broken out allowing the bootloader to be easily re-programmed. The device did not come with a battery but did have a 1.25mm Molex battery connector allowing a battery to be easily fitted.
The device measures 48 x 32 x 8 mm and came in 5 colours (White, Pink, Purple, Green and Orange) in both a 'plain' and 'graffiti' PCB board. The graffiti board was covered in artwork that paid tribute to the various developers and other contributors to the Arduboy platform.
An optional, clear case was sold to house the unit and user-supplied battery. It included a mount to attach a lanyard.
Prototypes and One-Offs
The following units are prototypes or one-offs created by Arduboy Inc.
Arduboy FX Mod-Chip Prototypes
In April 2019, Kevin tweeted the first incarnation of the FX Mod-Chip prototype. Unfortunately, the design was a failure due to insufficient clearance between RX and SCL signals causing a short.
Arduboy Crank Mod
Inspired by the Playdate, this unit features a 'crank' - actually a rotary encoder - allowing modified games to take advantage of the extra input.
Predating the Arduboy FX, this unit was built in 2019 and is based on a yellow Kickstarter unit. It has an FX chip and Mr Blinky's customised bootloader housed in a custom unit that has a 3D printed back to accommodate the additional hardware.
More information can be found here.
Arduboy Nano
Less than an inch high, the Arduboy Nano features a 0.49" OLED display with 64x32 pixels and it is powered by the same ATmega 32u4 microcontroller that is used on most Arduboys. The unit is powered by a little 25mAh lithium polymer battery that will last a little more than an hour.
More information can be found here.
Arduboy FX Developer Kit - Sith Edition
Kevin developed this version of the Dev Kit to show off the new FX chip and bootloader developed by Mr.Blinky in 2020.
More information can be found here.
Related Devices
Tetris MicroCard
The Tetris MicroCard is a licenced version of Tetris packaged in an Arduboy-like case. The case is landscape orientated with the screen in portrait orientation to suit the game dynamics. Unlike the Arduboy variants, the MicroCard uses an ATmega 328P processor making it incompatible with most Arduboy games due to it having less RAM than the ATmega32u4 processor.
The Tetris MicroCard was hacked by various developers to host portrait-orientated game, such as version of PPOT's 1943 Battle of Midway, shown below. Due to the limited RAM and differing hardware, the game was compiled with reduced features compared to the original, landscape version of the game.
