Johans Hardwarehub: Thumby, the hand-held ring for the keyring

Johannes Hardhope It’s a weekly section where we discuss the best and most eye-catching gadgets and devices. This week is about Thumby.

A set of keys is often decorated with a keyring. This way you can easily see if it is your key combination, or if you are using manual functions of a keyring. Think of a key ring where you have a coin on hand for a shopping cart. Thumby goes one step further and offers you the ability to take a compact portable device with you on the keyring. The Thumby is a very small game console that you can take with you as a keychain.

Thumby has a bright OLED display and is very similar to the popular Game Boy. There is actually a D-pad and an action button as we also know from the aforementioned mobile device. Despite the small size, there is still room for a built-in battery that can be charged via a Micro USB cable. Thumby features 5 retro games that can be played instantly. It is also possible to play multiplayer via a Thumby Link cable.

Creators can create their own games using MicroPython in a web browser and then play them on Thumby. The current battery provides enough fun for 2 hours on a full charge. At $19, you get the Standard Edition in light gray. When you spend $24, you can also choose from a light blue or purple version. If you want to get the gold version, you have to deposit $35.