I Built a Real PICO-8 Handheld Game Console

PICO-8 is a “fantasy console” — a virtual game console made for creating and playing small retro-style games. But I thought it was missing one important thing: an actual console!

So I decided to build one.

This project combines a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W, a custom PCB with built-in membrane buttons, a 720×720 IPS display, custom software, and finally a CNC-machined aluminum case.

It took quite a few failed prints, PCB revisions, software headaches, and questionable decisions to get everything working, but in the end I ended up with a fully portable PICO-8 console that actually feels like a real piece of hardware.

I've documented the whole build here, including the electronics, PCB design, 3D printing, software, and aluminum case.

Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W

720×720 IPS HDMI display

Custom-designed PCB

Conductive rubber membrane buttons

3.7V Li-ion/LiPo battery

Li-ion battery charging module

3.7V to 5V boost converter

First, let's solder the pogo pins onto the PCB.

Apply a small amount of soldering paste to the pads, place the pogo pins in position, and use a hot air blower to heat the area until the solder melts and the pins are securely attached.

Make sure the pins are properly aligned before the solder cools.

Next, solder the step-up converter and the battery charging module onto the PCB.

Use the same technique as before: apply a small amount of soldering paste to the pads, position the modules carefully, and heat them with the hot air blower until the solder melts and the components are securely attached.

Next, solder the mounting nuts onto the PCB. These will be used to securely attach the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W later.

Make sure the nuts are properly aligned with the mounting holes before soldering them in place.

Next, insert the battery holder and power switch into their designated positions on the PCB.

Make sure both are seated properly and aligned with the board, then solder their pins from the underside of the PCB.

Now it's time to install the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W.

Place the Raspberry Pi onto the mounting nuts and secure it with four screws.

Then insert the battery into its holder, making sure to check the polarity and install it in the correct orientation.

Turn the power switch on.

If you see a green light on the Raspberry Pi and, more importantly, nothing starts smoking — congratulations! It might actually work! 😄

Now connect the screen to the Raspberry Pi using the HDMI cable.

Then connect the screen's power cable — a Micro-USB to USB-C cable — to the display controller board.

Once everything is connected, we should be ready to power up the display and see if our console is coming to life.

But before powering everything up, make sure the SD card is inserted and contains the required files.

For this project, I modified the software so the Raspberry Pi can boot directly into PICO-8's Splore browser, completely bypassing the normal Raspberry Pi OS desktop.

Normally, the Pi would have to boot Linux, start all the background services, load the desktop environment, and then launch PICO-8. That's a lot of software to load just to play a game!

My modified system removes all of that unnecessary overhead. The Raspberry Pi boots into a minimal environment and launches PICO-8 directly, so there's no full Raspberry Pi OS running in the background.

The result is a much faster boot process, less software running in the background, and lower power consumption — which is especially useful for a battery-powered handheld.

Now place the conductive rubber membrane over the buttons on the PCB.

Next, load a PICO-8 cart and test all the controls. Make sure every button responds correctly and everything works as expected.

If all the buttons work, congratulations — we officially have a working PICO-8 handheld!

The rest of the build is pretty straightforward — it's basically putting everything into the 3D-printed case and assembling the final console.

I documented the complete process, including the 3D modeling, printing, assembly, and CNC-machined aluminum version, on my YouTube channel.

Check it out if you'd like to see how the finished PICO-8 handheld came together!