In a planet the place recreation consoles come with at any time-increased resolutions and at any time-faster frame fees, it’s refreshing to see someone heading in the reverse direction: [Doug McInnes]’s most current task is a small handheld video game console with in all probability the cheapest-resolution graphics doable. Components-wise, it is a compact PCB that contains an ATtiny84, two 7-segment LED shows, a speaker and a handful of buttons. It is the program that provides this task its magic, and all of it is readily available on GitHub, alongside with schematics and a PCB structure.
The recreation is named Hunt the Lunpus, and as the title implies it’s impressed by the 1970s traditional Hunt the Wumpus. The participant moves by a maze of interconnected rooms, seeking to keep away from slime pits and marauding bats while looking for the Lunpus, a sleeping monster that will consume the participant unless of course they defeat it first by taking pictures it with arrows. 4 pushbuttons supply directional regulate, with a fifth serving as an “action” button to begin the activity and fire people arrows.
Whilst Wumpus was at first a text-centered journey sport, Lunpus is completely graphical: the 7-segment displays indicate the cave’s partitions, and flash in unique means to warn the participant to the different hazards. [Doug] explains the situations as they occur in the video embedded beneath even though it might consider a bit of follow to obtain your way at to start with, we can presently image ourselves wandering by the caves with our quiver full of arrows, prepared to hunt some Lunpus. Who wants 4K graphics, anyway?
If you’re into minimalist activity consoles, there is a great deal to pick from: the LEDBOY renders Space Invaders on just a several LEDs, even though TWANG requirements almost nothing additional than a one LED strip. You can also check out more mazes on this 8×8 LED matrix, or even hunt Wumpuses in a marginally-greater resolution.
