Image: Natalie The Nerd
As you’ll likely be aware, LEGO’s fancy Adult range of sets got itself a sweet 1:1 replica of Nintendo’s iconic Game Boy yesterday (look out for a gallery of this writer’s build shortly). However, not happy with the stunning attention to detail, dinky little game carts, and interchangeable screens that the vanilla Lego GB is rocking, one master builder has decided to bring hers to life.
In what’s got to be some sort of record for a mod turnaround, Australian Game Boy modder and self-taught circuit-board designer Natalie the Nerd has got her Lego handheld playing real GB games via real carts with nary a Raspberry Pi or other modern doodah in sight.
Indeed, this is the real deal, with Natalie explaining to The Verge that she put together a bespoke Game Boy circuit board with actual chips, and all that other stuff that goes inside these things. Magic and that.
https://t.co/tOprGl9pEy a little bit more info, including PCB pics.— natalie (@natalie_thenerd) October 2, 2025
Working with the “smallest screen kit on the market”, the main target in this build was to get a circuit board inside the set that was smaller than the dimensions of the set itself, which she has achieved, albeit by removing one or two bricks.
The Game Boy’s buttons, which aren’t yet finished, will be set onto a bespoke PCB and, with the whole thing already wired for USB power, she says she’ll release the circuit-board designs once she’s done with the build, ensuring that everything can indeed be awesome for us all. Hooray!
Natalie goes into much more detail about the planning and build process on her blog – we highly recommend you give it a read!
Now, you’ll have to excuse us, we’re off to build our own set. It won’t play games, though, so Natalie has sort of ruined it now. Do any of you folks know how to build circuit boards?
Picking up the Lego Game Boy? Fancy giving modding it a shot? Let us know in the comments!
[source theverge.com]
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PJ is a staff writer across Hookshot Media. He’s been playing video games pretty much nonstop since the early 1980s, which is ages ago. Favourite genres include RPGs, puzzle games and lovely big single player adventures of all kinds. The weirder the better.