The big picture: Handheld video games like those from Tiger Electronics were a staple of 80s and 90s culture. Most featured licensed versions of popular franchises like Sonic or Castlevania but notably used low-end components and very basic gameplay to keep costs down. That's the same formula behind Asterisk, a tiny handheld designed specifically for the "falling-block puzzle game (a Tetris clone) that comes pre-loaded on it.
The gizmo is powered by an ATtiny85 microchip and features a 0.91-inch OLED screen. Four soft-click buttons flank the screen (two per side), and it's all powered by a single CR2032 coin battery.
A small power switch is positioned on the bottom edge of the handheld. The whole thing measures just 1.58 inches wide. The handheld's creator says your high score is saved when you finish a game but if you power down before completion, your score will not be saved.
The system's Arduino source code has also been made available for anyone wanting to take a closer look.
Asterisk is priced at $20 over on Tindie although it is currently out of stock and has been since July 22. Interested parties can submit an e-mail address to join a restock wait list.
The seller, Ampersand, has several other offerings available on Tindie including a $60 Espresso Kit to build a handheld that's slightly larger than a deck of playing cards and a $49 kit to create a handheld with a 3.2-inch screen that's suitable for retro gaming.