In my time covering gaming hardware, I’ve seen a lot of peculiar little devices, but none more so than the Pi Tin. This retro handheld is an adorable little thing the size of a tin of mints, and better still, you can put it together yourself, provided you’ve got a bit of experience with engineering and either an empty pack of Altoids or a 3D printer.
While it might be a lot smaller than most of the picks from our guide to the best retro handhelds, with its 2.8-inch screen, the Pi Tin is still powerful enough to run a bunch of retro games thanks to its Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W processor. Sure, you’re not going to get the same level of top-tier performance as you might from some of the super-powered Steam Deck alternatives out there, but the form factor makes up for that. I mean, this thing is cute.
The Pi Tin is the product of developers jacks01 and soaporsalad, who go under the name Alley Cat Engineering. While it’s not the first Raspberry Pi-powered handheld we’ve seen, it might be the most inventive, giving you a way of repurposing any Altoid tins you might have lying around into a tiny console with a five-hour battery life.
If you want to make a Pi Tin for yourself, all the details are available on the official Pi Tin website, including all the software you need to get up and running. You can also sign up to get a notification for when DIY kits become available, as the developers behind the device have stated that putting one together yourself requires advanced soldering skills, and not all of us are experts with a soldering iron.
There you have it, our favorite new DIY retro gaming handheld, the Pi Tin. Still, if you’d rather pick up something that requires no tinkering, we’ve got guides to the best handheld consoles and the best gaming tablets you can check out, with plenty of options to suit all needs and budgets.