Arduboy
Shares rank 16 of 18 handheld game consoles by recommenders
Handheld game console people recommend for making your own games, learning to solder, and kids' game projects. One comment cites a $99 price.
Handheld game console people recommend for making your own games, learning to solder, and kids' game projects. One comment cites a $99 price.
5 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Making your own games
“kids being able to make their own games for them”
Comment from 14 May 2026 in “Preserving Fisher-Price Pixter” “Or write your first arduboy game for fun.”
Comment from 24 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: I just talked to an AI-obsessed client, and I need a shower afterwards”
Other handheld game consoles people recommend
The four most recommended other handheld game consoles, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nintendo Switch | 143 | 103 | 58% | 12 | 8 yrs12 owners | — |
| Playdate handheld console | 43 | 15 | 74% | 11 | — | Approved |
| Sony PlayStation Portable | 24 | 4 | 86% | 5 | 21 yrs3 owners | Approved |
| Nintendo 3DS | 21 | 6 | 78% | 8 | — | Approved |
| ArduboyThis page | 5 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
All 5 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Or write your first arduboy game for fun.”
“I learned to solder for the first time with the arduboy”
“kids being able to make their own games for them”
“ArduBoy ($99) comes to mind.”
“consider buying one of the new editions of the hardware, now with USB-C and link-cable support”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.