The Arduboy lineup has always been an interesting thing. Starting at the original Arduboy in 2015, where you could load a minimal amount of games onto the system and go from there. Eventually getting some extra and a lot of pre-built games with the Arduboy FX that I originally reviewed in 2024. Finally landing today with the Arduboy FX-C which is a USB-C upgrade to the older system as well. Along that whole time, the one thing you didn’t hear too much about was the development of games for the tiny handheld. Playdate had its own interface, GB Studio was around for easy development, and in general there were a bunch of options. But it seems like there’s another one in the fray as well.
Thanks to work from Arudboy Forum’s user EX1T, they’ve published a more “Drag and Drop” style of game maker to the Arduboy platform in the form of ArduStudio. Simplicity is key, and what you see is what you’ll get as it’s as simple as painting your tiles on the small 16×8 map, adding your images and enemies, and even going as far as to allow you to play-test the game in the Studio as well.
If you’re looking to give it a try, getting the games coded are easier as well as the coding for games also takes a more visual approach for those curious about it. Once your game is done, you can flash it directly to your Arduboy, but outside of that all development can be done within the browser with no other additional software required. I think it’s awesome tools like this are still getting put out there, and I look forward to seeing what developments with it can be done next. Maybe I should go pick up another Arduboy for this too.
