SYS.01
Offline-first, always
No accounts, no loading screens. Every question and every answer is computed on the device. The internet is optional.
// TRANSMISSION 001 — THE LEGEND RETURNS
THINK WELL.
PLAY HARD.
GROW UP SMART._
The learning handheld a whole generation grew up with, rebuilt from the ground up on a US$15 board. Same soul. New brain. Open source, and working today.
SCROLL — SEE WHAT IT ACTUALLY DOES ↓
ESP-NOW
⚠ not built — this is the design, not a feature
to get built it needs 50 ★ and 5 boards that said hello — —
★ star the repo — that is the vote →// WHAT SHIPS TODAY
A 1980s ICON. A 2020s MACHINE.
SYS.02
14,850 answers, none stored
The original ran on 128 bytes of RAM — too little to hold the answers, so it derived them. Two constants, six lines of arithmetic, 99 books.
SYS.03
Two buttons, no wiring
The board already has the screen, the buttons and a battery charger. Nothing to solder. One command to flash.
SYS.04
Real printed books
It plays against the actual 1988 activity books, preserved and free to download. Paper is still part of the game.
- STORAGE
- 0 answers stored · 14,850 derived
- BOOKS
- 99 · free from Datassette
- COST
- ~US$15 board · code is free
// NOT BUILT YET
WHAT'S NEXT — IF ENOUGH PEOPLE WANT IT
None of this exists. It gets built if enough people want it, and not otherwise — so the vote is a star on the repo.
How the duels would work
Board to board over ESP-NOW — the same radio already in the firmware. No server, no accounts, no pairing: two boards in the same room talk to each other directly.
The catch, up front: ESP-NOW shares the Wi-Fi channel, so two boards both joined to Wi-Fi have to be on the same network — or the duel drops Wi-Fi for the round. Same room is exactly the case that works.
not built
War Mode duels
Same-room head-to-head. Press together, count down, fastest brain wins.
not built
A pet that learns with you
Answer right and your companion grows. It never dies and never punishes.
not built
Leaderboards
Pseudonymous and opt-in. Offline play stays anonymous — always.
// 100% OPEN SOURCE — BUILD IT YOURSELF
BUILD YOURS
Nothing is for sale here and there is nothing to sign up for. Everyone builds their own: grab a US$15 board, flash the code, and it is yours.
The whole thing costs ~US$15 one board. The code is free, the books are free, and there is nothing to buy from me. find the board →
- 01
Get a board
A LilyGO T-Display V1.1, around US$15 anywhere. No wiring — it already has the screen, two buttons and a LiPo charger.
find one → - 02
Flash it
One command. Or paste a prompt into Claude Code and let it do the whole setup for you.
the repo → - 03
Play
Open a real printed book, type its three-digit code, answer thirty questions. The books are free.
get the books →
// SEE IT RUNNING
BOARDS THAT SAID HELLO
—
boards have said hello
Multiplayer is next — star the repo if you want it.
That star is the vote. Nothing gets built for an audience of zero.