Retro Pocket 1.0
A handheld retro game console — a color screen, a full gamepad, and a microSD full of games, all in your pocket.
Retro Pocket 1.0 is a handheld retro game console. It pairs a color screen with a full gamepad — D-pad, A / B / X / Y, and shoulder buttons — and plays classic games loaded onto the microSD card. No tether, no online account: just flash a retro-gaming firmware, drop your games on the card, and play.
It's the portable member of the Retro Series — the same screen, gamepad, sound, and storage as Retro Arcade, in a flat handheld you can hold in both hands.
Looking for the build spec?
The exact module set, dimensions, weight, and assembly are on the Retro Pocket datasheet.
What you can do with it
- Play classic games through a retro-gaming firmware
- Load games onto the microSD card and carry your whole library
- Hear game sound through the built-in speaker
- Control with a full gamepad — D-pad, A / B / X / Y, and shoulder buttons
- Play anywhere on the battery, with no tether
What's in it
- Core: ESP32 1.0 — the host: 2.0-inch color touchscreen, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
- Expand: Media I/O 1.0 — microSD storage for games plus a speaker for sound
- Control: Gamepad (Bottom) 1.0 — a full gamepad: D-pad, A / B / X / Y, and shoulder buttons
- Power: Standard Cell 1.0 — the rechargeable battery
- A Pocket Frame that holds the modules together, plus the linking cables
What it's for
Retro Pocket is for playing retro games on the go — a commute, a couch, a flight. It's the one to pick when you want a real gamepad in your hands and your games in your pocket. Want a desk form that stands up like a tabletop arcade instead? That's Retro Arcade.
It's built for retro gaming: flash a retro-gaming firmware, put your games on the microSD card, and play with the gamepad. Retro-Go is one retro-gaming firmware you can run on it — see Firmware for the options.
The gamepad
The bottom module is a full game controller:
- A direction pad (D-pad) on the left
- Four action buttons — A, B, X, and Y — on the right
- Four shoulder buttons — L1 and L2 on the left, R1 and R2 on the right
- Four function buttons (two on each side) for menus, modifiers, save states, and whatever else the firmware maps
Each shoulder button sits in two places — one on the top edge and one on the front — so it stays reachable once the module is assembled into the build and the top edge is covered.
Close-ups of the gamepad module — the same controls on every Retro build.
Power it on
An Attaky has two power buttons — one on the battery and one on the host (Core). Switch the battery on first, then the Core.
These are close-ups of the modules — the power buttons are the same on every build.
Set it up
Good to know
Games live on the microSD. Your library is on the card in the Media I/O module; swap or add games by copying files to the card. Sound comes out of the module's built-in speaker.
Built in two sections. The upper section is the Core with the Media I/O module on its back; the lower section is the gamepad and the battery. The battery connects to the Core by a 7-pin power cable and the gamepad by a 12-pin FPC cable — all held in one Pocket Frame. The datasheet has the full breakdown.
Keep it dry and cool. It isn't waterproof — keep it away from rain, splashes, and damp. Operating temperature is 0–40 °C (32–104 °F); keep it out of direct sunlight and prolonged heat, and do not leave it in a parked car.
Size — 68 × 97 × 20.5 mm, 130.5 g.
Get one
Browse the Retro Series for all its builds, or Series for every Attaky build.