Adafruit adapted its QT Py ESP32 Pico development board into a tiny handheld capable of running Doom: Retro-Go firmware runs its PrBoom port, loading the shareware DOOM1.WAD from a microSD card. The reported build pairs the board with a 1.3-inch, 240×240 display and six tactile buttons—but the board itself is a component, not a finished console.
How the tiny Doom handheld works
In a project post published January 24, 2022, Adafruit described porting Retro-Go to the QT Py ESP32 Pico. Retro-Go is firmware for retro games on ESP32-based devices; its repository lists Doom as a supported system and credits its Doom engine to a port of PrBoom 2.5.0. Adafruit says the build ran shareware DOOM1.WAD from a microSD card. Adafruit’s project post and the Retro-Go repository describe the software and game data.
Doom is a demonstration of the project’s capabilities, not a game built into the QT Py board. The project description identifies a shareware WAD supplied separately; it does not establish that commercial game files are included or that every Doom release will work interchangeably.
What hardware is documented
The QT Py ESP32 Pico board
The computing core is Adafruit’s thumbnail-size QT Py ESP32 Pico, based on an ESP32-Pico-V3-02. Adafruit documents a dual-core processor running at 240 MHz, 8 MB of flash, and 2 MB of PSRAM. The board measures 22.0 × 17.9 × 5.9 mm and weighs 2.3 g; those figures describe the board alone, not the assembled handheld. See the official product listing and board guide.
#1 Best Overall
- Entering download mode: Press and hold the BOOT button of ESP32C3, then press the RESET button, release the RESET button, and then release the BOOT button, at this time, ESP32C3 will enter the download mode. (You need to re-enter the download mode every time you connect, sometimes you press it once, the port is unstable and will disconnect, you can judge it by the port recognition sound)
The guide also documents Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Classic and BLE, STEMMA QT, a NeoPixel, reset and boot buttons, and battery input pads. These are board features, not a parts list for this particular build. USB connects through a USB-to-serial converter; the board does not provide native USB device support, so it should not be described as directly acting as a wired USB keyboard or mouse. The Adafruit board guide explains this distinction.
Display and controls
Adafruit’s project description names a 1.3-inch, 240×240 TFT IPS display. Hackaday’s January 26, 2022 report describes six tactile buttons and says the game was playable at full speed with soundtrack. That report gives no benchmark method or frame-rate measurement, so “full speed” is a qualitative description, not a measured performance result. Neither source establishes exact display or button part numbers, wiring details, or confirmed compatibility with a specific replacement part. Adafruit’s project post; Hackaday’s coverage.
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- 2.4GHz Dual Mode WiFi + Bluetooth Development Board
- Support LWIP protocol, Freertos
- SupportThree Modes: AP, STA, and AP+STA
- Ultra-Low power consumption, Compatible with Arduino IDE
- ESP32 is a safe, reliable, and scalable to a variety of applications
What “smallest playable Doom” does—and does not—mean
Adafruit’s post frames the build as potentially one of the smallest playable Doom devices, and Hackaday called it pocket-sized. Those are project and publication descriptions, not verification of a world record. The sources establish that a very small development board can serve as the core of a Doom-playing build; they do not provide dimensions or weight for the complete handheld.
What you would need to recreate it
The documented categories are a QT Py ESP32 Pico, a 1.3-inch 240×240 TFT IPS panel, tactile buttons, and a microSD card for the game data. The available project coverage does not give a complete bill of materials, exact peripheral models, confirmed wiring, enclosure design, or a specific battery arrangement. Treat the display and controls as component categories rather than a verified shopping list. The microSD capacity, brand, speed class, and exact model are also unstated.
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- 【ESP32-C3 RISC-V Development Board】 Built with the ESP32-C3 32-bit RISC-V chip (160MHz), featuring Arduino/CircuitPython support and multiple development ports. Ideal for IoT and edge AI projects.
- 【Outstanding RF & Long-Range Connectivity】 Equipped with U.FL antenna for stable Wi-Fi/BLE5.0 communication over 100m. Complete RF performance ensures reliable IoT connectivity.
- 【Ultra-Low Power & Battery-Friendly】 4 working modes, including deep sleep at 44μA. Onboard battery charge IC supports Li-ion/LiPo, perfect for wearables and wireless IoT.
- 【Thumb-Sized & Production-Ready】 Compact 21x17.5mm design with SMD/Breadboard-friendly layout. Single-sided component mounting ensures sleek integration into wearables.
- 【Rich I/O & Edge Computing】 11 digital I/O (PWM) + 4 analog I/O (ADC), plus UART/IIC/SPI/IIS ports. Optimized for TinyML and edge AI applications.
The QT Py ESP32 Pico is the central computing component, not a complete handheld kit. Its listed board size and weight cannot be used to estimate the finished device, and the presence of battery input pads does not establish how this build was powered. Adafruit’s board PCB repository provides board design resources, but does not fill in the missing project-specific assembly details.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why the build is notable
The interesting engineering point is the adaptation: Retro-Go’s existing ESP32 PrBoom port was brought to a tiny board with modest memory and storage, then paired with a square color display and physical controls. That makes the QT Py a compact platform for an experimental handheld, while leaving the practical assembly work—choosing compatible peripherals, arranging input and power, and fitting the parts—outside what the project report fully documents.
Quick Recap
Best Value
- ESP32-P4-Pico multimedia development board based on ESP32-P4 module, it features rich Human-Machine interfaces, commonly used peripherals such as MIPI-CSI, MIPI-DSI, USB 2.0 OTG, SDIO 3.0 TF card slot, microphone, and speaker header, etc.
- High-performance MCU with RISC-V 32-bit dual-core and single-core processors. 128 KB HP ROM, 16 KB LP ROM, 768 KB HP L2MEM, 32 KB LP S-RAM, 8 KB TCM. 32MB PSRAM in the chip's package, with onboard 32MB Nor Flash
- Powerful image and voice processing capability. Provides image and voice processing interfaces including JPEG Codec, Pixel Processing Accelerator, Image Signal Processor, H.264 encoder
- Adapting 2*20 GPIO headers with 27 x remaining programmable GPIOs
- Security features: Secure Boot, Flash Encryption, cryptographic accelerators, and TRNG. Additionally, hardware access protection mechanisms help to enable Access Permission Management and Privilege Separation
Rank #4
- Dual-Core Performance Up to 240 MHz: Run sensor processing, wireless communication, automation logic and connected-device tasks on a 32-bit dual-core ESP32 platform designed for responsive embedded and IoT projects
- Built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.2: Connect to 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi networks or use Bluetooth Classic and BLE for wireless sensors, smart devices, remote controls, home automation and other connected projects
- Flexible Power-Saving Modes: ESP32 power-management features support dynamic clock scaling and low-power operating modes, helping developers reduce energy use in compatible sensing, monitoring and connected-device applications, suitable for battery-powered Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
- USB-C Programming with CP2102: Connect through USB-C for power, sketch uploads and serial monitoring, while GPIO, UART, SPI and I2C interfaces support sensors, displays, motor drivers and other modules (USB-C cable not included)
- Over-the-Air Update Support: Configure OTA functionality through a compatible ESP-32 software framework to update deployed firmware over Wi-Fi without reconnecting the board by USB for every revision
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