This watch is a real Game Boy Colour
Chris "LeggoMyFroggo" Hackmann has spent two years working on a project that nobody needs and which is fascinating for this very reason: He has transformed a real, playable Game Boy Color into a 38-millimetre wristwatch.
Sometimes the strangest things come from the consistent pursuit of an idea. Chris Hackmann, known on YouTube as «LeggoMyFroggo», has shrunk the Game Boy Colour from 1998 to smartwatch size. His «Time Frog Color» is an unusual watch that plays classic Game Boy Colour games in a tiny format. The highlight: Hackmann does not rely on a simple software solution, but stays as close as possible to the original in technical terms.
Hackmann is no stranger to the modding community. A few years ago, he presented the «Frog Boy Color», a Game Boy Color in a Game Boy Advance case in landscape format, followed by the ultra-compact «Tad Boy Color». The «Time Frog Color» is the logical continuation of this series and also its most absurd chapter.
Three rules, no exceptions
Before Hackmann even picked up a soldering iron, he set himself three conditions. Firstly, the watch had to use the original Game Boy Color processor. Secondly, it had to be able to play physical cartridges. Thirdly, it had to display the time even when switched off. Otherwise it simply wouldn't be a watch.
These self-imposed restrictions made the project much more complicated than it should have been. An emulation on modern hardware would have been more obvious. However, Hackmann wanted the real Sharp SM83 processor of the Game Boy Color, its video RAM and its system memory - all together on a customised circuit board that fits into a 38-millimetre housing.
Original hardware in watch format
The central technical problem was the image output. The original GBC chip outputs a parallel RGB signal that no modern, watch-compatible display can process. Hackmann solved this problem with a Raspberry Pi RP2040, which he describes as «Poor Man's FPGA»: The microcontroller translates the parallel image signal into a format that the watch's 1.12-inch colour display understands.
Hackmann milled the housing from a 6061 aluminium alloy and then had it anodised in a characteristic purple: a direct allusion to the indigo of the original Game Boy Color. The dimensions are impressive: the «Time Frog Colour» comes in a 38 millimetre watch case and is unusually thick at 15 millimetres. By comparison, a large Apple Watch has a case height of 46 millimetres, but remains significantly thinner at around 10 millimetres.
Source: LeggoMyFroggo / YouTube
Mini cartridges
Hackmann refused to use an SD card with ROM files. Instead of digital copies, he wanted physical cartridges, even if they seem completely absurd in relation to the watch.
His solution: he developed miniaturised circuit boards that are plugged into an M.2 slot. Hackmann deliberately uses only the compact form factor that is also used in laptops for NVMe SSDs, but not their electronics. The original or at least compatible ROM chip of the respective game sits on the tiny circuit boards. Hackmann chose «Pokémon Gold», which ran smoothly on the watch, as proof of functionality.
This decision has a direct physical cost: the cartridge slot takes up so much space in the casing that a battery could no longer be accommodated.
The battery is in the wristband
Hackmann's solution to the battery problem is as creative as it is strange. He moulded the battery directly into the silicone strap and connected it to the watch case via a flexible circuit board. He himself admits that this is not ideal from a thermal and safety point of view, but considers the risk to be acceptable as long as the watch is not played while charging.
Source: LeggoMyFroggo / YouTube
The controls are located on the sides of the housing. On one side is a much smaller directional pad and the power button, on the opposite side are four so-called face buttons for A, B, Start and Select. So you don't control the watch like a Game Boy, but press it from the sides. Hackmann himself describes the gaming experience as «less than optimal». Given the tiny buttons and the unfamiliar hand position, this seems almost polite.
Two years of work, zero practical benefit
Hackmann takes around two years to bring the «Time Frog Colour» from the first sketch to the finished watch. The result is full of compromises: The watch emits no sound because the necessary components arrived too late. The display is tiny, the battery life short, the operation fiddly.
Source: LeggoMyFroggo / YouTube
Hackmann sums it up dryly himself: his watch is a Game Boy Color with a poorer user experience, shorter runtime and a raison d'être «just ahead of Mac and Cheese with ketchup». Nevertheless, he ends up with a playable Game Boy Color on his wrist - at least technically speaking.
Open Source as soon as the documentation is ready
Hackmann has announced that he will publish all the construction plans, circuit diagrams and files on GitHub as soon as he has finalised the documentation. Anyone wanting to recreate the project will need patience - not only because of the complexity, but also because of the cost. Used Game Boy Colour consoles now fetch prices of over a hundred dollars, and the necessary skills in electronics, CNC machining and circuit board production require some experience.
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