We built Lego Game Boys: Builtable retro gaming nostalgia for your pocket
Blog Andrew Joseph 29 Sep , 2025 0
Lego has been smashing it with a video game set. Honestly, I can't think of a missed one. LEGO NES set up, Lego Pa Arcade Cabinet, Even the most recent Sega Genesis Controller (Available as a purchase gift only) Everyone offered loving tribute to the original material and managed to squeeze in smart surprises and Easter eggs. I'm happy to say that the Lego Game Boy manages to sneak some surprises despite its smaller size, but if you want to be as crafted as an NES Easter egg, or a handmade crank movement and the 80s Street airport view of the Pac-Man Set, it's definitely going to lower your expectations.
How old is the Lego Game Boy?
At 421 pieces, the Lego Game Boy is the smallest of available video game consoles Lego has released over the years, but despite the relatively small bricks, the efficiency of its parts still makes the entire part still excellent. When it is fully assembled, it looks like all parts of the original part, although it's just a smaller touch.
It also comes with bricks to build a small display rack, and the second smaller display rack displays a cartridge, which is also a place to store additional lens gaming screens.
There are three game screens in total: one Super Mario Land Mario Link's Awakening This shows that link and Zelda stare at the sea as the seagulls fly over the head, and when you power the game boy, it's just a Nintendo logo reel.
Swap screens is not a factor at all, you just pop the rear panel and put it in place. Its safety lever is easy to move and has a proper amount of giving to prevent it from moving without urgency to deform it thin flat ply.
Since the model is based on the original game boy, not later revisions, the graphics are in the morbid green of the original 160 x 144 display. They are also very sharp and look exactly like the way you remember them. They are cute. I hope they can do more.
How long does it take to build a Lego game boy?
To get as good as possible the most appropriate time for Lego Game Boys, I popped up a Blu-ray copy of the 1989 Nintendo long ad “The Wizard”. My goal is to see if I can finish the build before Fred Savage, Jenny Lewis and the Nominal Wizard arrive in California.
I was happy to say that despite having to get up and let my dog out and go back, I snatched the last piece into place, like Jenny Lewis got on the dry soil of California on his way to the World Nintendo Championship, so about an hour after I pushed the game away. Build time isn't a bad time, and the end result is far better than the feeling that setting this size should be OK.
Since it is a 421-piece version, there are only five parts in the box and they are small bags. I have a little organizer basket from Walmart, which is something you put buttons and doo doods for crafts on the shelves, and when I build the set I use it to organize the parts bags. For this build, this is too killing. I've still used it, but in fact, it's not necessary. I'm just a creature I'm used to.
I was surprised by the color choices of bricks: many vegetables, brown, gold and copper tint pieces. Then it happens on my inner color, mimicking the color of the printed circuit board. That was one of the first Easter eggs. When you put them together, the parts inside will never see the look of a real gaming boy or any electronic Gizmo of that era again. Obviously, this is not a 1:1 representation of the circuit, but its approximation is close enough that I am impressed.
The cartridge also follows the aesthetics of this board inside it, and the coolest Easter egg in the scene is in Link's Awakening cartridge. Now, Lego doesn't need to do that at all, because again, once you put it together you won't see it anymore, but inside Link's Awakening Cart, it's a piece of “battery backup”.
If you don't know, in order to save files on those old shopping carts, there must be a small coin battery battery that can provide power to make the electronic dance solder to the board. Link’s Awakening is such a cart, they go on and add that detail to the Lego version, with no other reason than pleasing someone like me. Super Mario Land Cart doesn't have such a battery backup, so neither does the Lego version.
The stickers for the cart are an exact copy of the stickers on the original and I went into a highly concentrated state to make sure I put them exactly where I needed. Usually, I use the LEGO decals the same as the tweezers used for the scale model, but this time I just put the raw dog on it and did a great job.
Lego Game Boy Control
The power switch, D-PAD, A and B buttons, contrast and volume knobs, as well as the start and select buttons all work. Well, “features” means “they move.” Especially the power switch is like the one from the original game boy. When you turn it on, you remember it feels so accurate that you can’t help but hear familiar sounds. Obviously not, but your brain fills in the details.
The rest of the buttons are not as complete as they were on the original unit, but they still provide enough tactile feedback to get the job done. After the power switch, the A and B buttons may feel the most accurate, with a small rubber band system manipulating to give them a little resistance and driving when they are pressed.
No Lego Game Boy Tetris
If you are going into the Lego Game Boys and hoping to get Tetris Easter eggs or any Tetris content, you will be disappointed. Although Tetris is the original packaged game for Game Boys, and this undoubtedly makes both the console and the game itself popular, there is nowhere to be seen here. My guess is related to licensing, as Tetris is not a Nintendo game, but was licensed only in 1989, almost certainly including two first-party Nintendo champions in the suite.
So if you wish to hide a little Tetris tribute in it, I'm sorry to say it's just one. With Tetris Company Inc.
The LEGO Game Boys is scheduled for an October 1 release date, but Amazon and other retailers have moved on and ruined the street date. This means a lot of people spend the weekend putting this delightful little Lego game boy kit together, between short build time and great end result, if you have any nostalgia for the 4-stick OG game boys good times, I suggest you pick up one. The kit is also reasonably priced at $59.99, you can Continue to pick up And before the October 1 release date, even before that.
Seth Macy is a senior social business producer who just wants to be your friend. You can find him online.