Big Updates to the MintyPi Raspberry Pi Gaming System

Cheap, big enough to fit a variety of small electronics, and readily available with a “free” supply of mints to keep your breath fresh while hacking, Altoids tins have long made convenient electronics project boxes. One of the most ambitious Altoids tin projects is the mintyPi, which fits an entire Raspberry Pi Zero retro gaming system inside.

As seen in the first video, this concept started out as a sort of joke, with a variety of wires and hot glue strewn about the tin. This, however, was soon improved upon as a more usable 2.0 version, with 3D-printed mechanical concealing wires in the bottom and holding the screen in position. While much improved, any project like this is never really done, so in the second video below, “wermy” introduces us to yet another round of improvements.

While the two builds are similar, changes in the PCB have been implemented, and the screen bezel is now a press-fit, no longer requiring screws. There’s also a little blue button near the lower-right hand corner of the control pad, which was originally meant as a power switch. It now acts as a function button, which when combined with control pad presses can adjust settings such as volume and brightness.

Finally, this build uses a Raspberry Pi Zero W, so if you need to update the software you can do so over WiFi without plugging anything in!