ESPboy

> Overview

ESPboy is an interactive ESP32-powered gaming platform built from scratch during the first UMake hardware hackathon. The system pairs a wireless controller with an ESP32 game console running retro games on two hand-soldered 8x8 LED matrices, then adds a live web layer that lets spectators vote to influence gameplay.

> System architecture

• A dedicated ESP32 controller captures physical button input and sends low-latency packets to the game console using ESP-NOW.
• The ESP32 game console runs the game loop, collision detection, rendering, LED matrix updates, controller callbacks, and spectator-driven gameplay changes.
• Two hand-soldered 8x8 LED matrices create a constrained 16x8 display for compact versions of Tetris and Snake.
• A browser-based spectator interface connects through a Node.js gateway so audience votes can modify the embedded game state in real time.

> Player vs. crowd interaction

The defining feature was the audience loop. Spectators could join from a phone or laptop, follow the game, vote, and trigger obstacles or disruptions that changed the live game state. That turned a small embedded console into a player-vs-crowd experience instead of a conventional single-player hardware demo.

> Networking decision

The team used ESP-NOW for direct ESP32-to-ESP32 controller communication because it avoids a traditional Wi-Fi access point and keeps controller input lightweight. For the web audience, a Node.js reverse proxy/gateway reduced the load on the resource-constrained ESP32 by funneling many spectator connections into a controlled interface.

> Hackathon constraint

• Designed, soldered, programmed, integrated, and demonstrated the project in less than 24 hours.
• Balanced embedded firmware, physical hardware, wireless networking, web software, and live demo reliability under a hard deadline.
• Scoped the idea around a clear product experience: a physical player battling a live audience.

> Outcome

ESPboy won 1st Place - Most Extraordinary Design and Implementation Award at UMIEEE UMake 2026 because it combined technical breadth with an immediately understandable interactive demo.

> Things learned

• A strong hackathon project needs a simple user story that makes the engineering visible without requiring a long explanation.
• Resource-constrained embedded displays force careful design decisions around game state, timing, and visual clarity.
• A small gateway layer can make a hardware demo much more scalable by separating web traffic from microcontroller responsibilities.