RISCBoy: An Open-Source RISC-V Console Built from Scratch on FPGA
A fully open-source Gameboy Advance with a RISC-V CPU, fitting on a tiny FPGA.
RISCBoy is an open-source portable games console designed from scratch, featuring a RISC-V compatible CPU (supports RV32IMC instruction set), a raster graphics pipeline, and a PCB layout in KiCad. Built in synthesisable Verilog 2005 for the iCE40-HX8k FPGA (a LUT4-based FPGA with 7680 logic elements), it passes the RISC-V compliance suite for its instructions, the riscv-formal verification suite, and some of the creator's own formal property checks. The project includes simulation with Xilinx ISIM and a 5×5 cm PCB compatible with iTead’s prototyping service. The creator describes it as a love letter to handheld consoles from their childhood and a drunk text to the technology that powered them.
- Custom RISC-V CPU (RV32IMC) passes compliance suite and formal verification, fitting in 7680 logic elements.
- Open-source hardware includes raster graphics pipeline, bus fabric, memory controllers, and UART, all in Verilog 2005.
- PCB designed for 5x5 cm 4-layer prototyping ($65 for 10 boards) and synthesizable on iCE40 FPGAs using open-source toolchain.
Why It Matters
RISCBoy demonstrates that fully open-source, RISC-V-based gaming hardware is feasible on tiny FPGAs, inspiring hobbyist and educational projects.