r/gameboymods

I wanted a light pink GBP shell. I bought one on eBay, but it was pretty awful. It was a cheap feeling shiny plastic, and the color was way too light, it didn’t look pink. More like a pale skin tone. I also thought I was prepared to cut the USB C hole and the screen hole, but I decided I didn’t want to do that.

So I used the pre trimmed shell I got with my battery/screen mod kit (I got white just in case I had to paint it) and well, painted it. I used primer first (be responsible, kids) then a pink spray paint and finished it off with a matte clear coat. I gave ample time for each one of them to dry. You really don’t want to rush finishes. I let that sit for a few days before handling (you should wait longer to be safe, but it’s been weeks and I got impatient.) I’m quite happy with it. I wiped it down with a micro fiber cloth cause it feels a bit powdery/gritty. I assume that’ll go away with light use, or wiping with dry paper towels. The battery door doesn’t fit the greatest, it’s very snug and I have to push the sides down. That doesn’t matter too much, cause I got the USB C recharging mod, so I won’t be taking it off.

I’m glad I didn’t settle, I’m so stoked for the finished product. If you want a specific color for your gameboy mod, and you can’t find it anywhere, go ahead and paint it. It’s not hard or expensive, but it’s a bit time consuming. They made iridescent color shift spray paint, and that might be kinda sick. Fuck, I just had that idea while typing this and now I wanna do that.

Hi everyone, I built a modded GBA for a friend and I just realized it has light leaks on 3 of the corners.
I also noticed some flickering in the screen. It’s not huge, but it’s definitely noticeable.
Is this normal in Funnyplaying ITA kits? I think I can use some black tape for the leaks, but I’m not so sure about the flickering.
Thoughts?

Just flexing my clean install of the mod!

The entire build is based on a custom shell from FunnyPlaying. You can find the full configuration in the last picture!

Hey everyone,

I recently streamlined the matching/loadout system for GB. The main goal was to make editing and managing configurations much smoother

I’m looking to get some feedback on this new setup so I can pinpoint and fix any specific issues more precisely.

https://www.gbmake.com/us/builds

Let me know what you think! Thanks in advance.

So I had a Gameboy as a kid and recently as a teenager my mother brought it up to me. It had battery corrosion but I think I cleaned all of that off with vinegar and I put it back together popped some batteries in and sat down to play some pokemon gold but when I switched it on it didn't turn on. The batteries work I know that for sure and they're AAs. So what am I missing?

• FunnyPlaying Laminated IPS 2.1
• FunnyPlaying White Housing
• FunnyPlaying Button Led Kit
• Aliexpress Dual Battery USB + Wireless Charging
• Retrosix CleanAmp
• Retrosix CleanPower
• eXtremeRate Clear Buttons and Pads
• JCD Power Switch
• JCD Volume Potentiometer

Anyone know how I can get one of these. Purchased the screen and shell from funnyplaying but I think I need this to hold it in place.

I found these 2 links but I'm hoping to get a clear once since I can get them printed in black or white (not ideal in a clear case reshell)

https://www.printables.com/model/551330-funnyplaying-game-boy-advance-sp-30-ips-screen-bra

https://www.printables.com/model/1328259-game-boy-gba-advance-sp-30-inch-ips-lcd-backlight

Can’t believe I did this 15 years ago

My first self-modded GBA SP! Used the Extremerate glow-in-the-dark shell and Funnyplay button LEDs, IPS screen, and USB-C upgrades. First time doing all this, and now I want to mod more gameboys but I only need the one, lol. The shell glows nicely in the dark so I can turn off the button LEDs at night and still get a nice after-glow effect without it being too bright.

Borrowed a friends soldering iron and spent two hours making sure everything was absolutely perfect… for the wired interface to not work at all and be stuck using the touch sensor. Oh well. Really happy with the result anyway. 3.0 M2 IPS Funnyplaying kit with USBc rechargeable battery as well. Have heard of problems with the battery but it fits so well I didn’t have to trim anything. If I run into problems I’ll just take it out and go with rechargeable AA’s! Didn’t know the Start Select buttons were actually just membranes… thinking about getting red ones now I think that will look cool.

Hi all I recently picked up trying to mod and repair old consoles. My current project is this guy and I'm having some issues. The volume on the console is extremely low. I almost have to hold it to my ear to hear it. I was wondering if anyone could share some knowledge to help me along.

So far I've done a screen and USB c mod. Cleaned the power switch, replaced the volume slider and filter capacitor with a ceramic capacitor. I still can't get any decent sound out of it and I'm beginning to wonder if it might be an audio amp failure.

I've heard that ceramic capacitors aren't a direct replacement for an electrolytic. Could that be why I am still having issues or is this something other people have had luck with? I do have a proper replacement ordered in case that is the issue.

Would one of the modded amps essentially bypass the stock amp circuit or does one feed into the other? If it runs separately I might just throw one in and call it good there if the amp chip has failed.

Side question. There is a small coil at the bottom of the board on the side with the buttons with a crack on the top. Is this tied to the amp circuit at all? It has continuity and I'm guessing it just broke from getting dropped and not from shorting or other means.

Sorry for the wall of text. Thank you for reading and thank you for your knowledge if you share it

Grabbed some extra photos of the board in case it helps

Hey everyone! Long-time Game Boy Camera fan here. I got tired of the copy-paste-from-serial-monitor workflow every time I wanted to save photos, so I built a little web tool to fix it.

**GBP Downloader** — a single HTML file (~60KB, zero installs) that:

- Connects directly to your Arduino over **Web Serial** (Chrome/Edge, no drivers)

- **Auto-reconnects** when you plug the cable in — no more clicking Connect every time

- Decodes the V3 raw packet stream in real time, including **RLE decompression** for Pokémon TCG and other compressed-mode games

- Shows photos in the gallery the instant the Game Boy sends the PRINT command

- **8 palettes** to choose from (BGB, DMG, B&W, Pocket, Sepia…) with live re-render

- Optional **auto-download** — saves to your Downloads folder automatically

- Batch ZIP export for the whole gallery

- Works offline too — drag & drop a serial capture .txt to decode it

The UI is styled after the DMG-01 shell — grey plastic, magenta A/B buttons, the purple DOT MATRIX stripe. Felt right for the project.

Built on top of the amazing [Arduino Game Boy Printer Emulator](https://github.com/mofosyne/arduino-gameboy-printer-emulator) by Brian Khuu (mofosyne) and contributors — this is just a nicer frontend for their firmware.

🔗 **GitHub**: https://github.com/HexLions/GBP-Downloader

🌐 **Live**: https://hexlions.github.io/GBP-Downloader/gbp_downloader.html

Happy to answer questions about the wiring, the firmware, or the web tech side. Would love feedback from people who actually use their Game Boy Camera regularly!

Background

I live in Europe and I would like to mod my Gameboy Color with a Led buttons kit.

For waiting purposes, I would like any kit I buy to be from within Europe, but I don't mind buying from outside if I feel confident enough.

Research

Thus far, these are the LED button kits I found for GBC (2026):

- CleanLight GBC (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukOWkB7LgrY) The kit is no longer available in seller's page.

- FunnyPlaying kit (https://funnyplaying.com/products/gbc-button-led-kit) When playing, it is easy to activate the LED settings, so you will mess up you configuration (see comments: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aGCXr1hc7w)

- HandheldLegend RetroGlow (https://handheldlegend.com/en-es/products/game-boy-color-rgb-led-button-kit?_pos=2&_sid=178f77e60&_ss=r). Several people report issues with the buttons after installing the kit (see comments: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8DN1CGnsyI)

- Natalie the Nerd LED kit. Not currently in production, not sure when/if it will be back (https://nataliethenerd.com/collections/all).

Bonus features I would like

- I would like to be able to change intensity of LEDs

- I would like to be able to turn LEDs on/off

- I would like for the kit to have a battery sensor, for AA batteries

Questions

This was everything I could find.

- Do you have experience with any of these kits? Was it positive or negative?

- What other kits do you know that are still available to buy?

Hey everyone! I just rolled out a big update for my free Game Boy editing/modding web tool, and I can't wait to share the new features with you guys.

Here are the main upgrades:

✅ Component Rating System

Rate any modding components you've used without mandatory purchases. Share your honest experience to help the community pick better parts and avoid bad components.

✅ Virtual Build Editor

Mix and match parts to design your perfect Game Boy build. It’s super handy for calculating total costs and comparing the differences between various components before you actually build.

✅ Public Sharing Page

Showcase your custom Game Boy builds! Share your setup publicly and get feedback & praise from fellow modders.

I’ve also added tons of new components to the product library recently.

Additionally, if you are looking for rare or hard-to-find Game Boy parts that are out of stock, feel free to DM me. I can contact suppliers to hunt for their hidden stock for the community.

Hope this tool makes Game Boy modding easier for all of us. Any suggestions or feedback are highly appreciated!

Link to the tool:

https://www.gbmake.com/us/builds

No downloads, completely free for the retro Game Boy community. Have fun building!