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Unofficial mod transforms the Playdate into a charming robot pet

The unofficial mod, made by a Ubisoft character artist in their spare time, is available for anyone with the right know-how to build.

Made with two wheels, a motor, a microcontroller and a 3D-printed casing, it taps into the Playdate’s built-in accelerometer, microphone and sensors to turn the indie game console into a charming desktop companion. Loquin, whose day job is as a character artist at Ubisoft, put those skills to use in bringing the device to life. Although it won’t do anything crazy like have a chat, pop wheelies or play fetch, Loquin’s video below shows it reacting to a wake-up tap, navigating around a corner and getting dizzy after spinning the Playdate’s crank.

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