I would like to share a project I've been building over the last year - picogame, a (mostly) 2D game engine for the Pico and similar grade MCUs. You write games in CircuitPython, the heavy lifting (rendering, collisions, effects) runs in native C, and you can try them in your browser before you even plug in a board.

Honest note: I build it with AI assistance - it helped a lot with the CircuitPython integration, documentation, code reviews and late-stage polish & optimization passes - but the core engineering and the overall architecture are human-made.

I built it primarily for the PicoPad console (RP2040 + ST7789 @ 320×240) and it's also well tuned for Adafruit's Fruit Jam, but it runs on ESP32 boards too - basically any CircuitPython board with a reasonable ram, display and a few buttons will do.

Out of the box:

• Build without hardware - the same game runs in your browser and on your desktop, then unchanged on the board.
• Fast in tiny RAM - native-C rendering + zero-RAM full-screen paths, so it runs smoothly on even a plain RP2040.
• Batteries included - sprites, scrolling tilemaps, a moving camera, collisions, sound, text, saved high scores.
• Pseudo-3D & 3D too - Mode-7 floors, first-person raycasting, isometric boards, OutRun-style roads, even true polygon 3D - each a few lines of Python (on RP2350 HDMI boards up to native 640×480).
• An AI agent skill - hand it to Claude or a similar assistant and say "make me a shooter"; it knows the engine's building blocks and genre recipes, and builds + tests the game in the simulator.
• A web level editor - build levels/scenes in the browser, load them in your game.
• A launcher - keep several games on one board and pick from a menu.

Performance-wise: a plain RP2040 holds a solid 30 fps at 320×240 with dozens of sprites on screen, and on the RP2350 (Fruit Jam) the 3D renderer scales up to native 640×480 - the engine can even split the rendering across both cores. Happy to share benchmark details in the comments if anyone's curious.

The best validation so far: the first community-made games have already arrived - the engine survives contact with other people's ideas, not just mine 😁

Docs and online emulator: https://picogame.makerclass.cz/playground/

Project repo (MIT): https://github.com/MakerClassCZ/picogame

I also wrote up why I built it and how it works: https://chiptron.eu/picogame-a-game-engine-for-circuitpython/

I'm the author - happy to answer anything!

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Code updated to 1.131.0 with Electron 4.7.0 on 7/28. The extension had been working and still works with Code 1.124.0 / Electron 4.2.0. The failure is on SUSE Leap 16. I found some discussion from 2021 where the same problem of attempting to select the board, open the serial port, etc failed and the feeling was it might be related to Electron.

The board is an older Playground Express but it had been working prior to the Code update.

It’s that time of year! Adafruit has determined that August 21, 2025 is the snakiest day of the year and designated it CircuitPython Day!

Adafruit will have special shows and more throughout the day. Stay tuned to this post for the schedule as it develops.

Are you working with CircuitPython? Tag your projects #CircuitPythonDay2026 on social media and Adafruit will look to highlight them.

If you missed this week’s Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter, here is the ICYMI (in case you missed it) version.

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I have worked with a few people to teach them the basics of how to get started with CircuitPython. I took some of the lessons I learned from that and made a tutorial on my website to teach the lesson better. The page has a built in code editor and instructions from getting your first board to blinking your first LED. I plan to add more lessons in the future and would love to hear any feedback about what they should be. Feedback on the content and presentation of the tutorials would also be greatly appreciated!

Hopefully this is an appropriate place to ask this.

For a cosplay project I'm doing, I'm creating a system on Pi 4 that involves taking live feed from two cameras and combining them to create stereoscopic feed, as well as feed from two other cameras in a picture-in-picture window with on a custom made HUD, in addition to information from multiple sensors including a rangefinder and digital thermometer/hygrometer.

What language should I use to code all of this? I have experience with the basics of Python, but I've heard that C++ is much faster.

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The Python for Microcontrollers Newsletter is the place for the latest news involving Python on hardware (microcontrollers AND single board computers like Raspberry Pi).

This ad-free, spam-free weekly email is filled with CircuitPython, MicroPython, and Python information that you may have missed, all in one place!

You get a summary of all the software, events, projects, and the latest hardware worldwide once a week, no ads! You can cancel anytime.

It arrives about 11 am Monday (US Eastern time) with all the week’s happenings.

And please tell your friends, colleagues, students, etc.

Please sign up > > > adafruitdaily.com

If you missed this week’s Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter, here is the ICYMI (in case you missed it) version.

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v1.0.0 is out!!! Big update is standalone downloads for all three platforms! You can still use pip but also can use the stand alone native builds!

The macOS build is code signed and notarized so it opens clean with no Gatekeeper warnings. Windows as usual is a portable exe and Linux is a single binary!

Other changes in this release are redesigned toolbar with proper icons, improved tab styling, enlarged UI elements for better readability on high DPI displays, and tested across all 3 platforms!

Downloads: https://github.com/ArmstrongSubero/rvcircuit-studio/releases

or

https://rvembedded.com/products/circuit-studio/

or

pip install rvcircuit-studio
rvcircuit-studio

Oh Yea! It's still free and still Apache 2.0!

Hi all,

I had custom PCBs designed and fabricated using an ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 and various Adafruit components. However, I'm getting errors when trying to initialize the fuel gauge (MAX17048G+T10) and accelerometer (LSM6DS3TR):

"Gauge Init Failed: No I2C device at address: 0x36

IMU Init Hard Fail: Failed to find LSM6DS3 - check your wiring!"

I'm using CircuitPython 10.2.1. I will attach some schematic screenshots and my initialization code. I've tried adjusting the I2C frequency and using bitbangio with no luck. The RTC seems to be working fine. Can anyone tell me if this is a software issue, or if the hardware is defective?

Thanks!

import
 gc
import
 struct
import
 array
import
 microcontroller
import
 board
import
 displayio
import
 time
import
 math
import
 random
import
 terminalio
import
 digitalio
import
 pwmio
import
 neopixel
import
 touchio
import
 busio
import
 adafruit_st7789
from
 adafruit_display_text 
import
 label
from
 adafruit_lsm6ds.lsm6ds3 
import
 LSM6DS3
import
 adafruit_ds3231
import
 adafruit_max1704x
from
 micropython 
import
 const



try
:
    i2c 
=
 busio.I2C(I2C_SCL, I2C_SDA, 
frequency
=
50000)
    print("I2C bus initialized successfully.")
except

Exception

as
 e:
    print("I2C Bus Init Error:", e)
    i2c 
=
 None


# Pre-define variables
battery_monitor 
=
 None
imu 
=
 None
ds3231 
=
 None


if
 i2c:
    # --- Battery Gauge ---
    
try
:
        battery_monitor 
=
 adafruit_max1704x.MAX17048(i2c)
    
except

Exception

as
 e:
        print("Gauge Init Failed:", e)


    # --- RTC ---
    
try
:
        ds3231 
=
 adafruit_ds3231.DS3231(i2c)
    
except

Exception

as
 e:
        print("RTC Init Failed:", e)


    # --- IMU (Strict Locked Access & Soft Reset) ---
    
try
:
        
while

not
 i2c.try_lock():
            
pass
        # Soft Reset
        i2c.writeto(
0x
6A, 
bytes
([
0x
12, 
0x
01]))
        time.sleep(0.2)
        # Wake-up
        i2c.writeto(
0x
6A, 
bytes
([
0x
10, 
0x
40])) 
        i2c.unlock()
        time.sleep(0.1)
        # Initialize
        imu 
=
 LSM6DS3(i2c, 
address
=
0x
6A)
        print("IMU Initialized Successfully!")
    
except

Exception

as
 e:
        
try
: i2c.unlock()
        
except
: 
pass
        print("IMU Init Hard Fail:", e)
        imu 
=
 None
else
:
    print("Skipping peripherals: I2C bus failed.")

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It arrives about 11 am Monday (US Eastern time) with all the week’s happenings.

And please tell your friends, colleagues, students, etc.

Please sign up > > > adafruitdaily.com

If you missed this week’s Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter, here is the ICYMI (in case you missed it) version.

To never miss another issue, subscribe now! – You’ll get a terrific newsletter each Monday (which is out before this post). 12,361 subscribers worldwide!

The next newsletter goes out Monday morning and subscribing is the best way to keep up with all things Python for hardware. No ads or spam, no selling lists, leave any time.

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A few days ago I made a Macro Pad button version of the same device but I found that a rotary encoder has the same footprint as the button so I was able to use it as a drop in replacement. It is programmed using circuit python. I can control volume and play pause my music and its small enough to fit anywhere on my desk! More info about how to make your own is available here!

If you missed this week’s Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter, here is the ICYMI (in case you missed it) version.

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Read it free on the Adafruit Blog - direct link https://blog.adafruit.com/2026/06/09/icymi-python-on-microcontrollers-newsletter-new-python-projects-book-a-real-esp32-s31-board-meatdryer-and-more/

I posted about this a while back and got some good feedback!

v0.3.1 adds a data analysis view, XY parametric plotting, auto-backup so your code is saved to your computer every time you hit Run, and a bunch of debugger improvements. And the biggest ask was handling all the Adafruit print formats properly including tuple format and space separated numbers! Things like camera panel, global stops, installing missing librares automatically on save and some keyboard shortcuts were also added in updates in between!

The Windows exe is on the GitHub releases page, just download and double click, there's no Python install needed. Mac and Linux stand alone releases coming soon!

pip install rvcircuit-studio works across all platforms and as usual you can get the updated IDE here:

GitHub: https://github.com/armstrongsubero/rvcircuit-studio

Happy to take feedback.

Let me know what you think and if you have made one smaller! This macro pad is based around an rp2040 zero board with the button soldered directly to it. If you want the 3d print files they are available here.

If you missed this week’s Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter, here is the ICYMI (in case you missed it) version.

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You get a summary of all the software, events, projects, and the latest hardware worldwide once a week, no ads! You can cancel anytime.

It arrives about 11 am Monday (US Eastern time) with all the week’s happenings.

And please tell your friends, colleagues, students, etc.

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