The GamerCard lets you create the next indie darling on a bit of kit that will fit in your wallet

I quite enjoy a good novelty gadget, for better or for worse. I bought the Xbox-branded Meta Quest because it was new and shiny, despite Xbox having zero proper VR games. The point I am making is that I have a powerful phone in my pocket that can play hundreds of games, and yet, the GamerCard from Grant Sinclair is mighty interesting.

This nifty piece of kit has been designed to be the size of your regular gift card, giving it some impressive portability. Even more impressive, however, is the tech it packs. The GamerCard is loaded with Raspberry Pi, the highly customisable system that allows you to pop almost any app onto it.

Obviously, follow your local emulation laws, but you could load it with anything from retro arcade classics to modern games if you are savvy enough. For those who are too skittish to try, the GamerCard comes with two full-length games preloaded. These are Bloo Kid 2, an action platformer, and AstroBlaze DX, a rhythm-based space shooter.

If you do want to take a walk on the wild side and make yourself the next indie wunderkind, then you are in luck. The GamerCard is fully compatible with the PICO-8. It is sold separately, obviously, but put them both together and you will be cranking out those pixelated hits in no time.

You might be thinking this sounds all well and good, but you don’t want to spend a fortune on a gimmick. I wish I had your restraint. Monetary frivolity aside, the GamerCard won’t burn a hole in whatever tiny pocket you house it in. It costs £125, which is not that bad, to be fair. That is basically what a single game will cost in a few years. I’ve made myself sad.

The GamerCard is available exclusively from grantsinclair.com, with worldwide shipping. After Sinclair works out some of the global distribution offers they have, you will even find them in retail stores.