InkQuest is a handheld e-paper text adventure machine

[KrisStatlander_DDT]

A maker has built a tiny console just for text adventures. Hackaday reports on InkQuest, a choose your own adventure handheld made by Jeremy Ngai

It has a 2.9 inch e-paper screen, a rotary encoder for choosing options and an RGB LED for mood lighting. Battery life is about 20 hours of play per charge

InkQuest uses a custom circuit board and a 3D printed case, and it is based on an ESP32. You set up Wi-Fi through a captive portal, and it then asks Gemini to generate stories

The code is on GitHub, and Hackaday suggests swapping in human written stories, such as a port of Zork. That would make it a lovely retro gadget

E-paper is perfect for text adventures, since it is easy on the eyes and sips power. A rotary dial for choosing paths is a satisfying, simple control. Being able to load classic adventures instead of AI stories would make it a lovely retro gadget

Would you play text adventures on a dedicated device? And which classic text adventure is your favourite?

Play Text Adventures On An E-Paper Handheldhackaday.com