The Wooden Minnow
H()LLOW LAKE on your keychain: a wooden fishing lure with a little color screen and five keys. Cast from your pocket, and it buzzes when something bites. No signal? It plays the whole game itself and catches up later.
Drag to turn it.
That is the shape it is going to be: a fish, painted like a perch lure. The screen shows real captures from the device.
What it does
- Buzzes on a biteA real haptic motor taps you when something takes your line, so it can stay in your pocket.
- Plays with no signalThe whole game runs on the lure. Fish on a boat, in the woods, on a plane. It syncs when it is back in range.
- Pictures for everythingEvery fish has its own pixel art, plus monster, colossal and ancient versions. The story's big moments get scenes of their own.
- Five keys, no fussLeft, cast, right, back, menu. The middle key always does the obvious next thing.
- LastsThe screen sleeps when nothing is happening and wakes for a bite. Turned off, it lasts weeks on a charge.
- Updates itselfNew fish and new screens arrive over Wi-Fi. It remembers the networks it knows, at home and at your brother's.
On its screen
Captured from the device's own screen code: 320 × 170 pixels.
Reedy Cove on a bright morning 
Line out at the lily pads 
Something bites: three minutes to hook it 
It jumps. Give it slack. 
A Largemouth Bass for the wall 
The river mouth, picking a spot 
Not every bite is a fish 
Marge's Bait & Tackle 
The clock while you wait
What is inside
| Brain | ESP32-S3 (LILYGO T-Display-S3), with Wi-Fi |
|---|---|
| Screen | 1.9 inch color LCD, 320 × 170 |
| Buzz | DRV2605L haptic driver and a coin motor |
| Keys | Five, in a black panel under the screen |
| Battery | 1000 mAh, charged over USB-C |
| Eyes | Glass cabochons with an LED behind each |
| Body | A fish, about 137 × 57 × 20 mm with its fins, painted like a perch. Basswood when it is finished; 3D printed for now. |
| On a keyring | A split ring through the nose, like a real lure's line tie |
Where it is
A working prototype. The electronics and every screen work; the game runs on it today. The fish shell is being designed now, then printed, then carved in wood.
Not for sale. If you want one, say so: that is how these things happen.