Building a Homebrew Computer From Zero to Flappy Bird

If you’re a computer hobbyist, you might have the idea to program your own version of the simple yet addicting game, Flappy Bird. If you’re Johan Van den Brande, however, you not only remake this game, but write your own version of BASIC on which to program it.

As an “afterthought,” he also built the BASIC-1 computer it runs on, using an XMEGA128A4 as the heart of the design, even cutting out a custom case for the keyboard (from a broken C64) and electronics.

Additional hardware consists of a TellyMate serial to TV adapter, an Arduino Mini-based keyboard controller, a joystick port, a power supply, and an SD card reader for storage.

It’s an impressive project that started out as a BASIC coding idea back in 2014. Three years later, he has a retro style computer that is truly his own.

You can read more about the BASIC-1 in Van den Brande’s write-up, and see a demo of it in the video below!