A few days ago I received a mail from Croatia and I knew whom the package was from. Circuitmess has sent me one of their amazing STEM education products and this time it’s Nibble. Nibble is an educational DIY gaming console by Circuitmess. In this article, I will be sharing my first impression and experience along with a review including the pros and cons.
Previously I have covered Circuitmess’ STEM box educational kits for kids and adults. Do check that out if you haven’t already. Now without wasting any more time, let’s get right into it.
Unboxing Experience.
So in the package, I received the Nibble box and a T-shirt by Circuitmess. It was shipped via Post enclosed in the brown post package and secured with bubble wrap. There was a little bit of wear on the package but the box inside was in good condition.
Inside the box, we get everything required to build our Nibble console along with the necessary tools for soldering and assembling. Below I have listed what we get in the box along with an image.
- Acrylic casing
- Main controller board
- Soldering iron stand
- Soldering iron
- Solder wire
- 3 cell AAA battery holder
- Micro USB cable
- Phillips head screwdriver
- LCD module
- Cleaning Sponge
- Screw, bolts and spacers
- AAA Battries
The thing I loved about this kit is that they actually provide the tools required in the box. Makes it fun and easy for beginners.
Assembling the Nibble.
After everything is laid out and checked, the next thing I did was referred Circuitmess’ online building instructions for Nibble. Note that the assembly instructions are not provided with the box. We need to refer to the online page.
The instructions on the site were pretty straightforward and easy to understand for the most part. The only confusion I faced was with the acrylic casing assembly. Nevertheless, it took me around 1hr to assemble.
You can check the complete assembly in the youtube video. I had to fast-forward it as 1hr video would be pretty boring ;p
Testing and Playing Games.
So after completing the full assembly of 1hrs, I finally got to turn it on and test it. Playing the first game itself hit me hard with nostalgia. Nibble comes preloaded with 4 arcade games Invaderz, Bonk, SpaceRocks and Snake. Which are inspired by popular Atari games Space invaders, Pong, Space Rocks and Snakes from those old Nokia Phones. What makes Nibble more fun is that we can build our own games using CircuitBlocks.
My Thoughts.
I have been playing with Nibble for a couple of days now and although I haven’t tried to make games of my own yet, It does seem like a fun idea. It is a great tool for learning especially for kids as it covers a wide range of skills from soldering and assembling to coding. Now let us see what are the pros and cons of Nibble.
Pros:
So starting with all that is good,
- As I have mentioned above, it is a great tool for teaching kids and adults the basics of STEM education.
- It is fun and easy to assemble.
- The PCB and Acrylic chassis is good qualilty and feels sturdy to handle.
- As everything required to build it is already included in the box, one does not need any additional tools.
- Circuitmess provides a great Block coding interface called Circuitblocks which can be used to not only create more games but also build more advance projects.
Cons:
There are not a lot of cons for this one but here are some things I noticed and I think can be improved.
- The assembly part is fairly easy for most part but I did get a bit confused while putting together the case.
- Although the kit is aimed at 9yo, I persnally feel soldering is a little dangerous skill for kids under 13. Due to its heat and toxic fumes.
Under adult supervision and a well-ventilated workspace, Nibble is a great tool for learning.
You can buy one from CircuitMess’ Offical website.
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