A mechanical keyboard with gaming handheld-style shoulder buttons is not something you see everyday
Proto[Typist]
For many people who grew up in the early 2000s, the Game Boy Advance was the handheld they carried everywhere. The Keyboy Advance is trying to bring some of that nostalgia to a modern desk, using the wide, landscape-style silhouette of Nintendo’s 2001 handheld as the basis for a compact mechanical keyboard kit. It is not an official Nintendo product, but the visual references are easy to spot.
How much Game Boy Advance is in the design?
The Keyboy Advance takes the general shape of the Game Boy Advance and rebuilds it around a 50% HHKB layout. The overall footprint of the keyboard is small while still including a number row. The side profile uses a color-separated section inspired by the GBA’s side palm rest, while the underside has been reworked to create a curved shape that resembles the handheld.
There are smaller visual callbacks across the body as well. The board has a power indicator LED, an asymmetric light strip, a speaker-like module on the lower right, and an incised line that appears to reference the old battery cover. It also includes functional shoulder buttons, which use micro-switches to recreate the feel of handheld console triggers. Both buttons can be customized through Vial, giving the retro-inspired design a practical use.
It is still an enthusiast keyboard kit
The Keyboy Advance is still a fairly serious custom keyboard kit. The spec pages list a 7-degree typing angle, 19mm front height, and top-mount construction with O-rings. Buyers also get different build options depending on how they want to use it. The kit is available in solder and wired hotswap versions, along with dual-mode and tri-mode hotswap options for those who want more flexible wireless support.
The spacebar also gets special attention. Smaller custom keyboards can sometimes have noisy or uneven spacebars, so this kit uses foam and internal support pieces to reduce unwanted sound and vibration while typing. It also supports multiple spacebar layouts, including a single 6U spacebar, dual 3U spacebars, and a split 2.25u plus 1u plus 2.75u setup.
The Keyboy Advance group buy is priced at £210.83 and runs until July 22, 2026. Shipping is expected in Q4 2026. You can find more details about the keyboard at Prototypist.net.
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