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Firmware and Updating

Latest Firmware

Download Latest MicroPython/Engine Firmware or the system files (February 2, 2026 @ 10:35AM EST [commit b8a2e6a])

  • Jan-Feb bugfixes
  • Added filesystem manifest hashes
  • Repair engine_mesh_resource and voxel nodes
  • Repair bitmap skewing

Old Firmware

Versions

Download MicroPython/Engine Firmware or the system files (December 30, 2025 @ 3:48PM EST [commit 99f9813])

  • Fix audio (again,) reset FPS limit and CPU frequency between reloads / restarts
  • ~~ FILESYSTEM UPDATE RECOMMENDED ~~

Download MicroPython/Engine Firmware or the system files (December 29, 2025 @ 11:38AM EST [commit 9bb53f4])

  • Added runtime tracer for hard faults
  • Re-enabled mesh resources
  • Patched firmware reporting invalid build date

Download MicroPython/Engine Firmware or the system files (October 10, 2025 @ 12:38PM EST [commit 8485ff1])

  • Re-patched __init_saves_dir to allow calling multiple times
  • Changed blit back to flooring pixel positions
  • ~~ FILESYSTEM UPDATE RECOMMENDED ~~

Download MicroPython/Engine Firmware or the system files (September 24, 2025 @ 11:22AM EST [commit 6e48408])

  • Update special edition backers list

Download MicroPython/Engine Firmware or the system files (September 23, 2025 @ 4:58PM EST [commit 160b936])

  • pre-Oct. 2024 build revert and fix launcher files
  • Removed broken property inheritance

Download MicroPython/Engine Firmware or the system files (January 16, 2025 @ 2:52PM EST [commit 7c786fa])

  • Show used and total storage on settings screen
  • Add low level drawing functions to the engine_draw module (clear, pixel, line, rect, circle, text, blit, and update)

Download MicroPython/Engine Firmware or the system files (January 14, 2025 @ 3:20PM EST [commit c34cf79])

  • Fix Line2DNode drawing bug

Download MicroPython/Engine Firmware or the system files (January 2, 2025 @ 12:42PM EST [commit 0d07d0e])

  • Fixed newlines being sanitized in Text2DNode.text
  • Make front indicator RGB LED represent battery level by changing from green to red as the battery dies
  • Make front indicator RGB LED change to blue/cyan when charging
  • Change engine_io.indicator(...) function to allow overriding default battery indication with custom color
  • Remove launcher battery indictor

Download MicroPython/Engine Firmware or the system files (December 16, 2024 @ 4:47PM EDT [commit 419f556])

  • Add volume and brightness settings to launcher settings page and add generated settings.txt file
  • Add most of the credits to the launcher credits page
  • Fix default bitmap pixel data format for bitmaps with BI_RGB field (should have been 555, not 565)
  • Add some ability to render 3D MeshNodes
  • Fix blank TextureResource creation stalling forever because of incorrect types in a fill loop

Download MicroPython/Engine Firmware or the system files (November 19, 2024 @ 12:48PM EDT [commit 7eb1f9f])

  • Fix bitmaps with BI_RGB compression field being interpreted to contain RGB565 instead of RGB555 by default
  • Add rumble to RB and LB button presses in launcher
  • Play intro music/jingle on splash screen if not plugged into a computer
  • Expose .amplitude on AudioChannel that is automatically set to last sample amplitude (before gain mixing)
  • Expose .sample_rate and .duration on WaveSoundResource
  • Slow down RTC I2C communication speed from 400kHz to 10kHz due to frequent errors and add specific startup routine to clear communication to the RTC IC
  • Fixed default font not rendering correctly due to unset pixel stride
  • Enabled MicroPython deflate module in firmware and on Unix + WebAssembly platforms

Download MicroPython/Engine Firmware or the system files (October 22, 2024 @ 10:42AM EDT [commit ebd3632])

  • Fixed not being able to use indexed bitmaps for fonts

Download MicroPython/Engine Firmware or the system files (September 26, 2024 @ 4:48PM EDT [commit a5baa37])

  • Give all 2D nodes the ability to inherit position, opacity, scale, and rotation from their parents
  • Add .inherit_position, .inherit_opacity, .inherit_scale, and .inherit_rotation to all 2D nodes to control if a node will inherit those attributes
  • Add .get_parent() function to all nodes

NOTE: Launcher files were updated, make sure to update your system files!

Download MicroPython/Engine Firmware or the system files (September 20, 2024 @ 1:20PM EDT [commit 9e01471])

  • Fix skewing issue for 1-bit and 4-bit bitmaps with odd dimensions

Download MicroPython/Engine Firmware or the system files (September 18, 2024 @ 4:08PM EDT [commit ac8a4c7])

  • Update engine_link docs for TX buffer sending size and on what happens if too much data is sent or received
  • Return actual number of bytes sent when using engine_link.send()
  • Update USB Host RX and TX buffer sizes to match the USB Device side

Download MicroPython/Engine Firmware or the system files (September 13, 2024 @ 3:45PM EDT [commit b8b013b])

  • Adjust engine_link connection times to make them more reliable

Download MicroPython/Engine Firmware or the system files (September 13, 2024 @ 2:29PM EDT [commit fdc6d58])

  • Use a different function for running USB host mode task when engine_link module functions .available(), .read(), .read_into(), .send(), and .connected() are called.

Download MicroPython/Engine Firmware or the system files (September 13, 2024 @ 2:01PM EDT [commit 34e6df0])

  • Run USB Host task for engine_link module functions .available(), .read(), .read_into(), and .send()

Download MicroPython/Engine Firmware or the system files (September 13, 2024 @ 12:57PM EDT [commit 3c2df40])

  • Fix default font baked into firmware after bitmap update
  • Add engine_link.is_started()

Download MicroPython/Engine Firmware or the system files (September 13, 2024 @ 11:02AM EDT [commit 0aa571a])

  • Added engine_link.is_host() function

Download MicroPython/Engine Firmware or the system files (September 10, 2024 @ 12:13PM EDT [commit 62488b7])

  • Added support for bitmaps types 16-bits or less along with support for 16-bit ARGB formats like 1555 or 4444 for per-pixel transparency

Download MicroPython/Engine Firmware or the system files (September 4, 2024 @ 11:15AM EDT [commit af6804d])

  • Moved to newer pico-sdk and MicroPython (using in progress PR for RP2350 support)
  • Added engine_link module

Download MicroPython/Engine Firmware or the system files (August 27, 2024 @ 2:10PM EDT [commit 2aa8e3d])

  • Fixed "__init_save_dir was never called" error
  • Added some helpful engine API functions to help support legacy Thumby Games
  • Switched engine.reset() to do a hard reset by default instead of soft (pass True to perform a soft reset)
  • Fixed engine not returning correct exit code on hard reset for micropython_loop script to restart

Download MicroPython/Engine Firmware or the system files (August 26, 2024 @ 2:22PM EDT [commit 4d64d5b])

  • Added small delay to processor startup to help solve issue where some units did not startup every time
  • Fixed issue where engine scratch space couldn't be used completely
  • Fixed issue where device was not hard reset after a game ends
  • Fixed issue where "__init_save_dir was already called error" happened after a soft reset

Download MicroPython/Engine Firmware or the system files (August 23, 2024 @ 12:20PM EDT [commit 917b0b0])

  • Initial public update for small bugfixes

Updating

  1. Download the latest firmware above
  2. Plug Thumby Color or Thumby Color Dev Kit into a computer
  3. Turn the device off (switch to the left when looking at the screen)
  4. Press and hold the down DPAD direction and switch the device back on
  5. Open a file manager and copy and paste the downloaded .uf2 to the RP2350 device in your file manager

The above steps update the firmware, however, the system files should be updated too. Do the following:

  1. Download the engine and system files using the files download links above
  2. Extract/unzip the downloaded folder using your file manager
  3. Plug a USB-C cable into the device and into your computer
  4. Open Thonny and press the red stop sign button to connect (see "Getting Started With Thonny" above for more help)
  5. In the bottom-left pane of Thonny:
    1. Right-click main.py and click Delete
    2. Right-click system and click Delete
  6. In the top-left pane of Thonny:
    1. Navigate inside the downlaoded and extracted folder to TinyCircuits-Tiny-Game-Engine/filesystem
    2. Right-click main.py and click Upload to /
    3. Right-click system and click Upload to /
  7. Turn the device off and back on