Watermelon Pi: Maker Plays Pokemon on a Homemade Melon Boy

(Image credit: Cedishappy)

If you know the Raspberry Pi community like we do, you understand that with some projects it's fruitless to ask "Why?" and much more interesting to ask "How?"

This is a watermelon gaming rig created by a maker known as Cedrick from the YouTube channel Cedishappy. It's exactly what it sounds like, he housed a Raspberry Pi retro gaming rig inside of a watermelon.

If you've set up a portable RetroPie gaming rig before, you'll know much fun it can be to take your favorite old school games with you. If not, check out our guide on using RetroPie.

The hardware setup is fairly straightforward. He connected all of his buttons to the GPIO pins on the Raspberry Pi. He also wired a speaker and screen to complete the setup. The melon was then cut open and insides carved out to make room for the Raspberry Pi hardware. Cedrick cut holes for the buttons and screen, arranged in a somewhat user-friendly fashion.

To protect the Pi from moisture (as much as one can with a melon case) he lined the inside with cling film. A portable battery was included and the Watermelon Pi was ready to play!

Would we recommend this project? No, we really wouldn't. But we definitely encourage our readers to check out Cedrick's full demonstration of this hilarious retro gaming watermelon rig.

Ash Hill
Freelance News and Features Writer

Ash Hill is a Freelance News and Features Writer with a wealth of experience in the hobby electronics, 3D printing and PCs. She manages the Pi projects of the month and much of our daily Raspberry Pi reporting while also finding the best coupons and deals on all tech.