Have you ever purchased a cute little keyring and then wished it were functional in some way? Like a small copy of a video game you can actually pop open and play. Of course, the disc would be so small you couldn't actually play it on your console... unless you also bought a mini console keychain. Now there's forward-thinking.

Well, someone has managed to bring that dream to reality with a working GameCube controller converted from a keychain. And while you won't be winning any Super Smash Bros. Melee tournaments with it any time soon, it's still a cool exercise in adding functionality to such a tiny shell.

Someone converted a GameCube controller keychain into an actual GameCube controller

Hand it to your friend when they come over to play

As spotted by Hackster.io, this cool little project comes to us via Brux on YouTube. In the video above, you can watch him take a simple keychain accessory and turn it into a portable controller you can quite literally throw in your pocket. To get the job done, Brux used a rotary motor to clean out the case's interior, then 3D-printed custom parts to add to the controller. For the input, Brux opted for some surface-mount tactile switches under the buttons.

For processing, Brux used an RP2040 microcontroller, connected to all the inputs via carefully placed wires. Then all Brux had to do was add a wire from the RP2040 to the console, and presto: he now has a functional GameCube controller that fits on a keychain. He even shows himself playing Fortnite and Mario Kart with it.

At the end of the video, Brux shows off more keychain projects he can make, including an N64 controller, a SNES controller, and, my personal favorite, a 3DS. Seriously, if Brux can pull off making a functional 3DS at that size, I might need to figure out how I can buy it off him.