I made a helper with esp32+display+keypad so that you can play without a phone. The device would cost you about 15€ (if you build 3 devices), but its quite easy to make and its also fun to have a weird contraption to play a boardgame. I will work on a nice 3d printable enclosing, but for now I just want to be able to play with my friends without a phone.
Because the esp boards are ever so slightly different, and the displays using ST7789V2 versus ST7789 also have some differences, I suggest you just google for your particular configuration and hook them up. I will print how I did for my setup:
| Display | ESP32 |
|---|---|
| GND | GND |
| VCC | 3v |
| SCL | 18 |
| SDA | 23 |
| RES | 4 |
| DC | 2 |
| CS | 17 |
| BLK | not connected |
| Keypad | ESP32 |
| 0 | 13 |
| 1 | 12 |
| 2 | 14 |
| 3 | 27 |
| 4 | 26 |
| 5 | 25 |
| 6 | 23 |
| 7 | 32 |
The code you can download from here: overflow.ino, I use the Arduino IDE2 to flash the esp32 board and also to download the libraries and etc. The code has a small riscv interpreter, and then executes the instructions showing the state, it is quite limited because the display is small, but it kind of works to help you out if you get lost. I think you still need pen and paper to help you think about the memory layout, the helper is more for 'error correction'. The code contains the elf game binary embedded as `xxd -i game.binary`.
Assembling: the esp32 is a bit wider so there is no space on the breadboard, so i put the cables for the keypad underneath, which was a bit annoying:
Keypad controls: