Beampong is a two-player tabletop game featuring LED light effects, sounds and music, and three unique play modes: Beampong (Pong-style), Beamshot (combat game), and Beamhop (rhythm game). It's battery powered and it's built on the Raspberry Pi Pico (RP2040 or RP2350).
- Raspberry Pi Pico (RP2040 or RP2350)
- WS2812B LED Strip. 60PPM, 16 pixels (configurable via
NUM_PIXELS) - 6x 12x12mm Push Buttons (with red, green, and blue caps)
- I²S Audio DAC + Amp (Adafruit MAX98357 or compatible module)
- Speaker (4Ω 3W recommended, but 8Ω 2W is fine)
- Li-Po battery (2000mAh recommended)
- TP4056 (battery charger module)
- Electrical wire
- 3D-printed enclosure (printable files are provided, as well as OpenSCAD sources)
- M1 screws, M24 screws, countersunk M2.5x4 screws, M2.54 threaded inserts
For a detailed, step-by-step guide on how to put everything together, see hardware/Assembly instructions.md
| Component | GPIO Pin | Description |
|---|---|---|
| LED Strip Data | 2 | WS2812B data line |
| I2S DIN (Data) | 10 | I2S data output |
| I2S BCK (Clock) | 11 | I2S bit clock |
| I2S LRCK (WS) | 12 | I2S word select |
| Player 1 Red | 15 | Button input |
| Player 1 Green | 14 | Button input |
| Player 1 Blue | 13 | Button input |
| Player 2 Red | 8 | Button input |
| Player 2 Green | 7 | Button input |
| Player 2 Blue | 6 | Button input |
All pins are configurable in config.h.
A colored pixel "ball" bounces between players. Hit the ball by pressing color button(s) when it reaches your home LED (the LED closest to you).
Rules:
- The server (who served the point) can choose any of the 7 colors on any return
- The receiver must match the exact color sent to them
- Press single button for primary colors (red/green/blue)
- Press multiple buttons simultaneously for secondary colors (yellow/cyan/magenta/white)
- Ball accelerates with each successful bounce
- Missing or incorrect color is a point for the opponent
- First player to score 8 points wins (configurable via
BP_SCORE_TO_WIN)
Configuration:
BP_DEFAULT_DELAY- Starting ball speed (180ms default)BP_MIN_DELAY- Maximum speed (50ms)BP_DELAY_INC- Acceleration per bounce (10ms)BP_FORGIVENESS- Multi-button press window (50ms)
Fire colored pixels toward your opponent. Defend by shooting matching colors to neutralize incoming attacks.
Rules:
- Press buttons to shoot colored pixels
- Press single button for primary colors (red/green/blue)
- Press multiple buttons simultaneously for secondary colors (yellow/cyan/magenta/white)
- Pixels of the same color collide and disappear
- Pixels that reach opponent's boundary score a goal
- Maximum 3 active pixels per player
- First player to score to 8 goals wins (configurable via
BS_SCORE_TO_WIN)
Configuration:
BS_DELAY- Pixel movement speed (220ms default)BS_MAX_PIXELS- Maximum total simultaneous pixels (6 by default)
A musical rhythm challenge. A melody plays while colored notes scroll across the LED strip. Press the matching color button exactly when the note reaches your position.
Rules:
- Notes appear in time with the music
- Press the correct color button at the right moment
- Each mistake gives opponent a point
- 50ms forgiveness window for early presses
- First player to make 16 mistakes loses, or draw if melody completes (configurable via
BH_SCORE_TO_WIN)
Configuration:
BH_DELAY- Note scroll speed (600ms default)BH_FORGIVENESS- Early press tolerance (50ms)
Hold any red button while powering on the device to reduce the output volume. Hold any green button while powering on the device to to increase the LED brightness.
If you want to change any default configuration options, you'll need to compile the sources and generate your own uf2 file to flash to the Pico.
- CMake 3.13+
- Pico SDK
- ARM GCC toolchain
git clone https://github.com/TuriSc/Beampong.git
cd Beampong
git submodule update --init --recursive
mkdir build && cd build
cmake ..
makeIf you're building for Raspberry Pi Pico 2, the cmake line becomes: cmake -DPICO_PLATFORM=rp2350 ..
- Hold BOOTSEL button on Pico while connecting USB
- Copy the correct
Beampong-*.uf2for your pico version to the mounted Pico drive - Pico automatically reboots and runs the game
All dependencies are included as git submodules:
- RP2040-WS2812B-Animation - LED animation library
- RP2040-Button - Button debouncing and event handling
- RP2040-Battery-Check - Battery voltage monitoring
- 2026.03.29 - v1.0.0 - First release
Beampong is an original project. All melodies have been composed specifically for this game.
For more information and similar projects, visit turiscandurra.com/circuits
