If the Nintendo Switch 2's $449 price tag has you sticker shocked (and that's without the upcoming tariffs), then you're gonna love this. Here are 3 portable indie gaming systems that are reminiscent of the Switch 1's $350 listing or less.

And no, none of these listings are sponsored... yet. But, boy, do I wish they were.

Playdate : $229

This adorable tiny system adds a new crank to an old favorite. The side crank flips out and acts as an analog controller.

When you first whip the system out and set it up, you'll receive two free games a week until you cap out at 24 free games.

Fancy yourself a game developer? Its SDK is free to download, so you can build you own game for the system and add it to the Catalog.

Specs:

  • Battery Life: 14 days standby, 8 hours active
  • 168 MHz Cort4ex M7 SDK supports Lua, C
  • 16 MB Ram, 8 KB L1Cahce, 4GB Flash
  • 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi enabled
  • Bluetooth enabled
  • Display is 400 x 240 1-bit
Get the Playdate

Retroid Pocket 4 $139-$199

Wow, this color scheme reminds me of another gaming system that shall not be named. Surely, that's just a coincidence.

This system comes in 6 nostalgic color schemes – including that see through one that had a chokehold on the 90s. The system comes with no preloaded games and uses Android OS 13, so expect to use Google Play primarily to download games.

Specs:

  • Battery Life: not specified, just says "long lasting"
  • 1100 Octa Core,
  • G77 MC9 GPU
  • 720P output via HDMI
  • PRO version has 1080P output via USB Type-C
  • Wi-Fi6
  • Bluetooth 5.2
Get the Retroid Pocket on Amazon (faster shipping)
Get it on the Retroid Pocket website (cheaper)

Odyn 2 (base) $299

This system is popular for gamers who want to run old school emulators. It's been said to be comfy to hold for hours on end and that, for the price, its performance can't be beat.

It also has built-in LEDs that you can turn on-and-off for the perfect vibes.

Specs:

  • Battery Life: 6 hours
  • Qualcomm Kyro 64bit CPU
  • Adreno 740 GPU
  • 8 GB RAM
  • 128 GB Storage
  • 6" 1920*1080 Touch Screen
  • HDMI + Display Port
  • Wifi 7
  • Bluetooth
  • Android 13 OS
Get the Odyn 2 Base Model

See? You don't need to cry over the Nintendo price tag. You just need to open your minds up to other options out there.

If you have any specific questions about these systems or your own recommendations, please leave a comment below.