Tokyo Gameboy Mod Workshop: Build & Customize Your Own

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/34

Duration3h

GroupUp to 6

LanguagesEN

Mobile ticketAccepted

Build a Gameboy That's Yours in Tokyo's Retro Gaming Heart

You choose the shell, parts, and colors, then build your own Gameboy (Classic, Advance, or SP) with hands-on guidance from a retro gaming enthusiast in Akihabara. All parts, tools, and a test cartridge are provided. The workshop takes a few hours, and your finished console comes with a 3-day guarantee if anything needs adjusting.

Step-by-step itinerary

Gameboy Mod Workshop in Akihabara

Arrive at Akihabara workshop
Receive step-by-step guidance
Choose Gameboy shell and parts
Mod your Gameboy Classic/Advance/SP
Test Gameboy with lent cartridge
Return game cartridge

The Experience

What if you could walk into a workshop in Akihabara and leave with a Gameboy you'd actually built yourself? That's the draw here — not just buying a mod, but making one. You pick the shell color, choose your parts, and follow step-by-step guidance from someone who actually loves these machines. By the end of a few hours, you've got something that works, looks exactly how you wanted it, and feels like it came from your own hands.

The workshop happens in Akihabara, the neighborhood where Tokyo's retro gaming culture still pulses. You're not in a sterile studio; you're in the part of the city where people still hunt for old cartridges and rare consoles. The Gameboy mod workshop gives you all the parts — shells, buttons, screens, circuit boards, whatever you need for a Classic, Advance, or SP — plus the tools to put it together. A guide walks you through each step without hovering; they're there because they genuinely care about these things, not because they're reading from a script. You even get to test your finished Gameboy with a loaned cartridge before you leave, so you know it actually plays.

What makes this different from buying a pre-modded console online is the control. You're not choosing from five preset colors; you're mixing and matching shells, buttons, and internal parts to build something that matches how you see it in your head. Some people recreate a Gameboy from their childhood. Others go wild with colors that never existed. The result is a one-of-a-kind souvenir that actually works and that you made. If anything goes wrong in the first three days, they'll help you fix it — though you'd cover shipping if it needs to go back to them.

The whole thing takes a few hours, and you don't need any technical skill beforehand. Snacks are included, and the space is accessible if you're in a wheelchair or traveling with a stroller. Public transit gets you there easily. When you're done, you walk out with a Gameboy that's yours, a memory of making it, and something you can actually play or pass on to someone else.

What’s included

All parts and the console needed to build your chosen Gameboy model (Classic, Advance, or SP), various shells and customization parts, all tools required for assembly, step-by-step guidance from a Gameboy enthusiast, a loaned game cartridge to test your finished console, and snacks during the workshop.

Good to know

Easy physical levelWheelchair accessibleStroller friendlyPublic transport nearby

Operated by EPIC JAPAN EXPERIENCES

Is this one for you?This is for anyone who grew up with a Gameboy and wants to own one again, or who collects retro gaming gear and wants something truly personal — the workshop removes the guesswork of buying pre-modded consoles online and gives you a working, custom piece you built yourself.