Mobile gaming completely changed for me when Apple finally opened up and allowed emulators on the App Store a few years ago. Delta became part of my main app and never left it, with retro games acting as a great fallback when train delays hit or my book doesn’t quite hold my attention.
That reliance on flexibility means that I’m not really the type of gamer to lug around a game controller just on the off chance that I want to use it with my phone, and that even includes fairly smooth game grips like the Backbone One.
So, I was super interested in trying out 8BitDo’s FlipPad when it unveiled: a gamepad that marries a small design with the convenience of clipping it to your phone, meaning you only need the smallest amount of space in a bag to practically upgrade your gaming experience.
After a week with the FlipPad, I’m even more excited by the design choices that went into creating it, and I think it might just be the perfect addition to a travel bag or EDC backpack.
A small piece of clever game design
The FlipPad is basically a flat controller with a hinged USB-C plug to pop into your phone’s port. If that’s safe, the controller is located at the bottom of your screen, so the phone basically has the orientation of an old GameBoy.
It’s an ergonomic arrangement that’s improved since those days, of course, but it’s also really very proven, and it works a treat in my experience. Plus, the buttons 8BitDo uses are really nice and clicky, making the FlipPad extremely tactile and satisfying.
It’s worth paying attention to the button layout here, though, to make sure it works for what you need. There’s no analog stick here, so this is very much a gamepad aimed primarily at the NES, SNES, Game Boy, and Game Boy Advance catalog, along with the many other consoles that predate analog sticks.
It has four function buttons on top, two of which are the standard shoulder buttons and two of which are extra, giving you some nice customization options. I found that Delta detected the layout perfectly, giving me the easy option to change my controls.
(Image credit: Future)
What Delta didn’t do, however, was move the screen display of my game up to allow the controller to take up the bottom of the screen. It treated the FlipPad like a normal wireless controller and centered my game screen, which actually cut the FlipPad off the floor. I fixed this by tweaking the app’s settings to force the appearance of the touch button layout, which is slightly clunky but still extremely effective.
That little teething issue aside, I’ve had nothing but positive experiences with the FlipPad, whether it’s how massively it improves the experience of playing GBA titles that involve fast button presses, or how small it is when stored in my tech pouch.
For retro gamers on the go, I think it’s a no-brainer as long as it fits on your phone, and it’ll likely be a mainstay in my daypack for a long time.