Fun-Nest: a "Swiss Army Knife" cartridge for C64

As a retro-computing and retro-gaming enthusiast, I often wondered why I couldn't find a cartridge for the C64 that could perform more than one function at the same time. The internet is flooded with so many specialised cartridges that can do only one thing, but there don't seem to be any multi-purpose, flexible solutions around.

Instead of just making do with what was available, I took up the challenge and decided to design one myself!

What's inside the cartridge?

I simply designed an FPGA-based cartridge where ALL the C64 BUS pins, ALL the C64 user port pins and ALL the C64 serial port pins are available for any kind of project.

In addition, I also added some RAM, FLASH and EEPROM memories, plus an SD card, a Raspberry Pi, an ESP32 for wi-fi connection, and many other things to allow for maximum freedom of use.

One cartridge to rule them all!

Ok, but what can I do with it?

My friends and I love working with FPGAs, and Fun-Nest represents the perfect toy for us to play with!

With Fun-Nest you can let your imagination run free!

This project could become an open-source development platform that provides an all-in-one hardware for many applications instead of having to purchase many different cartridges.

Will Fun-Nest be available for everyone in the future?

At the moment, this is a personal project that I have been developing just for me and my friends. I don’t know yet whether this cartridge could also be of interest to anyone else in the C64 enthusiasts community.

If Fun-Nest raises some interest on the net, I may consider a fundraising campaign in order to make a first production batch of cartridges for other people.

I am currently mounting the first prototypes, which I'm going to test with my friends soon. We'll keep you updated on the results.

Stay tuned!