In the world of Game Boy modding, one name comes up in almost every tutorial: FunnyPlaying. This Chinese manufacturer designs the IPS screens, the shells and the spare parts that make it possible to bring thirty-year-old Nintendo consoles back to life — and even a complete console, the FPGBC. Updated in August 2026.
FunnyPlaying is a manufacturer based in China, specialising in renovation and upgrade parts for Nintendo handhelds: Game Boy (DMG), Game Boy Pocket, Game Boy Light, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance and GBA SP. The brand sells direct on its own site, with worldwide shipping from China, and supplies most of the major resellers of the modding scene, in the United States as well as in Europe.
Its reputation was built on one specific product: the replacement IPS screen. The original Game Boy panels are dark and, for the most part, not backlit; FunnyPlaying kits bring a bright, contrasted image, brightness settings and pixel effects that imitate the look of the period. In modding guides, “FunnyPlaying screen” has almost become a generic term.
The catalogue revolves around four families:
One useful clarification: all these consoles and parts are sold without games or ROMs. The FPGBC, for example, only reads real cartridges.
Prices seen in dollars on the official site; they vary according to stock and include neither shipping nor import charges.
FunnyPlaying ships from China: two to four weeks' delay, VAT and possible handling fees on arrival, and customer service in English. European resellers do exist, but their stock is irregular and the exact references (the right screen revision, the right compatible shell) sell out quickly. The result: many French modders order blind, pick the wrong kit, or pay top price for a laminated screen on a marketplace.
Fun-Esports is preparing to open a workshop and modding section that will bring this type of part together with product pages in French, with compatibility checked console by console. Rather than making you wait with empty pages, we are publishing the real state of the section: this page exists first and foremost as a reference, and the products will appear on it as they come into stock.
On a laminated kit, the IPS panel is bonded directly under the glass, with no air gap. The image appears “at the surface” of the screen, with no internal reflections and no dust possible between the two. It is the top of the FunnyPlaying range, a notch above the classic IPS kits.
Often, yes: IPS screens are larger than the panels of the period. The clean solution is to use a shell designed for IPS — FunnyPlaying makes them for exactly that. Also allow for a full check of the screen before bonding, because the warranty no longer covers the screen once the adhesive has been used.
Yes, and that is in fact its only way of working: Game Boy and Game Boy Color cartridges, but no loading of ROMs. It assembles without soldering in a little under an hour. Known limitation: no infrared sensor, so the few rare games that use it do not work fully.
It is one of the most established manufacturers of the modding scene: direct sales for years, products tried out and documented by the community, and distribution through recognised specialist resellers. As always with direct imports, the weak point remains the delays and remote after-sales service.
To go further: browse our Workshop & modding section and the selection of Game Boy IPS screens, or compare the retro consoles of the moment with our comparison tool.