Tag Archives: Gaming

This LEGO Angry Birds Brickset Is the Closest We’ll Ever Get to a Real Playable Set

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Finland’s contribution to global tech culture is quietly staggering for a country of 5.5 million people. Linux, SSH, Nokia, and then, in 2009, a little Helsinki studio called Rovio dropped Angry Birds on the App Store and rewrote the rules of mobile gaming entirely. The slingshot physics were deceptively simple, the characters instantly readable, and the loop so satisfying that it racked up billions of downloads and made Finland the unlikely architect of a second major chapter in mobile technology. What Pokémon did for Japan, Angry Birds did for Finland, a piece of pure software creativity that transcended its original platform and embedded itself into a generation’s muscle memory.

Now, builder Thornbeard has translated that legacy into LEGO form with a MOC (My Own Creation) that covers the full cast: Red, Chuck, the Blues stacked in their trademark tower, Bomb, Matilda, Terence, and a pig fortress that looks lifted straight from World 1-1. The three-star rating display along the base is the kind of detail that immediately tells you this builder actually played the game, a lot.

Designer: Thornbeard

Red’s scowl comes through in the angle of his brow elements, Chuck’s yellow wedge shape captures that pointed aerodynamic silhouette, and the Blues are stacked three-high in a tower arrangement that is both spatially clever and completely faithful to how they functioned in the game. Bomb’s round black form sits wide and heavy, Matilda reads instantly in white with her eyelash detailing, and Terence looms in dark red at the end of the lineup with the quiet menace of a bird who has absolutely seen some things. Each bird is built to express personality through brick geometry rather than leaning on stickers or printed parts, and the orange-beak detail carried consistently across the flock ties them all together as a visual family.

Thornbeard built the fortress in an open-frame style using brown and gray elements that mimic those rickety wood-and-stone structures from the original game levels, and the decision to leave the frames open rather than walling them in puts every pig on full display. King Pig sits center stage with his golden crown rendered in warm gold bricks, Mustache Pig has that distinctive facial hair built in brown clip elements, Helmet Pig wears a gray domed construction that reads immediately, and a basic minion pig rounds out the quartet. The golden egg displayed at the very top of the fortress tower is a detail that will hit differently depending on how many hours you spent trying to unlock those bonus levels.

My favorite detail is the wrecking ball hanging off the left side of the fortress on a chain. It adds a sense of physics and instability to the structure, a visual suggestion that this whole edifice is one well-aimed bird away from coming down. That is exactly the kind of environmental storytelling that made the original game levels feel alive rather than static, and Thornbeard carried it over into brick form without making a big deal of it.

Mounted on its wooden post with the rubber band mechanism rendered in dark red curved elements, the slingshot sits opposite the fortress on a green grass platform with small flower details tucked into the corners. The three yellow stars along the front edge of the base are the finishing touch that elevates the whole composition from a character display into an actual scene, a frozen moment from a game that a significant portion of the planet has played.

Angry Birds turned 16 this year, which means there is now a generation of builders on LEGO Ideas who grew up with it as a childhood touchstone rather than a novelty download. Thornbeard’s MOC is currently gathering votes on the LEGO Ideas platform, where fan-created builds need to reach 10,000 supporters before LEGO’s internal team reviews them for potential production as a retail set. Given that LEGO has previously leaned into gaming nostalgia with sets like the Atari 2600 and various Nintendo collaborations, a build this polished and this culturally resonant feels like exactly the kind of submission the review team would take seriously. You can head to the LEGO Ideas page and cast your vote here.

The post This LEGO Angry Birds Brickset Is the Closest We’ll Ever Get to a Real Playable Set first appeared on Yanko Design.

Herman Miller Finally Built a Gaming Desk That Matches Its Chairs

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If you’ve ever spent real money on a Herman Miller chair, you know the particular satisfaction that comes with it. It’s not just the lumbar support or the breathable mesh. It’s the feeling that someone actually thought hard about how you sit, and then engineered accordingly. That philosophy is exactly what’s been missing from the gaming desk category for years, and now Herman Miller has stepped in to fill the gap with the Coyl Gaming Desk.

The Coyl is the brand’s first desk built specifically for gamers, which is a little surprising considering Herman Miller Gaming has been around since 2020. Better late than polished, I suppose. But after seeing what they’ve put together, it’s clear they spent that time observing how people actually use their spaces, rather than just rushing to market with something forgettable.

Designer: Herman Miller

The most talked-about detail is the rotary dial. While traditional sit-to-stand desks feature up-down toggle switches, the Coyl Gaming Desk features a rotary dial, a round knob you turn to raise or lower the height, allowing for greater control and seamless adjustment. That feels like a meaningful upgrade over the toggle switch that costs pennies and has somehow survived on products that cost over a thousand dollars. Inspired by premier audio equipment, the dial features detent notches to allow players to easily identify the exact setting for their preferred position. It’s a small change that makes a surprisingly big difference. When your hands are already on autopilot during a long session, not having to hunt for a button matters more than you’d think.

The desk also has a built-in cable management trough tucked underneath toward the back, which handles the chaotic tangle of wires that plagues most gaming setups. It’s one of those features that seems obvious in hindsight but is inexplicably absent from most desks in this category. Whoever decided to finally make this standard deserves a quiet round of applause. There are also built-in hooks for frequently used items, allowing players to stay locked into the play experience, and adjustable glides on the top of the desk feet allowing users to level the desk.

Where things get genuinely interesting is the optional perforated back panel. For those who want to further personalize their set-up, Coyl includes an optional perforated back panel with a smart collection of accessories, including controller holders, phone docks, small shelves, and planters. Think of it as a pegboard-style system you can actually curate. These add-ons can be rearranged as setups evolve, which is the kind of modularity that tends to make a product feel useful long-term rather than dated in two years. It’s also the design detail that signals what Herman Miller is really going after here: the desk isn’t meant just for gaming, it’s meant for the modern person who games, works, creates, and streams, often from the same surface.

The Coyl comes in four desktop finishes: black, white, walnut, and ash, with the rounded laminate top giving the whole thing a cleaner look than the sharp-cornered, RGB-saturated aesthetic that dominates most gaming furniture. You can program up to four height presets, which is useful if your desk doubles as a standing workstation during the day. The base version starts at $1,095, rising to $1,495 with the cable trough and $1,635 if you want the back panel included.

That price point will be a sticking point for some people. Gaming desks at a fraction of the cost do exist and do the job adequately. But the Coyl isn’t really competing on value, it’s competing on intention. The same way a Herman Miller chair isn’t for someone who just needs somewhere to sit, the Coyl is for someone who wants their desk to be an actual design decision and not just a surface with legs.

Is it groundbreaking? Not technically. The features themselves aren’t revolutionary. But the execution and the restraint are notable, especially from a brand entering a product category already crowded with competitors trying too hard to look cool. Herman Miller didn’t try to out-RGB anyone. They just made something that looks like it belongs in the same room as their chairs, which is, frankly, exactly what the gaming space has been waiting for.

The post Herman Miller Finally Built a Gaming Desk That Matches Its Chairs first appeared on Yanko Design.

GameSir Made a Cotton Candy Xbox Controller That Kills Stick Drift

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Gaming controllers have long leaned into one of two visual languages: aggressive, angular designs aimed at the competitive crowd, or the familiar, conservative look of first-party hardware that blends quietly into any living room setup. The color palette rarely strays far from matte black, carbon gray, or safe-for-everyone white, as if bold design choices were somehow at odds with serious performance.

GameSir’s T7 Pro Sugar Whirl challenges that assumption with a translucent shell that blends soft pinks, blues, and lavenders, described by GameSir as a swirl of cotton candy and morning skies. It’s part of the brand’s Pastel Collection, and it’s officially licensed by Xbox, which means wireless connectivity to Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One isn’t an afterthought. The looks are deliberate, but so is the hardware underneath.

Designer: GameSir

At the core of the control experience are GameSir’s Mag-Res TMR (Tunneling Magnetoresistance) sticks, a non-contact magnetic technology that eliminates the stick drift that tends to plague conventional analog sticks over time. The Hall Effect analog triggers come with two-stage trigger stops, giving you a shorter pull when faster, more precise inputs matter most. For competitive play, both features represent a meaningful step up from standard controllers.

The controller also has two remappable back buttons, which can take on any function you assign through the GameSir Nexus software. Four rumble motors handle feedback, with a level of fine-tuning that most first-party controllers don’t offer. On PC, there’s also a six-axis gyroscope for motion control, making the T7 Pro Sugar Whirl versatile enough to keep up with platform-specific demands.

Connectivity follows a tri-mode approach. The controller pairs wirelessly to Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One via 2.4GHz, switches to Bluetooth for Android, and also works wired through USB-C. The polling rate reaches up to 1,000 Hz on PC and 250 Hz on Xbox, numbers that matter more when you’re playing anything that rewards split-second timing. A 3.5mm audio jack is included for headset use.

The 1,050 mAh battery charges via the included charging dock or through the USB-C port at the top of the controller. GameSir Nexus software handles all the customization, from button remapping and stick sensitivity to vibration intensity and RGB lighting effects. Multiple profiles can be saved and swapped between games, which saves the hassle of reconfiguring everything when switching between titles with very different control demands.

The RGB lighting adds another layer of visual personality, though it’s the translucent shell that does most of the aesthetic work. The pastel color blend is something the controller market doesn’t often attempt at this tier, and it comes off as genuinely considered rather than gimmicky. It’s the kind of design that sits on a desk and invites a second look from anyone who happens to walk into the room.

The post GameSir Made a Cotton Candy Xbox Controller That Kills Stick Drift first appeared on Yanko Design.