Ryan McDonough
Founder, Sometime Artist
CFO and co-founder @Accompany, acquired by @Cisco. Turnaround CFO @Ning, sold to Glam Media. Former seed VC. McKinsey trained. @Wharton School and @Haas School of Business.
TINKERING
A lot of my builds start with a “what if?” What if a LEGO rotary phone had a Bluetooth handset? What if a Soviet portable TV became a numbers station? Or what if a round screen could double as a tiny retro TV and a digital art gallery? Here’s what I’ve been making lately:
Every build on Act2.art in one list: LEGO electronics, Raspberry Pi projects, retro gaming consoles, vintage hardware mods and nostalgic tech props by Ryan McDonough.
| Project | Type | Year | What it is | Built with |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LEGOcade Pro | Retro Gaming · LEGO | 2025 | Tabletop LEGO arcade cabinet with a 12.9″ iPad Pro running MAME, NES, Atari and Mac emulators, plus a Bluetooth arcade joystick. | Knockoff LEGO Pac‑Man cabinet kit, iPad Pro 12.9″, MAME4iOS, Delta, Mini vMac, arVin joystick, 8BitDo controllers |
| LEGO Slug Pro | Retro Gaming · LEGO | 2025 | Metal Slug Neo‑Geo arcade built from a Pantasy brick kit around a 9.7″ iPad Pro, with hidden brick‑mounted controls and pixel‑art Easter eggs. | Pantasy Neo‑Geo kit, iPad Pro 9.7″, MAME4iOS, Delta, Mini vMac, arVin joystick, 8BitDo controllers |
| LEGOcade Mini | Retro Gaming · LEGO | 2025 | LEGO Arcade Machine (40805) with an old iPhone 5 inside, playing 1980s arcade classics. Only two non‑standard parts. | LEGO 40805, iPhone 5 on iOS 10, 16×8 plate |
| Pocket‑Sized 2600 | Retro Gaming · LEGO | 2025 | An 18‑stud‑wide LEGO Atari 2600 with faux‑wood façade, housing the boards from an Atari Gamestation Pro. | MyArcade Gamestation Pro PCB, custom LEGO housing |
| Atari 2600 Cartridge Handheld | Retro Gaming | 2025 | A 1977 Atari 2600 cartridge carved to hold a Game Kiddy Pixel II handheld. No glue, no screws; the cartridge tabs hold it together. Runs Atari through PlayStation. | Game Kiddy Pixel II (2.4″ IPS), original Combat cartridge shell, CNC mill, EmulationStation CRT theme |
| NES Reloaded | Retro Gaming | 2025 | A touchscreen gaming system inside an NES cartridge: 4″ Android screen behind a CNC‑milled label window, EmulationStation and RetroArch, plus a cassette‑style music mode. | AGPTEK T08X Android 14 player, 8BitDo Micro, CNC‑cut cartridge, RFID tag |
| NES Homage | Retro Gaming | 2025 | Mini Trinitron‑style retro TV and NES setup built from a gutted Facebook Portal speaker, a Raspberry Pi and a square touchscreen, running RetroPie. | Raspberry Pi 4B, HyperPixel square, Facebook Portal+ enclosure, RetroPie, wired NES‑style controller |
| LEGO Game Boy Core2 Mod | Retro Gaming · LEGO | 2025 | LEGO Game Boy (72046) fitted with an M5Stack Core2: Nintendo‑style boot animation and chime, retro image slideshow, Wi‑Fi‑synced clock. Full Arduino build log. | LEGO 72046, M5Stack Core2 (ESP32), Arduino IDE, M5Unified, ESP8266Audio, SD card |
| Android Gaming Tablet | Retro Gaming | 2025 | A Retroid Pocket 5 setup cloned onto a 15.6″ Android tablet to make a drop‑and‑play social retro machine with a custom Mario‑themed ES‑DE interface. | Meswao 15.6″ tablet, EmulationStation‑DE, Atari VCS and 8BitDo SN30 Pro controllers |
| Portable Retro Gaming Rig | Retro Gaming | 2025 | A backpack‑sized arcade: 24″ battery‑powered smart screen with a Super Console X2 Pro on the back, wireless arcade sticks, and Google TV for when the gaming stops. | Skyworth 24″ portable screen, Kinhank Super Console X2 Pro (EmuELEC), Data Frog Y5A sticks, 8BitDo NES controllers |
| Nostalgia Box XL | Retro Gaming | 2024 | All‑in‑one retro gaming console in a Marie Kondo storage box: MAME, NES and SNES emulation plus Chromecast streaming on an 18.5″ display. | Raspberry Pi 4B, 18.5″ display, RetroPie, 8BitDo controllers and NES keyboard |
| Nostalgia Box | Retro Gaming | 2024 | The original: a compact Raspberry Pi retro gaming box in a Container Store “Nostalgia Box” with a 10″ screen and Chromecast. | Raspberry Pi 4B, 10″ screen, RetroPie, Chromecast |
| LEGOphonic | Audio · LEGO | 2025 | A LEGO record player for Spotify. Each brick record carries an RFID tag; tap it and a matching playlist starts while the platter spins. Speaker and battery hide in a LEGO Fender amp. | LEGO turntable and Fender amp sets, RFID tags, salvaged motor, Pimoroni Presto display, Bluetooth speaker |
| Brick‑Spin Record Player | Audio · LEGO | 2025 | A 5″ round touchscreen plays the part of the record on a LEGO turntable, with a Python record‑player emulator for internet radio, Spotify and local FLAC. | Raspberry Pi 4B, Waveshare 5″ round touchscreen, MangoKit SR10 radio (halved), Python |
| Cassette Touch Player | Audio | 2025 | A touchscreen MP3 player disguised as a cassette player. Open the lid and music starts; swipe for a clock, weather and alternate “tapes.” | Pantasy cassette player shell, compact Android MP3 player, JLab Rewind 2 retro headphones |
| LEGO Retro Walkman | Audio · LEGO | 2025 | A pocket‑sized Bluetooth music player scaled down from the LEGO Icons Retro Radio, with reel animations in the tape window and NFC LEGO cassettes that launch Spotify playlists. | LEGO 10334 (scaled), Snowsky Retro Nano Bluetooth amp, NFC tags, wired Bose headphones |
| LEGO Bluetooth Retro Telephone | Audio · LEGO | 2025 | A LEGO Creator Retro Telephone (31174) that takes real calls. A donor Bluetooth handset lives inside, the body is widened 20%, and a hidden drawer holds a Post‑it pad and Space Pen. | Two LEGO 31174 kits, donor Bluetooth handset (speaker, mic, board, battery) |
| LEGO Retro Radio | Audio · LEGO | 2024 | A 1970s transistor radio built from LEGO, streaming internet radio through dual 3 W speakers. Came with a matching LEGO Walkman MP3 player. | Raspberry Pi Zero W, Adafruit I2S amp, custom speakers |
| Fender Streamocaster | Audio | 2024 | A Fender‑style guitar and amp where the amp houses an internet radio, speakers and power. | Dismantled internet radio, custom amp enclosure |
| 1984 Macintosh Workstation | Vintage Computing | 2025 | A 3D‑printed Macintosh 128K shell around an iPad mini running System 7.5.5 in Mini vMac: Word 4.0 and Excel 3.0 with no notifications. Swap the keyboard for a controller and it’s an NES. | iPad mini, 3D‑printed Mac 128 shell, Mini vMac, Vortex M0110‑style keyboard, 8BitDo N30 Pro, Delta |
| LEGO Mini Macintosh | Vintage Computing · LEGO | 2024 | A 44%‑scale LEGO Macintosh that boots System 7 on a 4″ square touchscreen, powered by a Raspberry Pi and Mini vMac. | Raspberry Pi 4B, 4″ square touchscreen, Mini vMac |
| LEGO Mac Classic | Vintage Computing · LEGO | 2024 | Full‑scale LEGO recreation of the original 128K Macintosh with working Raspberry Pi emulation of System 7.5. | Raspberry Pi 4B, 4″ touchscreen, custom LEGO build |
| WinBerry 95 | Vintage Computing · LEGO | 2024 | Windows 95 on a Raspberry Pi: TwisterOS on an 8″ Pimoroni display, preloaded with RetroPie and Mini vMac for classic PC and Mac nostalgia. | Raspberry Pi 4B (8 GB), Pimoroni 8″ display, TwisterOS, RetroPie, Mini vMac |
| Signal One — Orbita Edition | Screens & Ambient | 2026 | A circular Raspberry Pi media object in a repurposed space‑heater shell. Kiosk modes for clock, weather, retro TV, gallery, Spotify and gaming, each launched from an on‑screen control panel. | Raspberry Pi 4B, Waveshare 5″ round touchscreen, Chromium kiosk, MPV, Ventusky, WebRCade, Mini vMac, Logitech Spotlight remote |
| Elektronika 409A | Screens & Ambient | 2025 | A Soviet‑era Elektronika 409A portable TV retrofitted with a Raspberry Pi touchscreen, battery, HDMI, USB and rotary encoders. | Raspberry Pi 4B, touchscreen, rotary encoders, battery |
| Luxo Glow | Screens & Ambient · LEGO | 2025 | LEGO Pixar Luxo Jr. (21357) turned into a working touch‑dimmable desk lamp with a rechargeable warm puck light. | LEGO 21357, magnetic rechargeable puck light (1000 mAh) |
| RetroTV | Screens & Ambient | 2024 | A vintage TV shell with a Raspberry Pi touchscreen inside, streaming video and running retro games in a 4:3 frame. | Raspberry Pi 4B, 7″ HDMI touchscreen, custom enclosure |
| LEGO Polaroid E‑Ink Hack | Photo & Print · LEGO | 2025 | The LEGO Polaroid OneStep (77051) ejecting real, updatable e‑ink photo cards. Change the picture over NFC; no batteries in the cards. | LEGO Polaroid OneStep SX‑70 kit, VidaBay NFC e‑ink cards |
| Everything Is Awesome Camera | Photo & Print · LEGO | 2025 | LEGO Retro Camera (31147) with a hidden video player that plays “Everything Is Awesome” when the film door opens, and a Tufty screen in the film flap cycling LEGO travel photos. | LEGO 31147, salvaged LCD video module, magnetic door switch, Pimoroni Tufty 2040, slim battery disguised as a flash |
| LEGO Polaroid Hi‑Print | Photo & Print · LEGO | 2024 | The LEGO Polaroid kit modified to hold a Polaroid Hi‑Print, so it prints real photos from your phone. | LEGO Polaroid kit, Polaroid Hi‑Print printer |
| LEGO R2‑D2 Redux | Props & Replicas · LEGO | 2025 | The LEGO R2‑D2 upgraded with a hidden MP3 voice module in the dome: randomized droid sounds, John Williams themes and film stills on loop. | LEGO R2‑D2, BMDSAE M01 MP3 module, Game of Bricks LED nameplate, lucite base |
| LEGO R2‑D2 Hologram | Props & Replicas · LEGO | 2024 | LEGO R2‑D2 (75379) with a pico projector behind a pop‑out chest window, projecting Princess Leia’s “Help me, Obi‑Wan Kenobi” hologram. | LEGO 75379, WiMiUS Q2 mini projector |
| Raspberry Wine | Workshop | 2025 | A wine box packed with everything for Raspberry Pi tinkering, with a Pi 400 nested on top. | Raspberry Pi 400, Raspberry Pi 4B, 8BitDo N30 Pro 2 |
