Butter Side Up Games

Flash your pocket pet

Pick a pet, plug in the board, click a button. Nothing to install and nothing to type. Works in Chrome or Edge on a computer.

1. Pick a pet

Loading pets…

2. Flash it

Real time: one day is one year in the barrel.
Updating? After you pick the port, ESP Web Tools asks “Erase device?”. Leave the box unchecked and click Next. Your pet stays exactly where you left it.

How it goes

  1. Plug the board into your computer with a USB-C data cable (some cables only charge).
  2. Pick your pet and speed above, then click Update (or Install fresh for a new board).
  3. Choose the port that appears, usually USB Single Serial or CH343, and click Connect.
  4. Click Install. It takes about 30 seconds. Keep the cable plugged in until it says it's done.
  5. Close the window. The pet starts on its own; if the screen stays dark, tap RESET on the board.

Switching pets? Use Update. Each pet keeps its own save on the board, so switching back brings your old pet back too.

A look at Still Life

If it won't connect

No port shows up in the list
  • Try a different USB-C cable; charge-only cables are common.
  • On a Mac, install the CH34x driver from the Waveshare wiki for the ESP32-S3-LCD-1.28, then replug the board.
  • Close the Arduino IDE serial monitor or anything else using the port.
It connects but the install fails or stalls

Put the board in download mode: hold BOOT, tap RESET, let go of BOOT, then click the button again. Tap RESET once it finishes.

I checked “Erase device” by mistake

The save is gone, sorry. The pet starts over as a beginner. Barrels and shelf go with it.

Firmware files

For flashing by hand with another tool. The address is in each file name.

FileFlash atUse it for