What began as a limited-edition promotional item for donut lovers has been reimagined as a piece of custom hardware. Brianna, a Maryland-based software engineer and “cozy gamer,” has captured the internet’s attention by transforming a Dunkin’ “I Dough” ring box into a fully functional, handheld gaming device.
The project, which has since gone viral on TikTok under her handle Cocoa’s Aesthetic, blends the aesthetic of a café with the technical precision of embedded systems. The result is a miniature console featuring a custom-coded game called Latte Mania, where players manage coffee shop orders through a series of cozy mini-games.
This transformation is more than just a clever craft project; it represents a intersection of the “cozy gaming” community and the rising DIY tech movement. By repurposing a high-quality piece of corporate merchandise, Brianna has created a physical manifestation of the “cyberdeck” ethos—the practice of building custom, portable computers for specialized or creative purposes.
The catalyst for the build was a promotional campaign tied to National Proposal Day on Dunkin’‘s calendar on March 20. To celebrate the launch of Wedding Cake Munchkins, the brand distributed “I Dough” ring boxes—designed to hold a donut hole in place of a diamond ring—as part of a contest involving high-fashion designer Vera Wang.
From Cardboard to Console: The Build Process
The project was born from a refusal to let high-quality packaging go to waste. Brianna was gifted two of the boxes by her mother, a dedicated collector of novelty promos who managed to secure some of the last remaining boxes in her area. Struck by the gold embossed lettering and the weight of the materials, Brianna decided the box was too well-made to discard.
“I was like, what if I made a game?” Brianna said, noting that the idea for a café-themed experience sparked the coding process immediately. The development was a sprint of intense focus; the entire project, from the initial lines of code to the final assembly, was completed in just two days.
“I started Friday morning… and I ended Sunday night,” she recalled. “I barely slept. I just had ideas and was coding, coding, coding.”
The hardware assembly required a mix of precision and improvisation. Although Brianna had the necessary electronic components, she lacked some of the specialized tools typically used in professional prototyping. In a moment of DIY determination, she used a full-power drill to create the necessary openings in the heavy-duty cardboard of the ring box.
The inside mechanics of the hand-held game device by from the Dunkin ‘I Dough’ wedding box
Credit: CocoasAesthetic/TikTok (2)
Technical Specifications of Latte Mania
To bring Latte Mania to life, Brianna utilized a selection of accessible but powerful components. The brain of the device is an ESP32 microcontroller, chosen for its efficiency and versatility in DIY electronics. The user interface is stripped down to a retro-inspired setup, echoing the simplicity of early 2000s virtual pets.
| Component | Function |
|---|---|
| Arduino ESP32 | Central Microcontroller/Processing |
| RGB OLED Module | Visual Display for Game Graphics |
| Passive Buzzer | Audio Feedback and Sound Effects |
| Tactile Buttons | User Input and Game Controls |
The game’s mechanics are designed for “cozy” play—a genre of gaming characterized by low stress, warmth, and a focus on nurturing or organizing. In Latte Mania, the player interacts with the OLED screen to fulfill customer requests, creating a loop of satisfying, compact-scale achievements.
The Latte Mania creator says the project took two days to complete, from building to coding
Credit: CocoasAesthetic/TikTok
A Legacy of Coding and Custom Hardware
While the Dunkin’ project has gone viral, it is part of a longer trajectory of technical curiosity for Brianna. Her journey into software engineering began at age 13, driven by a desire to create a game called Space Puppies. With the guidance of her father, also a software engineer, she learned the basics of syntax and logic, eventually teaching herself the complexities of the craft.
Before Latte Mania, Brianna developed another handheld project titled Mochi, a black-and-white virtual pet game. Mochi served as her introduction to soldering, and the success of that build provided the confidence to tackle the more ambitious integration of the “I Dough” box.
This progression highlights a broader trend in the gaming community: the shift toward personalized, tangible technology. As commercial gaming moves further into the cloud and digital subscriptions, there is a growing appetite for “small tech”—devices that are physically unique and provide a tactile connection to the code.
The Future of the Project
Due to the overwhelming response on social media, Brianna is currently exploring ways to produce Latte Mania accessible to a wider audience. Because the hardware is a one-off custom build, mass production is not a viable option.
“I can’t make a bunch of these and send them out,” she said. “But I can make it accessible on the web.”
The potential transition from a physical handheld to a web-based experience would allow other “cozy gamers” to experience the café simulation without needing a soldering iron or a limited-edition donut box. For Brianna, the project serves as a testament to the power of leveraging technical skills for personal creativity. “If you know how to code, I believe Make sure to leverage that,” she said. “Make your own software — something that’s custom to you. I think that’s really cool.”
The next step for the project involves the development of a web-compatible version of the game, which Brianna intends to share with her community of followers as she continues to iterate on her DIY hardware designs.
Do you have a DIY tech project or a favorite cozy game? Share your thoughts and creations in the comments below.
