| Price | Etsy |
| Release | February 2, 2026 |
| Compatibility | NS2 / PC / Android |
| Dimensions | 7.7″ x 5.7″ x 1.5″ |
Introduction
When not making personal planners, Nick and Glenda are the couple behind the Yume Tanuki—one of the cutest leverless controllers ever—which they make in Tolleson, Arizona. Yume means dream in Japanese, whereas Tanuki is a folkloric creature that’s essentially a raccoon dog.
Performance
The Yume Tanuki has 12 main buttons that are the same size. In the back, you can find four function buttons that are also a decent size.
In general, the Yume Tanuki comes with Yume Studio’s own 3D printed keycaps, but if you want, you can request industry standard buttons at a premium. These appear to be Punk Workshop buttons—or something similar.
That said, the Yume Tanuki runs on the popular GP2040-CE firmware through the reputable Raspberry Pi Pico chip. In essence, these solutions give you low latency and decent compatibility.
Hardware
The Yume Tanuki is small but not slim, which is a blessing in disguise because slim controllers can sometimes have you slouch forward to reach them while they’re on your lap.
Structurally, the Yume Tanuki consists of six panels:
- Top panel
- Left panel
- Right panel
- Front panel
- Back panel
- Bottom panel
More importantly, the Yume Tanuki has a toolless design, so you shouldn’t need any tools to assemble or disassemble it. You see, Yume Studio 3D prints this controller from PLA, which is a rigid type of plastic. As for the USB-C port, you can find it in the controller’s back left.
Appearance
The Yume Tanuki’s shape is reminiscent of a bestselling controller from back in the day called the RTU. That aside, the case and buttons are available in these primary colors:
- Red
- White
- Black
- Gray
This means that your Yume Tanuki can have a red case with white buttons (and accents), for example. By the way, you may see the word Yume in Japanese, 夢, on the top panel’s upper left.
Conclusion
The Yume Tanuki is most recommended if you’d like a small leverless controller that’s still fairly tall. Now, whether you’d like to order this controller from Yume Studio’s Etsy or eBay is entirely up to you. Yume Studio does seem to be more active on eBay.
- Printed keycaps or regular buttons
- Toolless PLA case
- Reliable chip
- Excellent firmware
- Four case color options
- Four button color options
- Small with decent thickness