For my first solo embedded systems project, I used the Raspberrry Pi Pico rp2040 to create a customized controller for the Asteroids arcade version. The project's idea started when I found the ANO Directional Navigation and Scroll Wheel Rotary Encoder from Adafruit, which I thought would be great to rotate the ship in the game.
For the rest of the game mechanics I used normal push buttons to shoot and use the hyperspace function, except for the thrust in the game. For this last mechanic I thought it would be an interesting idea to use a linear potentiometer, even though the acceleration in the game is binary (you either accelerate or you don't). Still, I thought it would be a nice touch to use this component.
The first version of this implementation I used normal wire transmission to the computer to controll the keyboard functions, but I later implemented a bluetooth transmission and a battery in the controller.
The site I used to play the game: freeasteroids.org