It’s kind of inconvenient to tap two bare wires together to input a signal into your Arduino. Five times worse if you have 5 buttons you want to control. Ah, good thing SparkFun comes to the rescue with the Joystick Shield for Arduino.

This shield adds a simple controller to your Arduino project.. Five momentary push buttons (4+ joystick select button) and a two-axis thumb joystick gives your Arduino functionality on the level of old Nintendo controllers.

The momentary push buttons are connected to Arduino digital pins 2-6; when pressed they will pull the pin low. Vertical movement of the joystick will produce a proportional analog voltage on analog pin 0, likewise, horizontal movement of the joystick can be tracked on analog pin 1.

This product is only the Joystick Shield PCB – you’ll need to purchase the buttons and joystick separately, and assemble the controller yourself. Here’s what you’ll need in addition to the shield:

• 4x Momentary Push Button Switch – 12mm Square
• 1x Thumb Joystick
• 1x Mini Push Button Switch (breaks out Arduino’s reset switch)
• 2x 6-pin Arduino Stackable Header
• 2x 8-pin Arduino Stackable Header