Reddit mentions of initeq] STM32 ARM STM32F103C8T6 Blue Pill Minimum System Development Board with ST-Link V2 USB Programmer (2-Pack + ST-Link V2)

I'd definitely be interested in something like that. I was going to order the STM32 Nucleo-64 development board or the STM32 ARM STM32F103C8T6 Blue Pill Minimum System Development Board...is one of these the right product? I already have plenty of sensors and LEDs, etc

Search for Max7219 on amazon, want it quick https://www.amazon.com/ZYAMY-MAX7219-Interface-Single-Chip-Finished/dp/B07775NFS1, cheaper slower. Buy the number of panels you need, chain them together, and drive them from something like a blue pill. This site talks about chaining them together. https://howtomechatronics.com/tutorials/arduino/8x8-led-matrix-max7219-tutorial-scrolling-text-android-control-via-bluetooth/

The blue pill https://www.amazon.com/initeq-STM32F103C8T6-Minimum-Development-Programmer/dp/B079B95L9Y is pretty cheap and works well, easily able to pick them up for $2-3 if you are willing to wait. I do recommend the stlink programmer to get the arduino environment on them to make it easy for yourself, https://github.com/stm32duino/wiki/wiki.

Add buttons, and you are good to go. Really have a hard time getting simpler than that. With a little work it would be easy to build something like this as a scoreboard too.

EDIT: forgot the site link for chaining, added