The Playdate came out two years ago, and at the time it was still small, yellow, with a black-and-white screen and a delightful crank on the side. Today, there are over 100 games built into the device, and not a single one of them is Call of Duty, Dark Souls, The Last of Us, or any other big-budget mainstream title – and that’s what makes it so damn awesome reason. charming. The community that has sprung up around this handheld is vibrant and creative, and scrolling through the Playdate tag on itch.io or github feels like hanging out in a friendly underground club full of video game-obsessed geeks.
I promise, this isn’t as disturbing as it sounds.
But the truth is, Playdate only gets cuter and more relevant as it gets older. firewatch Publisher Panic and hardware studio Teenage Engineering launched the device in February 2019, pitching it as a sub-$200 handheld with a monochrome screen, a crank, and seasonal free games. Pre-orders for the Playdate begin in July 2021, with shipments scheduled to begin by the end of that year. However, in November, Panic was discovered on its production lines, and the company was forced to change suppliers and delay the launch. Playdate officially lands in players’ hands in April 2022, and overall, reviewers think it’s .
Playdate comes with 4GB of flash memory and 24 free games, including Crankin’s time travel adventure From Keita Takahashi’s studio uvula and zipper Artwork by Bennett Foddy. Playdate also always supports sideloading, meaning it’s easy to grab games from other distribution sites on your device. In March 2023, Playdate’s catalog went live, offering a selection of 16 games available for purchase. Panic also raised the price of the Playdate from $179 to $199 this time, citing rising manufacturing costs.
Today, Panic has sold approximately 70,000 Playdates and its catalog contains more than 100 games, with more being added regularly. Panic held a software showcase in February and the headliner was an exclusive project from Playdate Please provide the paper and Dinner after work Founder Lucas Pope. Mars after midnight Released on March 12th, Playdate was also released that week, just like the adult store.
Two years after release, it’s clear that there’s no single formula for Playdate games. For example, flip the Playdate over and use the crank as a helicopter-style rotor, spinning the propeller cap to take on demons trapped in a Gothic tower. A crank controls the horned guy as he slices through flying enemies, leaving shards of flesh and bone falling from the narrow frame.And then there are titles like , a simple yet addictive letter-changing game that I would recommend to all Wordle fans. Playdate supports first-person shooters, detective suspense games, bullet hell shooters, shooters, puzzle games, role-playing games, pocket pets, rhythm situation games, action-adventure games, racing simulation games, and various sub-game genres, including some Games invented just for games. the platform.
The crank can be transformed into hundreds of different tools in Playdate’s user interface and in-game.There are standard iterations like Crank to Roll and Crank to Buy, but there’s also Crank to Pour Drinks, Crank to Fly, Crank to Fish, Crank to Spin Records, Crank to Build a City, Crank to Control Time, Crank to Crank, Crank to survive. Literally every game on Playdate reveals a new use case for the crank, or helps demonstrate the ridiculous levels of detail possible on a 400 x 240 1-bit display.Many games do both—and Mars after midnight is one of them.
As the creature in charge of the community room in the Mars colony, Mars after midnight Players open a viewing window and identify the correct alien for each session, while also providing snacks, clearing out with two long tentacles and planning future support groups. Players use a crank to open and close a room’s peephole, but the game also fully integrates Playdate’s A and B buttons, d-pad, and speakers, rolling out new mechanics at a steady pace. The game is filled with cute, bumbling aliens, cartoonishly cute set pieces, and even introduces an entire language.
Like most Playdate games, Mars after midnight It doesn’t feel like a watered-down version of a larger idea; it’s just there to deliver a colorless, crank-driven experience.
I’ve had a consistent issue with the Playdate, and when I first reviewed it in 2022, I didn’t think it would be a big issue. Its display’s lack of backlight is noticeable and even annoying at times, especially in low-light spaces. I often found myself tilting the screen toward a nearby window or light, and the device was nearly unplayable on a dark plane or bus, or after sunset when there was no light source. If you remember playing the original game console in the backseat of your parents’ car at night, waiting for the streetlights to flicker past the window at regular intervals, it’s a lot like this. There’s a hint of nostalgia here, but mostly it’s just a little depressing.
Perhaps the biggest issue with the Playdate, however, is the stereo dock. Panic launched the Stereo Dock in mid-2021 – a truly adorable charging dock, Bluetooth speaker and pen holder that matches the Playdate’s pleasant yellow hue. I’ve been wanting to put one on my desk since it was announced, but the stereo dock has been “coming soon” for two years.
Playdate project lead Greg Maletic told Engadget that it is indeed coming.
“We apologize to anyone who was patiently waiting for the stereo dock’s Playdate; this was a trickier project than we expected and we had a few false starts,” Maletic said. “We thought we could save some money on the project. Time has allowed our fab to develop software for the Stereo Dock, but we’ve learned that in some cases you don’t always need that. The Stereo Dock is very much alive and well, and we have the physical prototypes to prove it! We’re hoping to get more support later this year Official update on when it will be available for purchase.”
If the worst thing about Playdate is that people can’t get enough of it, then it sounds like it’s all going well. The device hasn’t faced any widespread recalls or hardware issues, its storefronts are growing, its development pipeline is expanding, and people are still interested in buying it (and one day, a stereo dock).
With Playdate, Panic has created a community of curious gaming enthusiasts and provided an innovative platform that will ripple across all areas of development. The Playdate was a simple little console with just a crank that tapped into the creativity of the indie scene during its first two years on the market. By paring back graphics and adding new input methods, Playdate changed the way we think about playing and making games. With many of the industry’s most influential studios caught in a cycle of mass layoffs and regular retrenchments, now is the perfect time to rethink what we actually do here. Playdate makes this process natural, convenient and fun.
Devices like the Playdate don’t appear out of nowhere. I wouldn’t worry about revisiting it two years after release if it was too weak, overly complicated, or unserious, but it’s not a fun press release stunt from a company. The elegance, care, and proper prioritization built into Playdate make it a blank canvas for many different styles of game development. Playdate is a little yellow inspiration machine; it’s the physical reset button for the entire industry. In fact, I’m guessing it’s a reset crank.
Go ahead and turn it. So funny.
