Proposing to someone, asking them to commit to a life with you, is a pretty big deal. That's why this? game des??igner put an inordinate amount of effort into his.

Game designer Aaron (Pikaaroon) today showcased how he built a game to propose to his partner. Having previously worked on Sea of Thieves and Warcraft III: Reforged, he's no stranger to creating colossal playable experiences. For this incredibly important moment in his life, though, he chose to work with the Playdate. Which I think is the per??fect console for this sort ?of question.

The Playdate helped this game designer secure his future

Aaron shared his story earlier today on Twitter, where hundreds of people are congratulating him and his future wife on ??not only the cutest proposal story in video game history but also that they found each other and get to spend every day of the rest of their lives together.

Aaron's partner and love of his life, of course, said yes after playing his game Love Letter and seeing the mont??hs of work he'd put into it. As he explains in the thread on Twitter, he created the title using the free Pulp coding system over the course of several iterations and six months of development time.

"It started as a series? of simple platforming levels. But after some playtests I decided to pivot toward a more hi-score-based arcade experience." The gameplay actually looks really enjoyable. The main level consists of four letterboxes with tu?bes that drop letters onto them. the player must use the D-pad to select the correct letterbox, indicated by a letter of the alphabet, before using the crank to deliver said letter to it.

However, the high score was a ruse. Every letter delivered to a letterbox recorded one letter of the alphabet. Together, these spelled?? out "Will You Marry Me" at the game's conclusion. I would have loved to see the realization on Aaron's partner's face when she got this message and said yes. The happiness on their faces in the picture he shared is more than en??ough, though.

In a twist that I ??think shows exactly the kind of forethought a good game designer has, answering no to the final question would have caused an? infinite loop. Instead of ending the game, the user would be asked, "Are You Sure?" before having the first question presented to them again.

I think the Playdate is the perfect platform for Aaron to use because it's built for small experiences, like Love Letter. It's also an incredibly personable machine. It is a tiny device you hold in the palm of your hand and can curl up with while playing unique indie games like Mars After Midnight. It wouldn't make for a story that's even half as cute if a big old Xbox Series X or PS5 was?? used.

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Playdate creator Panic revealed that Lucas Pope, the developer behind Papers, Please and Return of the Obra Dinn, was making a game for the device early on in its lifecycle. After a couple of years of work, that gem, Mars After Midnight, is finally here, and it feels like an essential entry in the Playdate cata?log.

Most, though not all, Playdate games take advantage of the system's unique crank and control system. For me, a game just isn't up to par without some sort of crank usage as they don't make use of the platform's defining trait �it doesn't show me how the experience is better or more interesting on the little yellow machine. Mars After Midnight not only uses the crank in almost every area, but it does so in ways that are tactile; a natural signaling to the ??player wi??thout feeling shoehorned in.

Mars After Midnight (Playdate [Reviewed])
Developer: Lucas Pope
Publisher: Panic
Released: March 12, 2024 for Playdate
MSRP: $6

Sharing is caring

Mars After Midnight makes you a councilor on s Mars' Off-Colony Settlement. Every night, after midnight, your sessions begin by opening the doors and only allowing those with whom you're holding an appropriate discussion inside. For example, if you're holding a meeting for c??yclops anger management, you need to make sure you only allow cyclops patrons in that evening.

This sounds basic and that's because it is. You've got a hatch to open and close as new potential attendees walk up from the street. You can move your eyes around to check for various body parts and ensure the citizens match the service you're offering. The real challenge comes once those cit??izens enter the building.

You earn credits for every satisfied attendee, and attendees are satisfied by two things. First, by being at the right meeting, so someone with more than one eye won't pay up if you let them into cyclops anger management. Second, each attendee needs a few refreshments, and it's up ??to you to rearrange those refreshments once they're done being absolute monsters about eating up their share.

This is what makes up the bulk of the gameplay, rearrang?ing the refreshments on offer and ensuring that you always maintain a well-presented table for those arriving. To do this, you'll use the D-pad and A and B buttons to stack and pick everything up before using the crank to clean the table. Then, you'll need to place everything back on the table in the required order.

Failing to clean the table or pl?ace everything back perf??ectly results in fewer credits at the end of the session. These are essential for the future, though, since you must help almost 100 citizens in the settlement and have a limited budget within which to do so. Every session costs money to put on, plus the cost of the refreshments, and finally, any additional expenses such as advertising or specific gear to identify those you're trying to help.

The game's scope grows as you play. At first, you're just helping one group of citizens. Then, you're helping them, feeding them, and making them feel welcome. The final pullback to reveal the map of the colony is what hooked me, though. It makes the title ??feel like a strategy game because of all the individual working parts you're mastering. It somehow manages to nail the idea of being a ther??apist running free sessions for a set community somewhere without it ever becoming boring.

If this all sounds a little bit stressful, it is. At least, it is in the moment. Setting up a session is the fun build-up to the frantic gameplay section. It's checking potential attendees as if you're some sort of ni??ghtclub bouncer that really had me sweating. One one session I ran for particularly gassy mutants, I had to listen for a fart every time I opened my hatch. The thing is, some of these mutants sound like they're farting when they're speaking. even though I thought I'd aced it and served all six mutants in the gam?e with this issue, I'd actually only helped four.

That experience, and all the other times ?I failed, made for a fun narrative because I couldn't help but wonder why these mutants wanted free refreshments and to sit around complaining about issues they don't have. Then again, to be honest, we all like complaining a little, don't we? I think that's why this game feels so grounded despite its retro-futuristic visuals. It sells you on a task, and nothing really phases you because you're more concerned about completing the said task than you are in the fictional world it takes place in.

As with the way Mars After Midnight nails what I assume it feels like to be a therapist running free sessions for a pre-determined local community in dire need of help, I think it also gives you the ability to provide some self-help. It's so easy to get caught ??up in what you feel is important in life, be that work, education, or sitting down for hours at a time in the game-of-the-moment. This game is here for y?ou when you need it, and it doesn't ask much of you. I found myself reflecting on it after or before stressful conversations, and it honestly gave me the mental space I don't think I'd have gotten otherwise.

New elements are slowly introduced over the course of Mars After Midnight, but it never feels overwhelming. In fact, the game is built to be enjoyed in small chunks. I worked through one session over the course of a day between childcare and work, but never felt the disj??ointedness some games inflict with lengthy time between checkpoints or loading. That's the? beauty of the Playdate, though. You can pause and pick up a game whenever you want.

If the game has one failing, it's that it's too short. However, I had to remind myself several times while playing it that this was a Playdate game. It's?? not designed with the length of other portable titles in mind. It's built for a fun little device and designed to offer an accessible counseling management experience in a sci-fi setting on Mars.

Where the game doesn't let itself down is in the audio and visual design. Great care was taken to build a soundtrack that not only fits the Playdate, but it also this slightly grotesque yet cutesy monster counseling game. The mutants look like something right out of a '90s TV show that children definitely shouldn't be watching, and that vibe is felt throughout. Lucas Pope's bizarre adventure is right at home on the little yellow machine and makes the most of every part of it. It's an engrossing affair, perfect for small sessions that I guarantee you'll be fitting around every spare moment of the day until you?'re done with it.

[This review is based on a retail ?build of the game provided by the publisher.]

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Lucas Pope is the creator and developer of Papers, Please, and Obra Dinn. With these titles, he’s become a much-loved developer in the world of Indie games, but his latest release, Mars After Midnight, comes with a huge catch. 

After the success of Papers, Please and Obra Dinn, you’d expect Pope’s latest title to be available on the same platforms but unfortunately, Mars After Midnight is only available on one platform - the Playdate. 

Mars After Midnight

Mars After Midnight is, according? to the official website, “an entry-screening, mess-tidying, session-planning, martian-filled game�that will see you faced with many Martians at an off-c??olony community support center. 

In his DevLog, Pope has detailed the process which began back in 2021. In the first DevLog, he described the game as �em>Papers Please -lite, with no border chec??kpoint, no desk, no paperwork, on Mars� More recently, Pope revealed that the gameplay would involve planning each day, including what's on offer for t?he Martians and which free refreshments will be on offer.

What we do know is that the crank on the side of the Playdate will be used to open a shutter window in order to see who is knocking on the other side, while the d-pad will be used to move the field of vision in the first person viewpoint of the game. 
Mars After Midnight will be available at some point today, purchased through the Playdate catalog. It is priced at $6.

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We’ll be getting a deeper look at the future of Playdate in an upcoming live stream. The company announced that it will be hosting a 12 minute? showcase via You?Tube on November 8 at 9a.m. PST. 

The showcase is set to introduce developers working on the next slate of Playdate games and to offer some insight into “more fun stuff on the horizon.�In a follow-up message, Playdate teased what that fun stuff might look like. The company wrote, “No big hardware news, but keep an eye out for something blue & new.�/p>

Save the date

Playdate was first announced back in 2019, and the little ha??ndheld console made its way into gamers' hands for the first time in April 2022. The console’s games follow a bit of a strange release schedule. The first “season�contains 24 different games, which become available two-per-?week after you first get your device. Those are the flagship titles, and other games can be bought through Playdate's Catalog service or sideloaded onto the device.

Thanks in part to the handheld’s unique approach, Playdate has skyrocketed in popularity. A year after its launch Playdate had sold over 50,000 units. That’s more than double what d?eveloper Pani??c had projected and orders were backlogged into late 2023. Currently it’s possible to pre-order a Playdate for when the next batch of devices arrives. 

?The November 8 showcase could shed some light on when Playdate will be more readily available. It will also finally give owners and people with a pre-order waiting in the wings a peek at what Playdate’s second season of games will look like. 

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Yanking yer Crank

Developer Panic has revealed that Playdate, the curious handheld console powered by a physical crank, has sold over 53,000 units since its release exactly one year ago. This number, as noted by Eurogamer, represents double Panic'??s forecast for the admittedly niche, but intriguing device.

Announced back in 2019, Playdate was pitched as a hand-cranked portable console that would play a library of titles, released on rotational/seasonal basis. Interest quickly spread about ?the quirky platform, which lead to pre-orders selling out in a scant 20 minutes, as interested parties snapped up one of the initial 20,000 planned production models. To date, over 27,000 Playdate consoles have been shipped to their owners, with the team at Panic working hard to fulfill the surprisin?g demand.

//??www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdF3CnFvxg4&ab_channel=Panic

"To have now sold more than 53,000 (and counting) is heartening," said Panic in an anniversary statement. "And this, at a time when parts shortages forced ou??r delivery lead-times out as much as a year. As those lead times shorten and Playdate deliver??y becomes more immediate, we’re looking forward to an even better Year Two."

Playdate is currently available to pre-order over on the official website, priced at $199 USD. Due to demand, shipping of new orders is not expected until the latte?r months of 2023, at least.

Playdate has now sold 53,000 units, doubling initial sales expecta??tions [Eurogamer]

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A wild new batch of games just hit the Playdate Catalog

The Playda?te Catalog store is getting a drop of games today. Five new games are dropping onto the crank-controlled handheld today, ranging from spaceship deliveries to an actual talking calculator.

Five new games are part of the first-ever Playdate Catalog drop. As a reminder, these are joining Panic's new storefront for selling Playdate games on the?? handheld. Some of these have been on the Itch store before (and are still available there), but now, they also join the lineup in Playdate's official Catalog. Where, yes, you can crank to buy.

Today's drop kicks off with Sparrow Solitaire, a tile puzzle game classic reimagined for the Playdate. This seems like a solid fit for the handheld,?? as a game you could pick up and put down pretty easily.

Life is Too Short, meanwhile, puts you in the role of a lil' ghost solving a problem between two va??mpires. Meet characters, solve problems, and enjoy the spooky vibes.

//twitter.com/playdate/status/1645839020864462849

Don't get cranky

The winner for my favorite game name, Crankulator, features a digital talking calculator. Crank in numbers and fractions, then use the D-pad to apply functions. My friendship with the TI-83 is over; now, it's just me and Crankulator.

Gravity Express already had my attention with its Asteroids-esque ship movement, ??as the spaceship d??arts and dives through corridors. Then, a full-on FMV cutscene appeared, and it had my interest. It's really cool to see what developers are managing to do, not just with the Playdate's crank, but also with its general art style.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6hGILdKmW8

Lastly, Core Fault seems like a no-brainer for fan of Vampire Survivors or other survival games. Operate a remote mining droid and collect cores, whil??e fending off the inhabitants of this planet who don't like their cores being taken.

All five of these are avail??able now, alongside other previously released games, on the Playdate Catalog. Though a price bump recently went into effect, I'm hopeful this is a sign that Panic will keep a good cadence of games and developers putting neat stuff onto the Playdate.

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Playdate's price is going up next month

Panic hosted a new Playdate Update today,?? spotlighting news for the crank-controlled handheld. The Catalog, a digital storefron?t for the handheld console, is going live today alongside a batch of new games. And Panic also confirmed that starting next month, the price of the Playdate will get cranked up a bit, from $179 to $199.

While the Playdate is still rolling out to those who pre-ordered, Panic c??onfirms that no one who has a pre-order will see their price tag go up. Additionally, Panic is waiting a month to move the price up, so you have until April 7 to secure an order at the $179 point.

Panic co-founder and CEO Cabel Sasser attributes t??he hike to manufacturing costs. While the CEO says there have been some price increases in the past and Panic's margins are already "surprisingly slim," this was the one cost increase the team couldn't avoid.

Additionally, the previously announced Playdate Stereo Dock has been MIA, but Sa?sser says the team is still working on?? it.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qr1_f-Q8Klw

Cranking open the Catalog

Aside from the hardware news, there was also software news for the Playdate today too. Originally, the?? Playdate launched with a plan to roll out a "season" of games to owners. Additional games are open to side-load onto the Playdate from places like the Itch.io store, as well. Today, Panic opened up a third option: the Playdate Catalog.

The Catalog is a storefront for the Playdate where, after tying in your credit card info, you can literally crank to buy new titles. (Or just use the website, but come on, the crank is more fun!) Two games are out today, and free to celebrate the Catalog launch: Reel Steal, a fishing-based thieving game, and Recommendation Dog, a game about a dog managing a temp agency.

More games are already headed to Catalog for purchase too, including pre-established Playdate hits like Bloom and A Joke That's Worth $0.99. While the price tag bump is an understandable wrinkle, it's nice to see Panic getting a ready-on-the-console storefront option for those who don't want to tinker with side-loading. It's also an easy way to see how far Playdate development has come in the last year or so.

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Cranking out the news

Panic is hostin?g a new Playdate Update next week, to share news about its crank-based handheld. The showcase will be held on March 7, air??ing at 9 a.m. PT / 12 p.m. ET.

The Playdate. if you're not familiar, is Panic's specialty handheld. It's roughly similar to the Game Boy, but with a literal twist: its crank. On the? right-hand side of the handheld, there's a crank that can be manipulated, and that Playdate developers have used to create some pretty wild games.

This new Update will specifically share news about the Catal??og, Panic's curated on-device and on-web store for Playdate. The company will also be sharing some?? news about new games.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qr1_f-Q8Klw

A new twist

When the Playdate launched last year, it was an interesting concept. The hardware twist wasn't the only one Panic had for the Playdate; the game rollout for the Playdate was also fairly unique. It rolled out new games to?? Playdate owners as part of its "season," with a new game hitting the device each week after purchase.

It's cool, but obviously users will look for more games once they're finished with the initial roll-out. A good community has sprung up around creating games, hosted on sites like Itch.io, where they can be purchased and then side-loaded. Panic has also kept the Playdate a fairly open platform, with tools like Pulp making it easy for aspiring developers to tool around with making?? their own creations.

All that said, I'm now curious to see what Panic has in store for the future of Playdate. I l??ike the handheld, even though I haven't picked it back up in a while. It's the sort of specialized electronic device that feels rarer and rarer these days, and the community backing behind it gives its catalog a certain charm. We'll see what Panic's got in store on March 7.

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Portable power!

The most popular current-generation console is a handheld. Computer companies with limited experience in the console market are jumping in with handhelds of their own. There's no denying it: portable gaming is in the midst of a renaissance. But as companies continue to release handheld cons??oles, and as consumers continue to buy them, I'm struck by an interesting question: what was the last mainstream handheld game?

I'm not talking about a game that you can play on a handheld. At this point, you can play basically any game ever made on a handheld. I'm talking about a game built? for handhelds, one that benefits from a smaller form factor, lower processing power, and increased portability. Handheld consoles are about as big as they've ever been... so where are all the handheld games?

Very important pockets

Think back with me on simpler times. Remember when companies like Nintendo and Sony would have two main consoles on the market?? at once? A chunky home device and its lean, mean, pocket-friendly little sister? And, crucially, remember when they had different libraries? There was a kind of separation of powers in those days, and it led to some really compelling design decisions.

[caption id="attachment_359259" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image? via Sony ??Interactive Entertainment[/caption]

The limited power of the handheld has also always been of some import. Patapon, Loco Roco, and Echoshift are all wildly beloved PSP and Vita franchises, and it's hard to imagine any of them connecting on the PS3. While home consoles were in the midst of a graphical arms race, pushing more and more cinematic stories, Sony was quietly publishing some deeply innovative and interesting titles on their dedicated handhelds. At home, you get Halo and The Last of Us. On the g??o, you get a rhythm tactics sid??e-scroller.

Most of these games are designed based on a simple philosophy: a great handheld game is built on the idea that it will be played in your hand. It's a game in which nothing is lost on the small screen, and, indeed, one in which something is gained. Patapon plays great on my PlayStation 5, but its miniature heroes, are built for a smaller world. The characters bear simple designs tha?t are readable on a smaller screen. They address the player directly, assuming a level of intimacy that the PSP facilitates nicely. Most importantly, the tight, brief levels are the kind of thing that belong in a back pocket, not on a TV stand.

A delicious bite

When I talk about games that are truly built for handheld play, it's hard to avoid Pokémon: I have long believed that the original Pokémon games would have faded into the realm of the cult classic on home consoles. These games are full of smart design calls that make them sing on the go. Of course, Pokémon has some pretty foundationally pocket-sized ideas. A game about going on an adventure and finding new things outside was undoubtedly able to more fully resonate with young children who could actually take it with them on their own ??mini-journeys.

Portability in Pokémon is baked into its ethos, but it also plays a meaningful role in its design. Battles are tactical, but they're usually brief affairs. Every moment offers up the chance to see a cool new character, or to win a really tough fight. Satis??faction and engagement awaits around every corner... which also means every play session, no matter how bite-sized, is satisfying and engaging.

[caption id="attachment_359268" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Square Enix[/caption]

"Brief but satisfying" is the aim in a good handheld game. That's also why a lot of homebound games earned a revival in the back seat of Mom's car. Series like Final Fantasy and Persona earned second lives through handheld ports - where sprawling RPGs with intense stories were once considered TV-oriented affairs, ports like Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions and Persona 4 Golden posited that a sixty hour game with three minute fights might actually be more digestible on the go. These games were already satisfying in bursts, so they made for a natural fit on the PSP and PS Vita. Likewise, Tetris' earliest releases were on Soviet home computers, but i??ts most icon?ic incarnation was on the original Game Boy. As it turns out, people like score-chasing dopamine hits in their pockets.

A necessary lifeline

Handheld design philosophy also left the door open to iterate on home concepts. When home gaming systems entered the 3D era, a lot of franchises made the jump with them. Handheld consoles needed games, to??o, but sprawling adventures didn't always play as well on the go. That meant older design philosophy met with handheld design philosophy to keep certain corners of the gaming world alive.

I often think of Metroid Fusion. This was a 2D Metroid game released on the Game Boy Advance exactly one day before Metroid Prime, which would become the "main" Metroid series for the following twenty years. My personal opinions on Fusion aside, it is a great portable title. It's fairly linear by necessity, because it is designed to be played in shorter bursts by more casual players. More notably, though, it's an actual 2D Metroid game - I can't help but feel that if the GBA wasn't around, 2D Metroid might have disappeared entirely. As a matter of fact, when a new 2D Metroid g??ame finally arrived on the Nintendo Switch in 2021, it was a retooled version ??of a DS game.

[caption id="attachment_359263" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Nintendo[/caption]

Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda followed similar trajectories: as the home console games got more expansive, the portable games tightened the bolts on classic concepts, offering up some of the best games in their respective franc??hi??ses.

What now?

In 2023, the distinction between "handheld" and "home console" is becoming increasingly muddy. The Nintendo Switch, of course, exists to destroy that distinction entirely, serving as both Nintendo's current generation handheld and its home console. Games made for the Switch need to be both home console titles and handheld titles (and the handheld bit usually cedes itself to the big-screen bit). The Steam Deck, similarly, is a handheld that plays PC games. At least for now, basically nothing is built for the Steam Deck. It also bears mentioning that, while they do fit in your hand, neither of these consoles are especially portable, so the "on-the-go" philosophy that defines games like Pokémon isn't something developers need to consider.

I think the impact of this has been almost instantaneously obvious. It seems unlikely that we'll ever get, say, a new 2D Zelda game on the Switch. When an old 2D Zelda game was brought over, it w??as prettied up and converted to 3D to make it look and feel less like a handheld game. Sony has seemingly given up on its handheld platforms entirely. The company offers PS4 and PS5 remote play on mobile devices, as well as a meager offering of remastered PSP titles for its home consoles, but looking at a list of Sony-published games from the last several years, it's apparent that the portable design philosophy has vanished.

[caption id="attachment_359260" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Nintendo[/caption]

There have been proper handheld games developed and released more recently - Panic's Playdate, for example, is a comically underpowered monochrome handheld with a dedicated and compelling library. It's become something of a safe haven for independent developers looking for a quirky platform where smaller games can flourish. Developers want to make new games like Patapon, and the Playdate offers them that space. While there are plenty of Playdate games that would be comfortable enough on home consoles, the most beloved titles on the platform tend to be games like Bennett Foddy's Zipper, a tactical RPG full of brief, sa?tisfying encounters.

In terms of mainstream consoles, though? We're pretty much out of luck. Every game made for Nintendo's flagship ha??ndheld must necessarily be made for its flagship home system, and nobody else is even trying to offer a smaller counterpart to their massive offerings. There's a portable hole in the market, and I truly hope someone comes along to fill it.

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So this is what Nolan meant when it had to be viewed in a theater: mind blown

Watching Tenet on the Playdate is a bold move. One may even venture to guess that Christopher Nolan might be m?ad about it!

Twitter user jkap managed to get the film working on the device, w??hich is not only a hilarious commentary on Nolan's insistence on forcing people into cinemas; but they also utilize a unique aspect of the Playdate to actu?ally enhance the movie.

The best part? This is actually an interactive, very Tenet-like experience with the Playdate. By using the crank, jkap is able to manipulate the film, similar to the time flow gimmick in the narrative itself. Maybe you can even hear the audio properly now. Remember when Fortnite featur?ed Nolan films in-game due to a "phone call" with the director? The last two years have been weird.

To play Tenet on the Playdate, and video in general, jkap notes: "I was working on a custom thing for a few hours and then I realized that the SDK has built in (minimally documented) video playback with a custom binary format." You can find more info on how to access the SDK [software dev?elopment kit] here.

//twitter.com/jkap/status/1520912962822848515

As for the David Lynch comment in the header, just watch this and you'll be caught up (NSFW language warning for people at work)!

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It's surprisingly easy

Playdate devices are starting to ship out, and although all owners are getting a 24-game "season 1," there's more out there. Here's how to sideload Playdate games ??and a few links to get you ??started.

How to sideload Playdate games online (the easiest consumer-friendly method):

• Go to the Playdate website and log into your account after you register your unit (more on that here)
• Select the "sideload" option above your account info
• Once you've bought/acquired a game, you'll just drag/upload a .pdx file directly to your account
• Head to your device, look under "games" in your account, refresh the list at the top left, then scroll to the bottom (they can also automatically download over time)

That's it! The .pd?x file is actually just a folder containing the game itself, but you can upload the .zip directly to your Playdate acc??ount and access it from the cloud.

The sideloaded titles will be under "my ??games" at the bottom of your game menu.

How to sideload Playdate games via USB:

• Get the Playdate SDK
• Plug your Playdate into your PC via the included USB cable (or any USB C to USB A cable)
• Load the Playdate Simulator and open the .pdx file directly
• Select "Upload game to Device"

Playdate also has a third "data disk mode" option that I wouldn't recommend: you can find those instructions, and info on other?? sideloading methods?, here.

Where to buy/download Playdate games:

Since the process is so simple, finding games is arguably harder to do than actually loading them. Right now, your best bet is the Playdate Reddit, as well as Itch.io. But the Playdate developers will be spotlighting ga??m?es as well as time goes on.

There are several games you can buy for Playdate now piecemeal that are not part of the "seasonal" run?, which we'll add to the list here:

• Bloom ($9.99)
• Bomber Panda ($2.00) [Free for a limited time using the link here provided by the developer]
• Ribbit Rabbit ($1.00)
• Sprout (name your price)

Free Playdate games:

• Coin Germs (Free)
• Sunset (Free)
• Snakes (Free)
• Art 7 Virtual Art Gallery (Free)
• Tetris (Free)

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You've got a date

I'm a sucker for handhelds. A portable system with a crank, packed with indie games? The Playdate had me at hello.

But for a lot of p??eople, $180 is goin??g to be a tough sell. Let's go on that journey together.

The specs and setup

The Playdate box comes with the ??system (which has a sleep/wake button on top, a menu button, a d-pad, B and A buttons, a 3-Axis accelerometer, and a crank, more on that later), a USB C to USB A charging cable, and a little paper starter guide: what you see above is the entire shebang taken out of the form factor box.

The hardware sports a 400x240, 1-bit display, measuring 76 Ă— 74 Ă— 9 mm. Included is a 168 MHz Cortex M7 CPU, 16MB RAM, 32 KB L1Cache, 4 GB Flash, with support for 802.11bgn 2.?4GHz Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. The onboard sound is a built-in mono speaker, with a stereo headphone jack, and a condenser mic + TRSS mic in. It has an eight-hour active (14-day standby) battery life. With all ?24 season 1 games installed, I had 2.6GB free of the included 4GB, just to give you an idea of how much space you'll have to work with (games range from less than 1MB to over 100MB at the top-end).

Setting up was super simple, and out of the box into playing my first game, it took around 10 minutes. After starting up the Playdate, you'll be asked to register your device on any browser by logging in and inputting the on-screen PIN (there's even a QR code to scan on the device). I was already signed in, so I put in the code like I was authorizing a streaming service device and I was on my way. The first two games (Casual Birder and Whitewater Wipeout) downloaded and installed quickly.

While the Playdate has no backlight, I was surprised at how little light it needed to show a clear picture, and how good it looks in natural light (here is a demonstration video from the designers). The system itself is well-made, and even fo??r people with big hands, it doesn't feel like my hands are cramping even after lengthy periods of use.

The crank is surprisin??gly fun to use, and not just a quirky add-on. It's directly incorporated in a ton of games like an extra button, and forces you to step out of your comfort zone and learn a new skill. Some games even ask you to "dock" the crank fully into the notch as part of the instructions, and there's very little awkwardness in the way of piloting it: I didn't expect it to be handled this elegantly. There's no confusion as to when the crank needs to be implemented or stored, and its level of functionality is up to the individual development teams.

System options include the ability to manage games (read: storage/delete), check Playdate account info, choose your lock screen (three types of clocks), toggle auto-lock, reduce flashing and swap the screen upside down (both accessibility features), check for system updates, and restart/reset the unit. Pressing the home button sidles up a menu, where you can change the volume, go home, or take a screenshot. ??Individual games can have custom menus (like "restart level," and so o?n).

That's mainly it. You're going to be using the Playdate for playing games (or making them), and beyond the current "mirror" functionality (that lets you stream to a PC, capture footage, mirror your screen to a monitor, and use select cont??roll??ers), the system settings are understandably light.

The experience

We've established the Playdate plays games. But one of the big-picture concepts of the Playdate is that you'll boot it up, and get two games immediately. Then each subsequent Monday for a cumulative 12 weeks, you'll get two more games, for a total of 24 in all for "season 1." Future seasons are being "figured out now," but you can also purchase games individually (one is being sold right now) and sideload them. You can actually find the entire rollout explanation here.

Would I fault you for finding it confusing? No. And given the entry pri?ce of $180, I'm sure some of you are going to feel frustrated by it. With that in mind, even in my own household, it had a "watercooler effect." I could soak in each game that day during review periods, then subsequ?ently enjoy the next set of games the following day.

One negative of this release model is that it puts a lot of pressure on each week to really slap. For instance, I think Casual Birder is fun, but not everyone is going to dig a birding RPG game; and if you don't like the very arcadey nature of Whitewater Wipeout, your whole first week might be a wash. But then you'll get something the next week, and the next week �and as Playdate launches, more designers will sell their games i?ndependently ?and more options will arise.

It's kind of a chicken-and-the-egg situation. Some of you probably want to comb over full reviews of season 1 before you buy in, which are rolling out now: but if you bought in now, you'd be gettin??g it in 2023, and the Playdate could be significantly more enticing by then. So let's talk about some of those games and the general vibe of what the Playdate is offering.

The games

Again, I was granted access to two more games each day, for a grand total of 2?4. As a reminder, this is not how it will work for the general public (it's two more games each Monday for 12 weeks). I'll talk about a wide array of them.

• Crankin's Time Travel Adventure is a bit like a higher concept Flappy Bird. Each session you'll wake up (late) as a wind-up robot, and rush to a date. Most of the time you'll get kicked in the groin for being tardy. Along the way, you'll dodge hazards while trying to make as much forward motion as possible with the crank (which controls forward/backsteps depending on how you wind it). It's a perfect showcase for the crank controls and how they can sport a low barrier to entry but also a high skill floor, as great runs will require finesse. It's a bite-sized game, but welcome in short spurts.
• Lost Your Marbles is a labyrinth marble box physics manipulation game with a story-heavy focus. You'll crank to shift the box around while making story choices rolling the ball into specific areas of the maze. It's part puzzler, part visual novel. While the physics puzzles aren't always engaging, it's an interesting and unique experience, typical of Playdate's season 1 repertoire.
• Flipper Lifter plays out like an arcade elevator game that would feel at home in the NES era. You control an elevator through the crank, and are tasked with delivering penguins to different floors of a hotel. It's quick and cute, and something I can go back to in spurts (some of these are spurt-heavy games).
• DemonQuest 85 is one of my favorites. It's a funny visual novel puzzle game that asks you to invite over classmates and offer demons their favorite foods and desires. The dialogue is punchy and the setup is hilarious: think 2017's The Babysitter style camp.
• Pick Pack Pup is a fun match three. You'll group items together then “ship them," with the ability to combo matches before and after they're packed.
• Omaze is a crank-controlled reaction-heavy puzzle game. Cranking moves your player character dot around in a circle, which are sometimes filled with hazards. You need to move from circle to circle (pressing a button to swap shapes) to get to the end of a maze. It's light fare, and a neat way to showcase how intense the crank mechanic can get.
• Executive Golf DX is a mini-golf-in-an-office-space that's sort of similar to games like Glider, with power-ups. This is one of the few bite-sized games I couldn't sink my teeth into.
• Questy Chess is like literal chess meets ZZT (or all you youngsters, that was an old school adventure system). You start as a pawn and move like chess across a grid (striking diagonally to attack, for instance). There are multiple worlds and levels to explore, scored stages, and an inventory. It's one of the more ambitious games of the Playdate, and it'll do a ton of heavy lifting the week you get it. I kind of wish the Playdate had more games like it, but I know the intent was to offer a wide array of experiences. Still, it arguably touches on concepts from multiple games in season 1, with panache.
• Saturday Edition follows a more traditional adventure game tact, but it takes some wild turns. I don't want to spoil it here, but it drew me in from the first few minutes and I binged it.
• Sasquatchers pits “influencer scientistsâ€?against cryptids with an Advance Wars skin and plenty of tongue-in-cheek humor. The "combat" and grid-trouncing systems aren't always engaging, but the dialogue is, and I love the mash-up of old meets new with its design philosophy.
• Inventory Hero essentially amounts to a clicker, but it's another example of a good quick bite (take that, Quibi) on the Playdate. You manage both equipment (by putting on new armor and weapons) and items with quick taps, and it's easy to come back to.
• Spellcorked pushed the visuals of the Playdate and has what might be my favorite aesthetic of season one so far. A likable protagonist making potions with animals sells itself, and the story bits and dialogue help push the light puzzle elements forward.
• 360 takes a familiar old school Breakout approach but with a crank to control your paddle in a literal 360-degree format. The crank precision helps bolster the enjoyment of the well-worn framework.

It sounds weird, but whenever I clicked on a game, I just assumed it was going to be a platformer. They mostly weren't, but a few of them even have super platformer-ey names and icons! Lo and behold, many of them are h?eavily story-based or high concept in some way. Several of them are loving homages to old genres or games. But the Playdate season 1 developers as a?? whole have thought outside of the box, and are going to subvert some expectations.

As high as I've been on the Playdate I didn't love every game. It was bound to happen! Since these choices are curated for me, there's no guarantee that I'm going to gel with all of them. But with that in mind, there were very few games I outright didn't enjoy playing. Now I might have a fairly open mind when it comes to some genres, so your mileage may vary. Many titles are story-based, and I can see that being a turnoff. It'll be interesting to see how future games pivot based on reception from the? general public.

I'm glad this wacky idea had follow-through

I was going to be taking a chance on the Playdate regardless, and had it pre-ordered (group one!) before I knew I was going to be reviewing it. I think you s??hould definitely go into the Playdate with an open mind, because the experimental nature of the delive??ry system and the curation of specific games as part of the pricey entry fee is going to be by nature, polarizing.

To me, the Playdate hits more than it misses. The foundation of the hardware itself is firm, no matter what the future might bring in terms of seasons (if they happen, how that will be delivered, or how much it may cost), and season 1 has a good chunk of? games that will suck people in for large periods of time (and some of them have things to say).

Whether you're going in with your unit shipping imminently (like, as soon as today, for gro?up one) or you're still playing the waiting game, th??e Playdate did what it set out to do: let's see if it can keep it up.

The post Review: Playdate appeared first on Destructoid.

"Gradually shipping starting April 18"

Folks have noticed some recent activity when it comes to Playdate emails, and we have good new?s: ??Playdate group one is shipping "imminently."

The news? c?omes directly from the folks at Playdate, who confirmed the rollout to Destructoid:

"Panic is thrilled to anno?unce that Playdat?e, their unique video game handheld system (with a crank), will begin shipping to pre-order holders in Group One, today!"

This will be a "gradual" rollout, and similar to a Kickstarter fulfillment, all of group one should be getting their orders soon. With that in mind, Playdate is kicking off se??veral initiatives for launch.

You can buy your first sideloaded game now for $9.9??9. It's called Bloom, and it's billed as ??a "real-time narrative-driven social ??sim about starting up a flower shop." We're also getting a companion podcast, which will run through the games of season one, and speak to key developers who made the games. The first episode is called "The Story of Playdate," with a two-week cadence to follow.

As a reminder, pre-orders for the Playdate were highly sought after, and intrepid owners quickly found out that they were relegated to "groups" depending on how fast they were. Numerous Des?tructoid readers have shared that they're in several different groups: and for the fast-fingered few, you're in luck today.

Current Playdate pre-orders (re?ad: if you were to?? do it today) are scheduled to ship in 2023.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmrtkBmFSn4

The post Playdate group one orders are shipping imminently appeared first on Destructoid.

It looks great next to other handhelds too

Portable gaming is constantly evolving. We have mobile devices making a big dent in the market, and Nintendo famously shook the entire industry up with a console and portable hybrid device. Then there's the Playdate, which is doing something else entirely. Recently we were given access to the highly anticipated Playdate handheld, which is still sl??ated for a rel?ease sometime in 2022.

Right now, all we can talk about is what's in the box, so let's do that. Here's what you get:

• The Playdate itself
• One USB charging cable (USB C to A)
• A quick paper insert with basic instructions

In terms of ?what's boxed it's pretty much all you need, and the insert is fairly self-explanatory. There's a power button on the top to wake the unit up for the first time (and from sleep mode), a d-pad, two buttons (B and A), a crank (which is like an extended "button" and is used to control games), and a menu button in the upper-right-hand corner.

The size of the Playdate clocks in at 76 Ă— 74 Ă— 9 mm: it's relatively small! But given how e??verything is spaced out, not to mention the crank, my hands don't feel scrunched when I hold it. The color scheme is stark, and allows it to stand out even among some of the extreme banana-colored handhelds of the '90s.

As a reminder, the device is $179, and you can still pre-order it for a 2023 target late shipment. There's also a $29 magnetic folding cover you can buy as an add-o??n.

Expect a bigger r?undown of the Playdate next week!

[g?allery link="file" ids="316184,316186,316187,316188"]

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Create your own cranky adventure

The Playdate, Panic's boutique handheld with a crank, is still on its way. But while you're waiting, Panic has put out a public beta for its Playdate Pulp tools, letting anyo??ne who wants to mak??e a Playdate game in a free, browser-based environment.

Pulp was one of many features teased for the Playdate in its first Update stream last year. The idea is that Pulp will allow anyone, whether you've made a game before or not, to experiment in the development sandbox. Panic says that?? Pulp can scale from "goofing around to building a full Playdat??e game."

//twitter.com/playdate/status/1483905526652026886

As a development studio, Pulp has a lot of features available. There are drawing and animation tools, a level editor, chiptune and sound tools, and even a code editor. Even though the Playdate still hasn't shipped as of this writing due? to supply issues, anything? you make is also preview-able in browser, and you can easily download the source code for your project, either to sha??re or, eventually, play on a Playdate.

//twitter.com/playdate/status/1466495120753061897

For budding game developers, or even those who just want?? to mess around with some tools, this seems pretty neat. Playdate Pulp seems to be a pretty well-rounded set of game-making tools that's also available for free. It's hard to beat that price tag. And while the earliest Playdate handhelds are still currently set to ship sometime in early 2022, it looks like yo??u can still check out what you've made in your browser. Sharing your Pulp creations still seems pretty reasonable to do.

We've already seen some pretty impressive prototypes and previews of what's to come with the Playdate. So if you're keen to try your own hand at making a crank-based minigame, Playdate Pulp gives you that chance. You can find it on the Playdate site here.

The post Playdate Pulp is out in beta, le?tting you make your own Playdate games appeared first on Destructoid.

Panic is also working to stay ahead of wider supply shortages to keep production flowing

Time keeps on slippin' into the future, and so do all of these cool-looking handheld gaming systems. After yesterday's news from Valve that the first wave of Steam Decks would be bumped out of December, Panic has announced a delay for the indie darling Playdate.

The Playdate, a quirky handheld with a crank, was supposed to ship in "late 2021" as of the most-recent schedule. (Never mind the initial 2020 target.) But due to a last-m?inute issue that Panic has summed up as a "battery tragedy," the earliest Playdate systems will now ship in "early 2022" �and that delay isn't the only mishap it's dealing with.

As described in an in-depth Owners Update, the creators of the Playdate had 5,000 finished units �only to find that "some of them weren't giving us the battery life we expect?ed," and some batteries were "so drained, Play??date wouldn't power on at all."

According to Panic, the battery issue in these final, ready-to-be-shipped Playdates wasn't present �or at least didn't reveal itself �in the Developer Preview units, despite them both using the "exact same type o??f batteries." The end result was a "months-long, all-hands-on-deck research stress-ball, and we halted production at the factory."

So where d?oes that lea??ve the Playdate, and everyone with a pre-order?

Panic made the call to source a new b??attery supplier and ship those first 5,000 handhelds back for a revision. The new batteries are "exactly what we're hoping for, if not even better than before," and "in just a few weeks, factory production will ramp up to full speed again, with new batteries in place. They'll be put in all units, even those we’ve already made??."

??The timeline is shifting to accommodate, and the "late 2021" units are now "early 2022" units. B?ut there's more to cover. The ongoing chip shortage is still wreaking havoc.

"With lots of pre-orders in place, we immediately placed an order at our fac?tory for all the parts needed for 2022 units and? beyond," said Panic. "The response was�sobering. Many of our parts have been delayed significantly. In fact, we can't get any more of Playdate's current CPU for �you're not going to believe this �two years. Like, 730 days."

To try and stay ahead of the shortage (and everyone else with an upcoming product launch), Panic has made an internal revision with the Playdate's main board "for units made later next year" so that it can use a "simi?lar, but more widely available, CPU."

The company assures that players ultimately "won't notice anything different about this new board revisio??n when it comes to playing games �functionally it will be the same." On that front, the designers are also trying to circumvent "a number of other part shortages"? in a similar way, "and while it's stressful and frustrating, rest assured we will do everything we can to make as many Playdates as we can for you."

Beyond the first wave of Playdates that the earliest adopters scooped up, Panic has also shared an estimated release window for the full slate of ??pre-orders.

• Group #1   ~1 to 10,000
  Late 2021 →�strong>Now Early 2022
• Group #2   ~10,000 to 20,000
  Late 2021 →�strong>Now Early 2022
• Group #3   ~20,000 to 30,000
  Still 2022 (Second Half)
• Group #4   ~30,000 to 40,000
  Still 2022 (Second Half)
• Group #5   ~40,000 to 50,000
  Still 2022 (Late Second Half)

If you're worried about receiving your Playdate at a potentially new residence, especially as the ship date keeps slipping, there's a way to update your address.

There ??are more hardware and software details in the Owners Update, so if you're on the hook for one of these handhelds, it's worth reading the whole report. On that note, Panic has stressed that everyone with an active pre-order will stay in the same (relative) place in line, so if anyone ahead of you cancels their order, you'll move up a spot.

I'm anxio?us just reading about these supply-chain challenges, and I don't envy anyone involved with trying to work within these confines. If you've got a pre-order for a coveted new piece of gaming hardware, expect your patience to be tested in 2022 and beyond.

I don'?t want to jinx you, but... you know who you are.

The post Playdate ‘battery tragedy’ delays the handheld’s launch to early 2022 appeared first on Destructoid.

Set the date for your Playdate

[Update: Pre-orders for the cranky handheld Playdate are now live on the Play.date shop. Head on over there if you're eager to?? grab one!]

//twitter.com/playdate/status/1420791305060241413

Our original story follows:

Playdate, the tiny handheld with a crank produced by ???Panic, will go live for pre-orders on July 29 at 10 a.m. PT.

The video game system will be available for pre-order as either a standalone for $179, or bundled with the Playdate cover for $199. (The Playdate cover will also be available for pre-order at $29.) Pre-orders will go live on the Playdate site.

Panic's Playdate was announced a few years ago as a new handheld system with a special crank and selection of games arriving for it. Recently, the team announced a slew of games arriving on the handheld system, including titles from Keita Takahashi, Bennett Foddy, and Lucas Pope. Pa??nic also confirmed it will be releasing a stereo dock for the Playdate as well, complete with a neat little pen and music app called Poolsuite FM.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeWGukDrc1U

Panic confirmed in a press release today that Playdate pre-orders will not sell out. The first batch of units will begin shipping towards the end of the year, with subsequent orders after selling through the initial allotment shipping in? 2022 and production adjusted based on demand. Playdate pre-orders will require full payment up front, but can be cancelled at any time for a full refund.

There will also be a podcast series debuting next week called the Playdate Podcast from Panic, featuring behind-the-scenes interviews with game developers ??creating things for the Playdate.

The handheld, crank-utilizing Playdate certainly looks like an interesting piece of hardware. Alongside the system, Panic will be rolling out a season of gam??es that will download directly to the Playdate, effectively making "play dates" out of update days. As someone who grew up carting aroun??d a Game Boy everywhere and who also digs bespoke, unique systems like this, I'll probably set a few alarms.

Playdate pre-orders will go live on July 29 at 10 a.m. PT on the Playdate site.

The post Playdate pre-orders are now live (Update) appeared first on Destructoid.

July is getting a little cranky

Panic hosted its first Playdate Update ?today, showcasing the games, acces??sories, and pre-order window for its handheld with a crank, the Playdate.

Pre-orders for Panic's Playdate will open in July 2021, and though no specific date was given during today's stream, Panic says there will be a one-week warning before pre-orders o??pen. The handheld will go for $179.

The company also says it will keep pre-orders open and send Playdates out as they're made, and?? if demand is higher than expected, it "might take a while" for Playdates to arrive. Panic plans on staying communicative about Playdate supply and will allow pre-orders to be canceled at any time.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeWGukDrc1U

As for the system itself, Panic showcased a new Playdate accessory: the stereo dock. It's a Bluetooth-enabled dock for the Playdate that the handheld can latch onto via magnetic lock, and alongside charging the console, it can also act as a speaker.?? There's also a pen holder and accompanying Playdate ballpoint pen, which is frankly adorable.

Alongside the dock, Panic also confirmed there will be an app—Poolsuite FM—that will play a cura??ted selection of summer jams, both of which are "coming soon." Panic will also be launching a game development tool called Playdate Pulp, which can be used through the web browser to make narrative stories for the Playdate and will be available this year as ??a free app.

Among the games in Playdate's first season are games from a number of creators, including Crankin's Time Travel Adventure from Keita Takahashi and Zipper from Bennett Foddy. There will be 24 games in Playdate's first season—two games a week arriving over the course of 12 weeks—and they'll be included free with the Playdate. Panic also teased a few upcoming projects, including one from Return of the Obra Dinn creator Lucas Pope.

With more creations? on the way from narrative development company Sweet Baby, as well as two teams being mentored by Sweet Baby, it seems like there's a fair number of projects lined up f??or the Playdate. More news about when, exactly, pre-orders go up will be coming soon.

The post Playdate pre-ord??ers open in ?July, stereo dock and future games revealed appeared first on Destructoid.

Don't get too cranky

An update is on the way for Panic's Playdate, the handheld-with-a-crank that certainly captured our? imagination when it was announced.

The Playdate Update will air on June 8 at 9 a.m. PT on Playdate's YouTube channel. Alongside details about its first season and future games, there will also be news about future ?pre-orders for the cranky console.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeWGukDrc1U

Though there will be some surprises in store for the event, Panic says not to fret—pre-orders will not start immediately after the video ends, and there will be "plenty of warning" before they go live. The team also let slip a few details ahead of t??he show: the final price for the Playdate will be $179, the internal storage has doubled to 4 GB, and they've double the number of Season One games for the Playdate to 24, all free with the purchase of the Playdate.

It might seem like a novelty, but back in the original announcement, Playdate had names like Katamari Damacy's Keita Takahashi and the creator of Getting Over It With Bennett Foddy Bennett Foddy on to contribute games to the system. If this update is impressive, I might just end up? trying to sn?ag one and see what it's all about.

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