It’s probably safe to say that Portland-based game publisher Panic Inc. raised some eyebrows when it announced Playdate, a handheld gaming system that uses a D-pad, two face buttons, and… a crank! Though the platform was announced back in 2019, we now know more than ever about it courtesy of Panic’s recent Playdate Update on Youtube.
Playdate will feature 24 games in its first season (up from the 12 that were originally planned), with two games dropping every week and loading onto the system via WiFi. It’s an intriguing little device, and a fun concept for sure. For as many naysayers as there are, you also have folks who are excited about the prospect of this quirky portable gaming system.
When discussing the games, Panic’s Arisa said: “Can we guarantee you’ll love every single one of them? Probably not. Will you have a great time playing and exploring brand new games from amazing creators? Absolutely.”
That statement right there almost sounds like a mission statement for Playdate. The likelihood of someone enjoying all 24 games equally is pretty slim, but the idea of having a couple new games to play around with is definitely exciting.
Though only 21 of the 24 planned games were revealed during the Playdate Update, future games were teased beyond season one. Let’s take a quick look at those games, and what exactly makes them so promising.
Battleship Godios
What It Is/What It Looks Like: There were no details on Battleship Godios save for the name, but the title screen makes me think it might be a ship-themed shoot-‘em-up.
Why It’s Exciting: It has “battleship” in the title, so it definitely sounds like it could be one of the more action-y games on Playdate.
Boogie Loops
What It Is/What It Looks Like: Is this a dancing game where you play as a slice of pizza and a panda?
Why It’s Exciting: This might be a dancing game where you play as a slice of pizza and a panda.
Casual Birder
What It Is/What It Looks Like: Based on the title screen, Casual Birder looks like a game where you take pictures of birds. And it looks like you use the crank, too! Maybe turning the crank lets you zoom in, zoom out, and focus the picture?
Why It’s Exciting: Any game that makes use of the Playdate crank will instantly be more of a curiosity. Plus, taking pictures of birds seems like some relaxing chill game goodness.
Crankin’s Time Travel Adventure
What It Is/What It Looks Like: Crankin’s Time Travel Adventure stars a robot that apparently likes to nap but is always late to meetings, dates, and appointments. It looks like a puzzle-y sidescroller where you’ll have to get past obstacles that include other robots that perform wrestling moves on you, as well as jungle gym bars.
Why It’s Exciting: For starters, Keita Takahashi is involved with this game. Fans of Katamari Damacy, Glitch, and Wattam know the developer for his offbeat ideas and emergent game concepts. In addition, the game seems to heavily utilize Playdate’s crank, which is pretty cool. Not to mention, it’s awesome when games have characters that use wrestling moves.
DemonQuest 85
What It Is/What It Looks Like: At first I thought DemonQuest 85 would be an RPG or action-platformer, but per developer Duncan Fyfe, it’s actually a visual novel. In the game, you’ll round up your high-school buddies and summon demons.
Why It’s Exciting: The idea of a visual novel where some friends take on demons and monsters has a late-‘80s/early-‘90s after-school vibe to it. It’s like the game that the kids in a TV show would play before being transported into the game world itself.
Echoic Memory
What It Is/What It Looks Like: I had to look up the definition of echoic memory to get an idea of what this game could possibly be. Echoic memory is defined as “a type of memory that stores sound information.” So could this be a sound memory game? A rhythm game perhaps? I’m probably way off. Or maybe I’m closer than I think.
Why It’s Exciting: The game’s ambiguous nature is what makes it so intriguing. Plus, if it is a game about memorization that utilizes sound and music, it could make for some rad sound effects and tunes!
Executive Golf DX
What It Is/What It Looks Like: My first instinct is to just assume that this is a pixelated golf sim. And honestly, that would be cool enough. But with a title like Executive Golf DX, it might have some quirky stuff going on — like, maybe you play miniature golf in an industrial park or skyscraper.
Why It’s Exciting: Because golf games!
Flipper Lifter
What It Is/What It Looks Like: Based on the use of the word “flipper” in the title and the way the penguin on the title screen has a beak that looks like a pinball flipper, I’m guessing this is going to be a pinball game.
Why It’s Exciting: Pinball’s fun — and if they can make crank-based pinball work, that’ll be even more fun. Also, Flipper Lifter is just really fun to say.
Forrest Byrnes: Up in Smoke
What It Is/What It Looks Like: I’m guessing you’ll be trying to put out fires in Forrest Byrnes: Up in Smoke. One of the developers working on the game, Nels Anderson, previously worked on Firewatch and Mark of the Ninja.
Why It’s Exciting: If this is a fast-paced put-out-the-fire type of game, it could be an arcade-y good time.
Hyper Meteor
What It Is/What It Looks Like: Vertex Pop is known for making awesome arcade action games with great titles like Super Crush KO and Graceful Explosion Machine. Hyper Meteor could be right in line with the studio’s brand of fast-paced action gameplay.
Why It’s Exciting: Because Vertex Pop makes dope stuff!
Lost Your Marbles
What It Is/What It Looks Like: Lost Your Marbles is a visual novel with branching paths where you play as a young woman named Prota who’s looking for her dog, Minty. The game is set in Pomegranate Village, and apparently you’re trying to make it to the annual Festi-Ball. Also, per the Playdate Update, “the roll (role?) of a marble makes all the difference.”
Why It’s Exciting: The themes are both massively charming and mildly absurd, and it could be the most endearing game in this first season of Playdate.
Omaze
What It Is/What It Looks Like: Omaze is being referred to as “RotoRing on steroids” by developer Gregory Kogos. For those unaware, RotoRing is a hardware-based circular puzzle-platformer.
Why It’s Exciting: A circular puzzle-platformer could be a neat go-to distraction when you’re in between games or need to kill some time.
Pick Pack Pup
What It Is/What It Looks Like: The title screen for Pick Pack Pup has a dog wearing a baseball cap and holding a bag. No clue what this could be, but it seems promising based on that title art alone.
Why It’s Exciting: Because of the dog with the baseball cap. Also, because Pick Pack Pup uses alliteration, which is always fun.
Questy Chess
What It Is/What It Looks Like: Though developer Dadako wants to remain secretive about Questy Chess, it’s described in its title screen as a “role-playing chess simulator.”
Why It’s Exciting: Chess has always had this RPG vibe about it, so it should be interesting seeing how this game explores that.
Ratcheteer
What It Is/What It Looks Like: Ratcheteer is hard to describe based on just the title screen that was shown during the Playdate Update. But it has some nice pixel art, and the music shared by developer Shaun Inman gives me NES vibes. Maybe it’s a platformer or action game?
Why It’s Exciting: That art style is great, so thinking about what kind of game it could be used in makes Ratcheteer especially exciting.
Sasquatchers
What It Is/What It Looks Like: Are you looking for Sasquatch in this game? Are you playing as Sasquatch or a group of Sasquatches?
Why It’s Exciting: We need more games about Bigfoot, so this is a plus.
Saturday Edition
What It Is/What It Looks Like: You play as John Cornfield, and you investigate strange lights in the sky at the same time that numerous disappearances have been occurring in your town. Based on the short gameplay clip shown during the Playdate Update, this looks like a mystery adventure game where you’ll be picking up clues to solve the game’s big case, which involves disappearing townsfolk and potential UFO sightings.
Why It’s Exciting: There’s always room in my heart for a good old-school adventure game.
Snak
What It Is/What It Looks Like: The title screen for Snak (pronounced “snack”) shows a snake coiled around an apple. There’s also a large, angry orb with mean eyes and sharp teeth in the background.
Why It’s Exciting: Because the fact that there’s a snake but they titled it Snak (again, pronounced “snack”) is kind of adorable. I mean, it made me smile.
Spellcorked!
What It Is/What It Looks Like: Hmm… There’s a round bottle pictured in the title screen, and the title Spellcorked! indicates that this game could have a witchy theme. This looks like it could be one of those simple yet addictive arcade games that’s super charming and entertaining.
Why It’s Exciting: After playing Witcheye, which had a simple premise but was infinitely fun, I’m all for witch-themed arcade-styled games — so if this is anything like that, I’m on board.
Whitewater Wipeout
What It Is/What It Looks Like: Whitewater Wipeout looks like a surfing game where you can ride the waves and perform tricks using the Playdate crank. Again, the use of the system’s crank looks super enjoyable here.
Why It’s Exciting: Seeing the player character spinning on his surfboard in the Playdate Update clip is kind of funny, so I imagine players will have some good laughs using the crank to pull off surfing tricks.
Zipper
What It Is/What It Looks Like: This looks like it might be a katana-based action game. It’s developed by Bennett Foddy of QWOP and Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy fame, so it might rely heavily on physics-based gameplay. A physics-heavy sword game on the Playdate sounds impossible and hilarious.
Why It’s Exciting: Bennett Foddy’s games are very niche, but they’ve also been well-received, so Zipper could be another worthwhile game from the dev.
Conclusion
So there are the 21 games that were revealed for season one of Playdate. The Playdate Wikipedia page also lists three games titled b360, Inventory Hero, and Star Sled. In addition, developer Sweet Baby is working on Recommendation Dog!! and Reel Steal. And Lucas Pope, developer of Return of the Obra Dinn, is working on a game titled Mars After Midnight.
I look forward to checking out all these games, so I’ll be keeping a close eye on the system’s release date. Playdate will begin shipping out toward the end of 2021, with pre-orders opening up in July.
