More from The Playdate has been out since April 2022 — here’s how it’s going
The folks over at Panic launched a shop for Playdate games at the beginning of the year, and — as of this month — it has now surpassed 100 titles. The November releases are as quirky as always, including a gigantic space yo-yo a game about serving root beer to bears. Check out the full list below.
Panic showed off a great-looking “aqua” cover for its little yellow handheld console during Wednesday’s Playdate Update. During the show, the company revealed that another cover is on the way that will be available exclusively to people who subscribe to the Playdate email newsletter.
The purple cover that launched alongside the Playdate isn’t available right now, but it will “be back later,” Greg Maletic, director of special projects and Playdate at Panic, says in a statement to The Verge. “We have plenty of Aqua covers available, and we plan on having both available after the new year.”
Update November 8th, 3:37PM ET: Added statement from Panic.
Listen along (use this link to get it in your podcast player of choice) as The Verge’s David Pierce discusses the current flood of portable gaming systems with Polygon editors Chris Plante and Russ Frushtick.
Yes, there’s plenty of focus on the portable gaming PC movement led by the Steam Deck, Rog Ally, and company, but there’s also consideration for the Switch and even your iPhone or Android device.
A fresh batch of games has dropped in the Playdate shop, but I’m particularly interested in Castle Tintagel, a Castlevania-style adventure that looks like just the thing to play ahead of this week’s premiere of the Netflix series.
Kicooya MP3 lets you play music right from Panic’s quirky yellow handheld. You can even replicate the old iPod-style music player or make your own! It’s one of a few titles that are now available on the Playdate Catalog — you can learn more about them in Playdate’s new video.
Another batch of games and apps has hit the Playdate shop, including this pocket planner app that I tested out last year. There’s also a fidget app that has a bunch of strange alarm clocks. Exactly what the adorable handheld was meant for.
The Playdate’s curated game shop, Catalog, is getting another update with four new titles. They include: Necrocrisis, a House of the Dead-style arcade shooter; a portrait-themed puzzler called Generations; the fantasy adventure Castle Helios; and an old-school puzzle game called Loopsy. You’ll be able to check them out right here when the shop updates later today.
Playdate’s Catalog just got a new batch of Playdate games, including one about unicycling to get coffee. Sounds treacherous.
The new games have a lot of promise, and they include a “crank-operated digital talking calculator” and a Vampire Survivors-esque game where you play as a mining droid. The new games are available to purchase from the Catalog now.
Well, Celeste Classic, but it’s a Playdate version of the game that eventually became the excellent indie hit Celeste. It’s an unofficial port, but I’ve really enjoyed the five or so levels I’ve played and I think it looks great on the Playdate’s black-and-white screen. And if you want to play the classic Celeste Classic on your computer, you can do that on Itch.io.
[itch.io]
The tiny handheld was manufactured in Southeast Asia, but the realities of global shipping have kept it out of the hands of local gamers.
The adorable PlayDate comes with a lot of cool titles built-in, but it also lets you sideload games and apps as well. And there are some very promising games coming soon including a WarioWare-style mini-game collection, an actual 3D racer, and somehow a game with FMV cutscenes. You could say that indie developers are really... cranking away. Check out this Twitter thread for the full details.
