While I love the thriving independent developer scene for the Playdate, few games it’s produced have lived up to the collection of 24-game “first season” that the system launched with. That’s why I was excited to finally have another batch of games curated by the console’s creator, and the results didn’t disappoint.
What Is Playdate Season 2?
The Playdate is a crank-based handheld gaming system with a sharp 1-bit screen. Its initial conceit was that it would come bundled with 24 games commissioned by its manufacturer Panic, released over a 12-week period in two-game batches. This was done to promote water-cooler conversations and a more digestible overall experience. Plus, it built anticipation for the included games developed by titans of the indie scene like Bennett Foddy, Keita Takahashi, and Zach Gage.
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It’s like a Game Boy with a crank.
Three years later, Panic is following up its launch lineup with Playdate Season 2. While it follows the same distribution model, it doesn’t have the same developer star power as season 1, has half the number of games, and costs a cool $39. It was also exactly what the Playdate needed to reinvigorate my interest in the device.
I wasn’t alone in this. The now-established community was better positioned for weekly discourse surrounding game drops, and it helped that everyone could experience it at the exact same time rather than across waves of early system shipments. Also, the games were better than ever thanks to Panic’s refined game publishing chops. Following its six-week rollout, it’s now clear that a new bar has been set for Playdate game quality.
Oh, and Panic even threw in a surreal video streaming service that evolved week-by-week. We need to talk about that first.
Blippo+ Is Bananas, and I Love It
The fun of Blippo+ is going in with absolutely no idea of what to expect. If you plan on checking the project out when it releases on Steam and Nintendo Switch later this year, I’d recommend skipping this section.
In the first week of season 2, Panic surprised users a surprise 13th offering: Blippo+. The publishing house had cryptically teased the project earlier this year, leading to a lot of speculation about what it could possibly be. I’m not sure anyone had “an idiosyncratic TV broadcast streamed from an alien planet that refreshes weekly to continue a pseudo-emergent story” on their bingo card.
The premise is that a space anomaly called “The Bend” has linked our universe to another. We explore the culture of these human-like aliens through a series of oddball public access TV channels that transmit through The Bend. Each show is 30 seconds long, ranging from news broadcasts to soap operas to Claymation cartoons, and everything in-between. These play on a loop for a week before being replaced with a new loop of episodes. As the 11-week runtime treks onward, an overarching narrative develops across the programs that I won’t spoil for you.
You won’t need a Playdate and a season 2 pass to enjoy Blippo+ forever as it’s slated to hit Steam and Switch later this year, and in color at that. It’s something to keep an eye out for, though there’s a certain je ne sais quoi about the Playdate version that I’m unsure can be fully captured on platforms where video streaming is commonplace. The 1-bit feed heightens the sense that we’re tapping into something we probably shouldn’t be, and I’ll never grow tired of using the crank to scroll through channels.
While season 2 is about the games first and foremost, it’ll be remembered most for Blippo+.
The Best Games Set a New Standard
Let’s talk about those games. Panic did a great job of selecting cream-of-the-crop titles that showcase the possibilities of a platform that—if we’re being brutally honest—has only scratched the surface of its potential.
This mission was immediately apparent in the week one release Fulcrum Defender. This roguelite arcade game uses the crank to spin a turret around a 360-degree axis with the goal of shooting down oncoming objects for at least 10 minutes (though most would say the game truly starts beyond that). There’s a ton of variety here, especially in the weapon types, which all shake up the gameplay and offer a lot of room for mastery. This depth of systems is no surprise as its developer, Subset Games, built its name upon mechanically rich roguelites with Into the Breach and FTL. This will be the season 2 game I keep going back to.
I was also taken by Tiny Turnip, a platforming-centric Metroidvania in which you control a turnip with Mickey Mouse hands that climbs, swims, and rolls through an interconnected maze-like map. The abilities you unlock across the game are genuinely inventive and complement the core locomotion in ways that are tricky to learn but exceptionally satisfying when it all clicks together. This is a lofty enough experience that I don’t think anyone would blink an eye if this was on a traditional gaming platform. In fact, it has a forthcoming PC sibling in Turnip Mountain that I can only imagine will be similarly captivating.
Black Hole Havoc came up as a late contender for my #1 spot in the final week. Its clever puzzle mechanic involves guesstimating the size of black holes and conjuring identical ones using a Bubble Bobble cannon; collide them, and they cancel each other out, but you’ll lose health proportional to the size difference. This makes precision and order of operations key. However, what really puts the game over the edge is its slapstick sense of humor and lengthy cutscenes that feature the best animation on the platform I’ve encountered. I couldn’t put this one down until the credits rolled after its unexpectedly epic finale.
These are only some of my favorites. I also loved digging up fossils using bombs in Dig Dig Dino!, the unique single-button-and-crank rhythm game Otto’s Galactic Groove!!, and the harsh post-apocalypse of endless snowfall explored in The Whiteout. I also want to shout out Taria & Como, a grappling-based platformer that I’m still coming to grips with but may just be the best platformer available for Playdate (granted, there are a shockingly scant few).
Even the Few Stumbles Were Interesting
There were a few games I was less taken with in season 2, but I consider it a great compliment that all of them were still impressive in their own ways.
Shadowgate PD is a faithful translation of the classic point-and-click adventure. This is not only an impressive development feat and a rare instance of an established franchise appearing on the platform. However, this turned out to be a “just because you can, doesn’t mean you should” scenario for me. Slowly moving a mouse cursor across a tiny screen, dealing with menus too large to be sensible on a small format, and trying to discern graphics less detailed than the 1987 original was a chore that quickly nixed my interest in playing further. I’m happy it exists, though.
Two other titles that fell flat for me were CatchaDiablos and Long Puppy. Both made interesting use of the crank, but the former felt aimless, and the latter was marred by a few aggravating game design choices. I still commend the developers for their effort, though; I’m not here to trash the work of independent creators trying new gameplay concepts. Not every risk will turn out well for every player, but it’s better than a rinse-and-repeat of tired ideas.
I might as well mention the other two games in the season that I haven’t touched upon. Chance’s Lucky Escape is a charming adventure game that I felt I was only starting to enjoy before it very quickly concluded. I’d love to see what this developer could do with a longer-form adventure game. Lastly, Wheelsprung is going to be a favorite for people who like a good tussle with ragdoll physics puzzles, but that’s just not my thing.
We Need a Season 3
Given its niche status, most of what gets released on the Playdate these days are microgames and proof-of-concepts from upstart game developers. This was one reason why I stopped playing the handheld with any regularity. The sophistication and polish of the season 2 titles has pulled me back in, but I’ll need more if that interest is to be sustained.
There are a few upcoming Playdate titles I have my eye on, For Home being my most anticipated given the developer’s previous output on the platform. However, the season model is now proving to be how Panic attracts top talent to the platform. For example, it likely wouldn’t be financially feasible for the FTL team to make Fulcrum Defender when its audience exists elsewhere, but the Playdate got a killer app because Panic facilitated it. The existing development community also benefits from more eyes being attracted to the platform with higher-profile releases.
I also don’t think the Playdate can survive another three-year gap between seasons for this reason. Seasons give people an excuse to dust off the handheld, so it’s already to the deficit of the Playdate that season 2 took so long. This could become an annual tradition for people to pull out their Playdate for a handful of weeks. Perhaps Panic could refresh the device to have a backlit monitor and a cheaper price to make it even more accessible to prospective owners.
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Though it is still half the price of a Switch 2.
Ultimately, if season 2 sells horribly and season 3 is never even put on the table, I’m still glad we got this new batch of games. The Playdate is a distinctive, earnest piece of gaming hardware, and its crank means many of the games made for it couldn’t exist elsewhere. That’s something I cherish at a time when gaming hardware ubiquity is at an all-time high, and during season 2, I truly felt like I escaped that reality for a few hours each week.
- Resolution
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400 x 240 at 173ppi
- Built-in Games
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24
Panic Playdate is a tiny handheld game system with reflective screen, new games, and a crank.
