While everyone's scrambling after Switch 2 preorders, Panic's beautiful little Playdate console could be a fun low-fi alternative – and new games are coming!
The company says it's sold 70,000 devices since the Playdate console was launched, along with almost 290,000 game units. On Thursday (17 April), it will announce Playdate Season 2, a second series of games for the minimalist device.
We can expect to learn pre-order information, price and the release date for the first week of Season Two games (also see our pick of the best retro game consoles).
Designed by the app developer and video game publisher Panic in collaboration with Teenage Engineering, Playdate is a very unique-looking handheld games console.
Sure, it doesn't have the graphics or interactivity of the Switch 2, or Joy-Cons that work as mice. But it's bright yellow, fits in your pocket and it has a beautiful black and white screen. And it has a crank: a unique flip-out rotating analogue controller.
This week's showcase airs one day from the third year anniversary of Playdate’s original launch and two years since the launch of Playdate’s online store for games, Catalog. Since then, Panic says it's raised over $1m for developers.
Indie devs working with Panic have been enthusiastic about the model. “Making games for Playdate has been an incredible experience — it's taken me places (both digital and physical!) that I honestly never thought I'd reach,” says Rae, Playdate game developer of Rowbot Rally.
“This community is super helpful and always willing to share tips and resources freely so any game turns out the best it can be, and I've received so much support from them not just in problem-solving but also sheer hype.
"With the Playdate SDK, it's super easy to iterate on an idea and turn it into a fun game; and the amount of players willing to take a chance on even a small silly game in Catalog is incredible. In fact, earnings from my Playdate titles have very directly resulted in me buying my first car! [insert the funniest car horn noise here] Big thanks to Panic, and the rest of the Playdate community (I know you're reading this!), for all you do.”
"Developing Playdate games has been such a perfect starting point for me as a first time game dev!” says ToadleyUnderControl, Playdate game developer of Reel-Istic Fishing.” “I found it to be a lot less overwhelming than learning a game engine, and the community surrounding Playdate is made of some awesome people who really kept me motivated through their support and excitement!
"Everything about developing for this just feels so easy and smooth, and you can very quickly get a prototype running on the handheld itself! I've also been able to put money toward my university tuition / student loans thanks to selling Playdate games!! I owe a lot to this lil cheese handheld, so thank you to everyone involved in Playdate from the bottom of my cold, slimy, amphibious heart."
Playdate is available to order for $229 and refurbished units are also now available at shop.play.date for $179. The Playdate Update showcase will air on April 17 at 10am PT/ 1pm ET / 6pm UK time.
For more novel consoles, check out the Nex Playground. If you're working on your own game, see our pick of the best game development software.
