The Playdate Represents the Best Future for Handheld Consoles
The Horrors of Suburbia!
There is just something about a handheld console. Holding a machine that can play games without connecting it to an external display is one of the most intimate experiences in gaming. Since the Nintendo Game Boy introduced handheld games to a wider audience, playing video games outside your home or an arcade has become widespread. However, today handhelds are ubiquitous, and modern consoles like the Nintendo Switch and Valve’s Steam Deck are missing some of the magic of earlier handheld consoles, and thus don’t astound in the same way. However, there is one modern handheld that impressed me as the Game Boy did thirty-five years ago – the Playdate.
The Playdate is made by Panic, publisher of indie hits Firewatch, Untitled Goose Game and the recent Thank Goodness You’re Here, and follows in the footsteps of Nintendo’s older handheld machines and Bandai’s WanderSwan. Panic collaborated with Swedish high-end consumer electronics company Teenage Engineering to design the Playdate, and they created a console that is cool, sleek and modern, yet rooted in retro design.
The Playdate is a handheld machine for those yearning for an alternative to what’s on offer by the game industry. The Playdate strikes a balance between old and new tech. It also has a myriad of quirky gimmicks like a built-in analog crank that functions as a control input. The console has a non-backlit screen similar to the Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and the first iteration of the Game Boy Advance. The Playdate’s industrial design philosophy is not dissimilar to Gunpei Yokoi’s “later thinking with withered technology”.
Where does this yellow console stand, in an industry at a crossroads? Is the Playdate a niche system or a potential example of a better way of operating?
On a Playdate
The Playdate was released in April 2022. Now two years after its release, Panic’s little yellow machine is seeing an increase in relevance. Indie designer Lucas Pope released his newest game Mars After Midnight exclusively on the console this year. More importantly, in an increasingly volatile environment for developers brought by the industry’s embrace of cutting-edge graphics and astronomical development costs, the Playdate is a case study of a platform where game development can be done differently. Developers can have more control over what they make, and they can make it with little overhead cost and still create games that are fun, innovative, and artistic. I’m tired of the standard practices rampant in the industry – I write this as Bungie terminated 220 jobs (at the end of 2024 total estimated industry layoffs were close to 15,000).
The Playdate also offers a unique alternative for browsing through virtual storefronts that host thousands of games. Owners of the console receive a curated “Season” where two games are downloaded directly to the console every week for a period of twelve weeks. These twenty-four games, varying in styles and quality, might not be for everyone, regardless the point is to explore the selection. The Playdate eases exploration of its library and all that it has to offer. On top of this, it can be tough to browse through the sheer volume of games to find one to play. I haven’t doomscrolled on the Playdate; I can’t say the same about other consoles.
Stars are aligning. The Playdate’s design is a modern iteration of Yokoi’s “lateral thinking with withered technology”. Like many of Nintendo’s most successful consoles, the Playdate makes the most of its relatively limited tech. It boasts a small 68 MHz Cortex M7 SDK processor. It only displays black and white. I can go on, but these limitations also provide opportunities for developers and can be freeing. Not shackled by highfalutin glossy visuals, games on the Playdate at their core are explorations of tried-and-true game mechanics. There is no surprise that dozens of puzzle games are in its library. Games like Yoyozo, Sparrow Solitaire, and Word Trip. There are also plenty of games that do so much with little. Some of the best games of the past decade can be found on the console, the only reason why you haven’t heard of them is because of the cartel AAA games have on the market. Who would have thought that yellow might just be the color of fun?
The Playdate is the little console that could. The Playdate’s limitations also beget the creation of more sustainable games. It has a 400 × 240 1-bit display and less storage than a 10-year-old phone. Developers for the console range from first time hobbyists to some of the most revered independent designers in the industry, including Keita Takahashi and Bennett Foddy. Since its release, the Playdate has generated over half a million dollars in revenue for developers, some of which now develop for the console full time, like Matt Sephton, creator of Yoyozo and Sparrow Solitaire. No one is going to get rich from making games from the console, but they can get a steady revenue stream.
The Playdate has a small – okay let’s be honest, miniscule – share of the video game market. This, however, is a good thing. Its small user base is creating an ecosystem that is sustainable and fosters a creative drive from developers and those looking to try their hands on making a game for the first time. As Sephton states in his development blog: “It’s easy enough to make a smaller game, be it similar or entirely different, you’d just have to make different choices along the way”. The Playdate demystifies game development by how approachable and unassuming it makes the process.
Is the Playdate a new enough model of game development and distribution that offers a break from standard industry practices? Yes and no. Yes, in the sense that the most important aspect of the Playdate is that it is first and foremost a game developer-focused console. Panic makes a concerted effort to put the makers of games front and center through monthly updates and blogs. The Playdate also has a user-friendly development tool, Playdate SDK, that is easy to use and requires little to no formal background in programming to begin making games.
The Playdate is the most portable console that I’ve held in my hands that still provides a great play experience. The Playdate fits inside my shirt pocket, feels sturdy to the touch and entices one to want to press its buttons or wind the crank. This is a testament to Teenage Engineering’s good design instincts. Its screen isn’t the largest, but it is vibrant with its highly reflective 1-bit display. You can opt for a cover case that comes in either purple or aqua to protect the console, which is reminiscent of the clamshell design of the Game Boy Advance SP and the DS. The Playdate is the first time in almost a decade that I have played a handheld console on the go whilst not on a long journey by airplane. I take the Playdate with me on short commutes on the New York City subway. It’s the closest I’ve felt to the accessibility and ease of play since the Nintendo DS and 3DS.
In 2024, why would someone choose to buy a Playdate over other options on the market like the Nintendo Switch, a console that also functions on outdated technology, or the Steam Deck? The Playdate does not compare well to these two when it comes to graphical performance and overall specs. It also lacks anything comparable to the massive libraries of Switch and the Steam Deck, which has the largest library of games to draw on from the Steam store and emulation. However, the better curated and quirky selection of indie games available on the Playdate is part of its appeal.
There are around a thousand games and apps to choose from as part of the Playdates. These are available as either Season 1 selections, purchasable through the console’s virtual storefront, the “Catalog”, or on Itch.io. These games run the gamut from the deeply inventive, like Pope’s Mars After Midnight, to the extremely small games that have the same appeal as music made by one person in their bedroom. Most that I’ve played offer something unique that can only be experienced on the Playdate. It’s a technology that, though made of metal and wires, is not cold. It feels like it was made by people and not a dystopian multinational corporation. The Playdate is no Tinman; Panic has given the console a heart.
One of the console’s standout features is its three-axis accelerometer analog crank. It’s an input device that along with a D-Pad, A and B buttons, sleep, and menu buttons is an integral part of the user experience. The crank is a gimmick, not unlike motion control was one for the Nintendo Wii, but after playing dozens of games that utilize the crank I wondered why this hasn’t been a more widely adopted input device outside of fishing arcade cabinets.
Ultimately, people initially drawn to the Playdate are those that are attracted to its aesthetic or are enthusiasts of quirky video game gadgets, or die-hard fans of Teenage Engineering and their excellent audio recording equipment.
The Notable Games
Here are some of the most interesting games on the Playdate that offer an experience that made me realize that the console has staying power.
Crankin’s Time-Traveling Adventure
This is the game that got me interested in the Playdate. Made by uvula, a design team composed of Keita Takahashi, Ryan Mohler, Matthew Grimm, and Shaun Inman, Crankin’s Time-traveling Adventure is a hilarious experience.
Part of Playdate’s Season 1 pass, this game starts with a lullaby and proceeds with vigorous and precise cranking. Rotate the crank like your life depends on it to wake up, smell some flowers, jump over poop, and get kicked in the nuts. So charming. Best played in short sessions.
Questy Chess Role-Playing Chess Simulator
Stop the Chess Program V1 from being updated into V2 in this chess puzzle RPG. Questy Chess Role-Playing Chess Simulator, made by Dadako, is the perfect metaphor for the Playdate.
Why update when the old tech works just fine and has much more to be discovered? Reminds me of how bassist Charles Mingus famously stated that he would not use electronic instruments in his arrangements, not because of any apprehension towards them but simply because the possibilities of acoustic instrumentation had not yet been exhausted. Questy Chess makes the case that even an ancient game has still more possibilities for us to explore.
Lucas Pope is a one-man indie development studio. His latest game Mars After Midnight is a testament that expensive development costs aren’t needed to make a great game with a deep narrative. In a Martian space colony, you must help interstellar spacefarers with community events. The wacky use of the Playdate’s control makes this game an engaging experience.
Yoyozo is Matt Sephton’s best game. It’s a dexterity arcade game where you control an intergalactic yoyo. Race against the clock as you collect stars and rack up points. Yoyozo’s simple control scheme and fast gameplay make this an ideal game for fans of intense high-score shenanigans. This is an emblematic game of the type of experiences that one can have on the Playdate: an excellent short gameplay session that stays with you and lingers in one’s mind urging for another play.
Created by Dani Diez, Borja De Tena, and Carl-Andre Corbeil, Under the Castle is the mandatory roguelike on the list and it is excellent. Venture into dungeons to complete various tasks each increasing in difficulty. Under the Castle Made packs as much of a challenge as it does fun gameplay and fantastic presentation. It even has a mechanic where you wind crank to move the hero character inside their wizard hat!
Gytis Žaltauskas’ Mega Dystopia Micro Architect is a pocket-size city builder game. Place buildings next to each other on an expanding grid to multiply your score. An ambient soundtrack companies you as you build a melancholy dystopian city. Mega Dystopia Micro Architect has a similar vibe to Into the Breach, except that it is super chill. The game is upgradable. Each play session carries the promise of permanently increasing the variety and resources at the beginning of a new session. This is a hard game to put down.
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Luis Aguasvivas is a writer, researcher, and member of the New York Videogame Critics Circle. He covers game studies for PopMatters. Follow him on Bluesky and aguaspoints.com.
