Yeah, they published Untitled Goose Game and Firewatch, after creating Mac productivity software for over a decade previously.
Honestly, this continues to be the first handheld that makes sense to me as a desirable device. Just because it goes for a different experience you can’t have anywhere else.
My Playdate shipped!
Kind of envious. Like I said, I’ve never seen the appeal of a handheld, including now that I own a couple. But this one? I see the appeal. It’s a weird quirky thing. I wish I had one.
So how are you liking it?
It’s such an odd little thing. I like it, but it’s odd.
I think I like the gimmick of a “season” of games, but it makes first impressions a little weird when I’ve only just gotten access to the third and fourth games.
The first was a very simple arcade-y game, the second was a very simple photography adventure game. The third and fourth that just unlocked this week are a silly, puzzle-y side scroller, and a simple audio sequencer.
They’re all very lightweight games. They wouldn’t literally all work as Warioware mini games, but they have that kind of whimsical feel. Nothing I want to play for more than 10 minutes at a time, but also I do keep coming back to them for more little chunks of gaming.
The hardware looks and feels great, though ergonomically it’s only suited for these quick sessions.
Two biggest problems: everyone mentions it, but you really need good lighting to play it. And the second problem is the screen is awfully small for some of the text. This has only been an issue in one of the three games so far, but I still have better than 20/20 vision (in one eye) and it’s right up at the limits of what I can read comfortably.
I would describe it overall as “thoughtfully quirky”.
The playdate twitter account has a thread going where they highlight interesting games (mostly) available to side load.
I’ll probably check out Tapeworm Disco Puzzle and Eyeland at least.
I don’t have a Playdate but I noticed itch.io has a tag for it:
That’s a lot of stuff to check out! Almost makes me want one…
Edit: my girlfriend loved the original Game Boy and prefers mobile gaming with quirky oddities… hmm, this could be a cool present.
The “A Joke Worth $0.99” video did the best job possible convincing me i’m not the target audience for Playdate.
Got the email this morning that my Playdate is on the way!
Found out today that indie devs were being invited to make games for the Playdate in 2014. They spent a long time working on this thing before they announced it.
Mine arrived today! It is such a neat device. I expect most of the games to be trifles. Curious to see if there is any kind of “killer app” and, if there is, what it might be like.
I’m curious it hear how your hands deal with it. Do they cramp after very long or do you get hand fatigue?
That’s why you have a manservant wind the crank.
It’s not exactly ergonomic, but at the same time, it’s not heavy at all and it can easily be grasped in one hand (like for games that are all driven by the crank), so I feel like that makes a difference. Ultimately, though, I don’t think it’s going to be a platform I spend six hours straight on, so I doubt it matters.
The Playdate community held an awards show. This Twitter thread includes all the winners, and quite a few trailers for upcoming Playdate games (apparently they were taking a page out of the Game Awards’ book).
Also, Panic has announced Catalog, the on-device store app that’s coming sometime next year, I think.
I can’t believe Bloom didn’t get any awards. Looks like Ratcheteer was the stand-out game of season 1 for the community.
March 7th.
If you want to view the video directly, here it is:
For those who actually have one of these things, do you actually use it much? Is it more like, you spend an hour each week checking out the new games and call it good?
I’d say it’s mostly like that, because so many of the games are small and light. But there are occasional games that kept me coming back a little longer. Bloom (which is on itch, but was also just announced as being on Catalog) was one of them. I also think Sasquatchers is the kind of game that has more staying power, since it’s an X-Com-ish strategy game. So they’re few and far between, but there are some stickier, less novelty experiences. But I think getting little game-candies delivered to your door is still predominantly how it feels.
Anyone else update their device and still not see Catalog? I even got one of the free games through the web version of Catalog and it hasn’t shown up on my device yet. Huh.
ADDENDUM: Just took a little while, apparently!