Handheld Playdate Gets Bumper Game Update
Playdate, the crank-powered gaming handheld, is getting 12 new games in its Season Two, which starts on May 29, 2025. Two games will be released each week, across six weeks.
Playdate is made by Panic, a Portland-based game studio and publisher. Unlike every other gaming handheld on the market, Playdate features a miniature crank handle that can be turned and used as an additional controller for games. Panic also rolls-out games under season passes, and each title is exclusive to the Playdate.
“A bundle of unique and wonderful new games, only available here. Discover them each week along with the rest of the Playdate community starting May 29,” Panic said on the official Playdate site.
The company also released a YouTube update video, in which they highlighted some of the dev teams involved in Season Two, including Subset (FTL, Into The Breach) and JuVee Productions (co-founded by Oscar-winning actress Viola Davis).
Playdate Season Two Games
Playdate games are only ever available on the device itself, and can be downloaded through Catalog, the handheld’s firmware, via wifi. Season One featured games by a wide variety of indie developers and covered genres as diverse as RPGs, puzzle, and even rhythm games.
Season Two includes Fulcrum Defender, by Subset Games, in which players need to use the crank to target enemies and stop them reaching the centre of the screen. Then there’s Taria & Como, a physics-based puzzle platformer by Popseed Studio Inc and JuVee Productions.
Other games revealed for Season Two include Dig! Dig! Dino, Shadowgate PD, Black Hole Havoc, CatchaDiablos, Chances Lucky Escape, Long Puppy, Otto’s Galactic Groove, The Whiteout, Tiny Turnip, and Wheelsprung. Full details for most titles are still being kept under wraps until closer to their releases, which is common for Season games.
Catalog And Game Development
The Playdate wouldn’t be much of a handheld games console if it was only limited to Season games, though. As such, its Catalog is always being added to with new titles that gamers can check out, with well over 160 currently available.
Panic also actively encourages people to develop games for Playdate, which can then be submitted to the company for possible inclusion in the Catalog, or maybe even a future Season.
The SDK (Software Development Kit) is free to use, although it does require Lua and C APIs for coding. There’s a web-based game editor available, too, called Pulp, that’s self-contained and free.
Inside The Playdate
Panic worked with Teenage Engineering, a well-known company behind boutique music equipment, to create the Playdate. Other than its signature crank, it also features A and B buttons and a d-pad as game controls.
The screen has a 400 × 240 1-bit monochrome display with special reflective tech, rather than being backlit (so graphics appear clear and sharp). It comes with 16 MB RAM and 4 GB Flash as storage; as an example of game size, Season Two’s 12 titles should only take up 556 MB of space.
The built-in battery can last for up to 8 hours for gameplay, and up to 14 days when left on the standby clock. There’s wifi and Bluetooth connectivity, and in terms of audio it outputs to mono but has a stereo jack and built-in condenser mic. Users can also get covers for the device to protect it when on the go.
As well as being behind Playdate, Panic has published a number of well-known games, such as Firewatch, Thank Goodness You’re Here! and Untitled Goose Game.
