Weirdo 1-Bit TV Game Blippo+ Tunes Into Switch 2 And PC
Originally released on May 29, 2025, Blippo+ is a fake streaming service that beams TV shows from a parallel dimension onto the Playdate handheld. New episodes are being made available on a regular basis that build up an overall narrative, with the game content largely relegated (so far) to how shows are watched. A full-color version of the FMV oddity is set to appear on Switch 2 and PC on Sept. 23.
The concept of Blippo+ is that the residents of Planet Blip have become aware that their TV shows are being transmitted to a parallel world, and this revelation is developed through the various programmes gamers can watch. It’s made by Telefantasy Studios (a California-based creative studio), Dustin Mierau (a developer behind Path, Napster, and Playdate games), Noble Robot (a Minneapolis-based publisher), and YACHT (an art-rock band).
“With its eclectic slate of ad-free, non-demand, new wave programming from Planet Blip, Blippo+ is truly a revolution in television!” the developers said on the official Blippo Plus site.
“For the channel flipping fanatics who need that big screen experience, we have Blippo+ for Nintendo Switch and Steam, coming September 23rd! Time-travel through the technicolor landscape of Planet Blip as you piece together the planet-shaking story unfolding between the channels.”
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The Twilight Zone For Gamers
Panic, the creators of the Playdate, Untitled Goose Game, Thank Goodness You’re Here!, and the main publisher behind Blippo+, has compared the pseudo TV service to The Twilight Zone. That series is known for presenting a skewed take on our reality as things aren’t quite as they seem, so the description feels apt.
Channels that can be surfed through in Blippo+ include eighties-influenced programmes like Microwave Theatre (an alien MTV), Small Talk (a chat show), and Bushwalker (a first-person survival show). Although the Playdate version is dropping shows on a regular schedule, with game elements largely absent, the forthcoming color version will allow gamers to “time travel” between channels to piece together the overarching narrative.
Blippo+ debuted as part of Playdate’s Season 2 – this is the handheld’s latest batch of 12 games that gamers can buy a subscription to, with most games in a season not revealed until close to release. Other titles released alongside Blippo+ included Fulcrum Defender, by FTL developers Subset Games, and Shadowgate PD by Pixel Ghost.
Things Are About to Get Bent
Blippo+ is weird and unusual and unlike anything else doing the rounds, even in terms of FMV games. But perhaps weirdest of all is the involvement of YACHT, a three-piece California band with a storied history.
Outside of releasing nine albums, the band has been involved in various multimedia projects, including two apps, a documentary, and a six-storey sculpture in LA. They also attracted attention in 2016 after promoting themselves with a fake sex tape. At the time, the band addressed criticism with the following statement:
“We released (the sex tape) as a slowly-unveiling conspiracy, inspired in equal part by The X-Files, Nathan for You, and The KLF. It’s a project that allowed us to play with science fiction, the attention economy, clickbait journalism, and celebrity sex tapes all at once.”
Some of these topics are also part of Blippo+’s DNA, so YACHT’s involvement isn’t quite as strange as it may seem. Their collaboration might be a selling point to some, but the Playdate itself also has a unique hook – or rather, a crank. The device has a little crank on the side, which can be used in a variety of games to do anything from move a character to shift level scenery.
Blippo+ uses the crank as a way to tune into channels; it’s possible a recent patent by Nintendo (spotted on Bluesky) to add a crank to its Joy Con 2 controller could be related to this. Nintendo has been on a bit of a tear lately patenting ideas it didn’t originally have, so it’s already set a precedent.
With the upcoming release of Blippo+ on Switch 2 and PC, Panic and the game’s developers said: “Channel-surf the stars and discover the staticky, radical world of Planet Blip through its soaps, sitcoms, news, weather, and talk shows. But don’t touch that remote – because everything’s about to get bent.”
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