This charmingly strange crank-powered console is getting a new season of games
Two years ago, the world got the portable gaming device it never knew it needed. Now the quirky Playdate handheld console is getting a new range of games.
In one video announcement On Thursday, Playdate developer Panic said that Season 2, which will include about a dozen games, will come in 2025. There’s also a “really cool surprise thing” in the works, according to Christa Mrgan, who makes videos and podcasts at Panic and hosted the announcement video.
When the Playdate console debuted in 2022, one of the draws for buyers was a season of games that came out every week and were free to keep. That first season including 24 games.
CNET reviewer Scott Stein named the Playdate his favorite gadget of 2022. “It’s compelling in its own small, inviting way,” he wrote at the time. “Everything about the Playdate’s design feels like part of the experience. In a way, every game made for it feels like a piece of its charm.”
Reached for comment, Panic said that Playdate owners who want to experience Season 2 as it rolls out will have to purchase the season when it arrives next year through Catalog, the company’s app store. Details on the price, the exact number of games, and the developers behind the Season 2 games will come in 2025.
While we wait for season 2 details, here are some other games, seen in the video, on their way to the Playdate catalog app store:
- Owlet’s Embrace, a side-scrolling adventure featuring a cute owl who is afraid of flying.
- Comet, a puzzle adventure about Stella, a girl who searches through the dark for her brother.
- Office Chair Curling, which seems to be a very funny game with “breathtaking realism” about throwing office chairs around.
- Bwirds, a vocabulary game where you help writers create words from letters associated with birds.
- Devils on the Moon Pinball, an occult-themed pinball machine from the makers of Pullfrog Deluxe.
Bwirds is scheduled for release on November 26. Dates for the others are more cautious.
In the video, the company also said the $199 console will be back in stock in December and all Pizza box covers are available for it. They cost $29. The company also announced a two-week catalog sale, ending November 14. The Playdate now has more than 200 games available.
On a less positive note: Panic has paused development of a striking Bluetooth stereo dock that it says it has had difficulty producing.
Correction, November 1: This article originally misrepresented the Season 2 games. These titles have not yet been revealed.
