“The sooner you order, the sooner you’ll get one, but we're not going to close the door on you,” said Cabel Sasser in the first Playdate Update. “Hopefully it’s a pleasant experience. Although surely something will go wrong, so thanks in advance for your patience with whatever that thing is.”
Playdate Stereo Dock // Announced at Playdate Update
Panic also introduced the Playdate Stereo Dock, the first Playdate accessory. It’s a lovely way to store and charge your Playdate when not in use, a Bluetooth stereo speaker and, unexpectedly, can hold your pens. (It will include a pen.) Pricing and availability on the Playdate Stereo Dock is not yet available.
Along with pre-order information and a release window, the Playdate Update also revealed 21 out of the 24 exciting games included with Playdate as part of the Season One lineup (that’s double the amount of Season One games previously announced), new development partnerships for Playdate software and games, and more.
Playdate encourages developers to experiment with new ideas for play (and access to an analog crank, of course, should they want to use it), a sentiment fully on display in the 24 titles that make up Playdate’s Season One of games. The details of most of the games will be kept secret until they show up on the device! Playdate owners will receive two games per week for 12 weeks.
21 of the 24 games that make up Playdate Season One
The revealed Season One games are as follows:
- Crankin’s Time Travel Adventure
- Developed by: uvula (Keita Takahashi, Ryan Mohler), Matthew Grimm, and Shaun Inman
- Battleship Godios
- Developed by: TPM . CO SOFT WORKS.
- Boogie Loops
- Developed by: May-Li Khoe and Andy Matuschak.
- Casual Birder
- Developed by: Diego Garcia (he/him). Music and Sound by: Max Coburn (he/him).
- DemonQuest 85
- Developed by: Alex Ashby (he/him), Lawrence Bishop (he/him), Duncan Fyfe (he/him), Belinda Leung (she/her), and Jared Emerson-Johnson (he/him).
- Echoic Memory
- Developed by: Samantha Kalman (she/her), Everest Pipkin (they/them), Carol Mertz (she/her), and Rachelle Viola (she/her).
- Executive Golf DX
- Developed by: davemakes (they/them).
- Flipper Lifter
- Developed by: Serenity Forge.
- Forrest Byrnes: Up in Smoke
- Developed by: Nels Anderson (he/him) and Christina “castpixel” Neofotistou (she/her).
- Hyper Meteor
- Developed by: Vertex Pop (Mobeen Fikree [he/him], Robby Duguay [he/him], and h heron[they/them]).
- Lost Your Marbles
- Developed by: Sweet Baby Inc. & Friends.
- Omaze
- Developed by: Gregory Kogos.
- Pick Pack Pup
- Developed by: Nic Magnier (he/him), Arthur Hamer (he/him). Music by: Logan Gabriel (he/him).
- Questy Chess
- Developed by: Dadako.
- Ratcheteer
- Developed by: Shaun Inman, Matthew Grimm, and Charlie Davis.
- Sasquatchers
- Developed by: Chuck Jordan. Music and Sound by: Jared Emerson-Johnson.
- Snak
- Developed by: Zach Gage (he/him). Art by: Neven Mrgan (he/him).
- Spellcorked!
- Developed by: Jada Gibbs, Nick Splendorr, Ryan Splendorr, and Tony Ghostbrite. Music by: A Shell in the Pit (Em Halberstadt).
- Zipper
- Developed by: Bennett Foddy (he/him).
- Saturday Edition
- Developed by: Chris Makris. Music by: A Shell in the Pit (Gord McGladdery, Alfonso Salinas).
- Whitewater Wipeout
- Developed by: Chuhai Labs (Giles Goddard [he/him], Mark Lentz [he/him], Peter Traylor [he/him], Hero Liao [he/him], Remy Thor [he/him], Charlie March [he/him], Kensaku Nakata [he/him], Zach Aikman [he/him], Mihoko Terao [she/her], and Kinsey Burke [she/her]).
There will also be some extra surprise games along the way, some from Panic themselves.
Creative developers around the world continue to experiment with what’s possible on Playdate. As shown in today's Playdate Update, Panic shared news about two groups who are starting to work on exciting things for future Playdate games.
- Lucas Pope (Return of the Obra Dinn, Papers Please) is working on a new game for Playdate, Mars After Midnight.
- Narrative development company Sweet Baby will guide and mentor two teams of up-and-coming developers from marginalized communities, led by experienced veterans from the games industry, on the development of two original games for Playdate: Recommendation Dog, led by Xalavier Nelson Jr. (he/him), and Reel Steal.
List of developers working with Sweet Baby on these titles:
- Adanna Nedd
- Allis Conley
- Ariadne Macgillivray
- Ayla Myers
- David Bedard
- David Nguyen
- Eleanor Hebert
- Hassan DuRant
- Isaiah Henry
- James F. Wright
- Jay Squared
- Jenna Yow
- Jerry Belich
- Julia Minamata
- Kim Belair
- Louisa Atto
- Maxine Sophia Wolff
- Neha Patel
- Nikki Liu
- Rafael Batista
- Sherveen Uduwanna
- Will Herring
- Will Stacey
- Xalavier Nelson Jr
Mars After Midnight developed by Lucas Pope
Games being developed by Sweet Baby Inc. in collaboration with a group of up-and-coming developers from marginalized backgrounds, led by industry veterans.
Recommendation Dog development led by Xalavier Nelson Jr.
That’s not all, as many talented developers in the Playdate Developer Preview Program — a lottery program that took place last year to encourage early development and get feedback on the SDK — continue to tinker away on unique, inspiring projects.
Those showcased in the Playdate Update include:
- Noble Robot. Twitter: @NobleRobot.
- Matthew El-Jamal. Twitter: @matthew_ej.
- Matt Sephton. Twitter: @gingerbeardman.
- Andrea Interguglielmi. Twitter: @andreintg.
- Rokashi Games. Twitter: @rokashi.
- Michael Frei, Raphaël Munoz. Twitter: @michaelfrei10.
- davemakes (they/them). Twitter: @davemakes.
- DACvector (Dmitry Zhukov [he/him] and Chris Mandra [he/him]). Twitter: @kataStatik.
- Dustin Mierau (he/him). Twitter: @dmierau.
Developers will be able to sell future, independently developed software for Playdate themselves that can also be sideloaded onto Playdate. Panic will discuss possible plans for distribution of future titles, apart from sideloading content, at a later date.
Panic is excited to be working with such talented developers, and continues to encourage development with the announcement of Pulp, a brand new tool to create Playdate games — using just a web browser. This all-in-one game creation tool will allow anyone who feels inspired to bring their game ideas to life and onto Playdate thanks to its browser-based tools for coding, graphics, and music!
Learn more about Pulp in the Playdate Update or by visiting the Playdate website.
Pulp for Playdate Website
A wonderful piece of hardware like Playdate needs a home when not being played. Introducing: the Playdate Stereo Dock.
Designed by Teenage Engineering (like the Playdate itself), the Playdate Stereo Dock will charge your Playdate without the need to plug in a USB-C cable - and also acts as a Bluetooth speaker!
With the ability to output wonderful sound through the Playdate Stereo Dock, Panic is thrilled to announce a partnership with the retro inspired, super-summer music player Poolsuite FM. Formerly Poolside FM, and always relaxing and sure to put you in a good mood, Poolsuite FM is an online radio station with expertly curated Soundcloud playlists that will transport you to a magical, sun-kissed musical zone between the past and the present.
Playdate Stereo Dock // Playdate Cover
The Playdate Cover, a sleek protective case for your Playdate, was also unveiled today. Bundles with the Playdate Cover + Playdate will be available for pre-order at $199 USD. The cover by itself will be $29 USD.
Playdate pre-orders will be available to order at play.date in July. Panic will provide eager Playdate fans a week’s warning before pre-orders are available. More information on exact pre-order timing coming soon from Panic.
About Playdate
Playdate is a brand-new and truly unique gaming handheld system that is a celebration of video games. It’s yellow. It fits in your pocket. It includes brand new games from amazing creators. It has a beautiful black and white screen. And yes, it also has a crank.
Created with great attention to detail and affection by app developer and video game publisher Panic, Playdate hopes to capture the spirit of endless possibility and excitement that games have given us since the beginning. Playdate’s collection of games will delight players with their inventiveness and ingenuity. And in addition to introducing players to brand new games, Playdate also encourages people to create their own imaginative games and interactive software using a suite of easy development tools. In short, Playdate was made just for fun.
Playdate is a brand-new and truly unique gaming handheld system that is a celebration of video games. It’s yellow. It fits in your pocket. It includes brand new games from amazing creators. It has a beautiful black and white screen. And yes, it also has a crank.
Created with great attention to detail and affection by app developer and video game publisher Panic, Playdate hopes to capture the spirit of endless possibility and excitement that games have given us since the beginning. Playdate’s collection of games will delight players with their inventiveness and ingenuity. And in addition to introducing players to brand new games, Playdate also encourages people to create their own imaginative games and interactive software using a suite of easy development tools. In short, Playdate was made just for fun.
For hardware information, pictures, and more details on Playdate visit the Press Kit here: play.date/mediakit
Find Playdate on Twitter at @playdate, @playdatealerts, and on their website at play.date
For special interview requests or any other requests, get in touch with pr@popagenda.co
Find Playdate on Twitter at @playdate, @playdatealerts, and on their website at play.date
For special interview requests or any other requests, get in touch with pr@popagenda.co
About Panic Inc.
Founded in 1999, Panic is an ancient corporation in Portland, Oregon that relentlessly follows its heart in an effort to make nicely made things that bring everyday joy. Originally — and still — a Mac app developer, Panic has also become a highly-focused video game publisher that has helped to release into the world Firewatch, Untitled Goose Game, and the upcoming interactive food game, Nour: Play With Your Food. In the spirit of creating products that bring joy, Panic has been incredibly busy finishing development of their very own handheld video game system, Playdate.
Visit their website: https://panic.com/
Find Panic on Twitter