In May 2019, Panic Inc., the publisher of Firewatch and Untitled Goose Game, announced a rather strange console called Playdate. The device immediately aroused interest not only among fans of retro consoles, but also among everyone who loves all kinds of game for playing video games. The main reason for this curiosity was a special input method — crank. Let’s find out how the first retro console from the indie game publisher turned out in our Playdate review.
Content
| Equipment | Playdate USB-C cable Instructions |
| Size | 76×74×9 mm |
| Mass | 85 г 130 g with cover |
| CP | ARM Cortex-M7F 180 MHz |
| RAM | 16 MB |
| Memory | 4 GB |
| Screen | 2.7 inches, 400×240 1-bit (173 ppi) |
| Sound | Mono speaker 3.5 mm headphone jack |
| Communications | 802.11bgn 2.4GHz Wi-Fi Bluetooth (software disabled) |
This is a self-contained console with only a 2.7-inch single-bit screen. But it has four gigabytes of memory that can hold about seventy games, which is not even half of the available games in the store. The Playdate is also tiny, so you can easily carry it in your pocket or handbag and play at any time.
Once upon a time, there was an indie game festival with the same name, Playdate. And a year before the announcement, the console developers, yes, the console developers, sent a request to the festival organizers to change the name to avoid confusion. As a result, everyone kept their names, and even more, Panic became a sponsor of the festival. However, the festival was closed due to covid.
The manufacturer chose an interesting way to sell the console. First, they collected orders, and only then sent the console to production. The device was sold in such queues for quite some time. The first batch of 20 thousand pre-orders in July 2021 was sold out in 20 minutes. At the same time, the first buyers had to wait for the console for eight months, until April 2022.
As of February this year, more than 70 thousand copies of the console have been sold by pre-order. Playdate is currently available for pre-order on the website for $199. A bundle with a case is also available for $219, which costs $30 separately.
The cover is magnetized and attached with metal legs to the metal grooves of the console. Very reliable and does not damage the case.
The price tag itself is as impressive as the console. It should be borne in mind that there is no direct delivery to Ukraine. And this is plus carrier services, plus customs duties. And don’t forget about shipping in the US with state taxes. All the additional costs together with the console amount to about $300, which is the cost of a new Nintendo Switch.
Given the absence of direct competitors, the uniqueness, and quality of the device, perhaps its price is justified. So what do they offer us for this kind of money?
Playdate package is simple: the console itself and a USB-C charging cord in the color of the console itself. And that’s it. But it’s packaged in a stylish and minimalist way.
The console is very well assembled. It seems that it is a monolithic piece of durable high-quality plastic, and partly it is. The buttons are pressed very nicely, and the speaker is powerful for its size. And in general, the console sounds just great. When you pull out the casing, it’s like a holiday.
With the case, the Playdate weighs only 130 grams, meaning you can play for a long time without getting tired.
Playdate is both a very retro and a very modern console. Along with the single-bit screen, there is a USB-C port, a 3.5 mm headphone jack, Wi-Fi, and even a Bluetooth module. The latter, however, is for some reason programmatically disabled. You can even take screenshots from the menu.
The biggest drawback and even problem of the console is its screen.
It has no backlight at all, so you can’t play in the dark at all. And even with good lighting, it’s hard to call it comfortable. The ideal place would be sitting under a lamp or on a bench on a sunny day.
But the screen has a 170-degree viewing angle and uses a technology similar to electronic ink, which saves battery. The console takes a long time to discharge, and a full charge takes about an hour with a slow charger. In fact, I used to leave the console on charge while I was doing something else, and when I came back, it was already fully charged. I think modern power supplies will replenish the charge much faster.
The main reason for my interest in the Playdate — crank. It’s made very cool and reliable, it turns without scraping the case and is quite light. And it hides if you don’t need it because not all games use this input method.
Games can be conditionally divided into those that are completely tied to the corb, those that partially or optionally involve it, and those that don’t need this lever at all. I’m not going to talk about all the games, I’ll only mention the ones I’ve played the longest or that have stuck with me in some way.
Oddly enough, the game that stuck with me the longest was Inventory Hero, which doesn’t require a corkscrew. It’s a kind of auto-battler-autorunner. The character does everything by himself, and we need to use drop-down items to dress and heal him. Sometimes the inventory can be infected with some kind of sore, like rabbits, and you need to quickly reset them so that it doesn’t replace the entire inventory. The game is very dynamic and addictive.
I’d like to mention two toys related to the crank. The first one is called Flipper Lifter. It is literally a penguin elevator simulator. We twist the crank to deliver the penguin to the desired floor. Gradually, new floors are added, which complicates the task.
The second one is Timetravel Adventure. In this game, a robot that looks like the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz is late for a date. We need to spin the crank as fast as possible so that he finally reaches his beloved. But there are various obstacles on the road, such as a wild boar or a butterfly. Spinning the crank in the other direction seems to rewind time for the Woodcutter, but the insidious butterfly continues to fly forward. This back and forth manipulation is how we avoid obstacles.
These two games are more like «experience» and a demonstration of the console’s capabilities. But Casual Birder is something more full-fledged. Here we walk around the village taking pictures of different birds. Crank serves as a zoom lens (we zoom and focus with it).
There are a lot of games on Playdate. They all differ in complexity and visuals. There are simple experiences, and there are almost full-fledged RPGs. Some are very simple visually, and some are almost works of art.
The games cost $1-5 on average, but there are also some for $15, which is a lot. However, the console comes with 24 games of the first season, which were released weekly during the first months of the console’s release. It is unknown whether there will ever be a second season, but even these games should be enough to unleash the console’s potential.
The official store has more than 180 games. Also on the itch.io website in the corresponding section you can buy hundreds of games for a symbolic donation (or for free), and I found a special Playdate version of Celest there.
What’s cool is that the official website has a full-fledged SDK for developers and other programs and services, such as an online designer, to design the game yourself. There is also a program for streaming the image to a PC. I recorded most of the gameplay footage for this review with its help, and a few were made directly with the capabilities of the console itself (the difference is easy to see).
From the first touch, the Playdate gives the impression of a high-quality device. The body is solid and sturdy. Despite its square shape, the console is comfortable to hold due to its light weight. The buttons and the crossbar are pressed effortlessly, but the first thing your hand reaches for is the cortex.
The lever is hidden in a niche and can be easily removed at the first need, accompanied by a short musical accompaniment. The speaker is loud, and the sound is not distorted even at maximum volume. Each click and button press is accompanied by a distinctive and very pleasant sound.
The menu can be navigated with the cortex, which in fact you want to do only in the first minutes of use, but the traditional crossbar is more convenient for this. The menu is logically structured and surprisingly fast. At any time during the game, you can call up the side menu where you can immediately adjust the volume, take a screenshot or go to the main screen.
Since I’ve had the console, there have been several updates and additions to the catalog, which are notified by a small diode on the unlock button. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of games, their quality, and diversity, as well as the price tag for some of them.
Unfortunately, the console has no Ukrainian localization. The only interface language is English.
I had Playdate for quite a while, but I don’t remember any gaming sessions lasting longer than 20-30 minutes. But I don’t think the developers were counting on long gaming sessions. Still, it’s an ideal console for short trips on public transport, waiting in line, or just spending a few free minutes with a unique device. Moreover, the backlit screen is quite treacherous. Sometimes you have to catch the light to make the image on the screen bright, which is not always convenient.
However, absolutely all the drawbacks disappear after playing with the crank. It seems to be a fairly simple mechanism, but the back-and-forth motion is very addictive. And although not all games support the corkscrew, many developers are competing to see who can use the console’s main feature more inventively.
Playdate left very positive emotions, and I’m glad I was able to enjoy this unique experience, but it’s unlikely to replace a full-fledged console or PC.