Playdate leans hard on that retro-cool factor, but it’s also adorable. Everything about it seems designed to leave you thinking “cute!” The tactile experience is brilliantly merged with the system software in ways that constantly delight, from the way the system wakes from sleep mode by opening onscreen eyes, one with each press of the power button, to the chirruping sounds as you pull out or dock the signature crank. Even the digital volume rocker—accessed through a Home menu button—is joyous, each notch higher or lower playing musical notes like a virtual xylophone. I found myself playing little tunes on it, just because I could.
While the hardware still effortlessly charms after three years, its unchanged nature means problems at launch are still problems now. The lack of a backlight remains particularly frustrating, making it tricky to use Playdate in dimmer spaces. It’s a deliberate design choice, intended to mimic newsprint, and it has the benefit of being easier on the eyes than staring at another glaring display, but getting the tiny screen to catch the light just right can be irritating. You can get around this by using Panic’s Mirror app to connect the handheld to a computer and play on a bigger screen, but that rather undermines the portability.
More annoyingly, while the handheld technically has Bluetooth, the feature is not actually supported. The only audio-out option beyond the built-in speaker is wired headphones through a 3.5-mm jack. Panic promises that “Bluetooth functionality will arrive in a future system update,” but with no sign of it three years in—and after the cancellation of a planned Bluetooth speaker dock (that was also a pen holder, because again, hipster)—it’s not looking promising. With the base console price increasing to $229 as of March 2025 (Panic cites increased production costs), this lack of functionality may rankle.
Appointment Gaming
Playdate’s entire first season of 24 games is included with the console’s purchase, and although it’s now possible to switch off the weekly rollout and gain access to the whole package in one go, I decided to try approaching as it was originally intended. The first two out of the gate are Casual Birder, which struck me as a delightful cross between Pokémon Snap and Earthbound, and Whitewater Wipeout—a game that proves the single best way to introduce to the console to newcomers.
If the Playdate is channeling the Game Boy, then this is its Tetris, with a simple play loop—surf left on a giant wave, pull off spin tricks using the crank, rack up the highest score possible—honed to addictive perfection. It’s a brilliant showcase for players and developers alike of how clever use of the Playdate’s crank can pair with smart game design to create truly unique play experiences. The only problem? I absolutely sucked at it to begin with.
This was where the schedule approach began to shine though. On more conventional platforms, with hundreds of games uploaded daily to Steam alone, it’s easy to fall into a trap of instant gratification. Not enjoying a game immediately? Shut it down, try a new one. With Playdate, I initially had only those two games to hand, which forced me to practice, learning how best to time jumps and mastering the surprisingly precise crank controls. As a result, Whitewater Wipeout became a firm favorite. Its tightly focused mechanics pair perfectly with the Playdate’s portability, making it easy to dive in for quick sessions here and there, but constantly rewarding skill.
