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Panic’s Playdate is the best play date I’ve had since childhood
The aesthetic is notable, a sleek yellow device that fits in your hand and that you can hold in an even less cumbersome way than you hold your phone. Released with the kind of exclusivity and availability rate as a Nike sneaker, or more comparably, any of Analogue’s products. I didn’t get it at first. I had a strong affinity for Panic, of course, because of their association with Untitled Goose Game, Thank Goodness You’re Here, but most notably, from years before: Firewatch. With an even better track record of publishing games than Annapurna Interactive (rest in peace), Panic getting into producing not only hardware, but niche hardware at that felt like they were selling membership to an exclusive club that I, a fan of indie games, would never get to participate in, but as I kept thinking about it and seeing people post about it, the device seemed increasingly more charming.
The first time I put my hands on a Playdate was on an emulator. Browsing itch.io the year after the Playdate’s release in 2022 made me feel like I was missing something not only in the moment I was missing it, but that the feeling was permanent; that I would never get to know. Obviously playing any Playdate game on an emulator prevents you from engaging with the main feature of the handheld, the crank, which I will go into detail later.
If you’ve never heard of the Playdate before, it looks like this:
Notice the crank on the side, and I can say, as a now owner of the Playdate, it is not a gimmick. It is as essential as the display is to the Switch, or maybe the best feature of the Switch is its portability, but I digress. Without putting your hands on it, I will admit that it is borderline impossible to sell another person on both the mindblowing utilization of the crank, as well as the tangible satisfaction of ‘cranking it’ for lack of technically a better term, but a funny one nonetheless. Even writing this, I am faced with this small regret that the vast majority of people who play video games, but specifically, even the people who enjoy small indie games (small here not intended as a disparaging term, but as a classification for the type of indie game on the Playdate) will never get to experience the utter joy of both the Playdate itself and the games on it.
After I bought a Playdate, the people I showed it to were less than impressed by both the price (about $200) as well as the size and nature of games on it. If you buy the Playdate (which I definitely recommend), I would encourage you to engage with it on its own terms because that’s what it requires. The one thing holding Playdate back from its own success is the boring and incurious idea that a handheld console has to be powerful and capable of playing “games”: the type of games that “gamers” play. Bliss is on the other side of any individual’s opposition to the Playdate in any and every form. As unwilling as any Call of Duty player would be to admit that a game like Root Bear is fun, what they don’t know is that Root Bear will hit the same part of their synapses that go off as rounding the corner and popping off the shotgun at an enemy.
Video games are experiences that feel good, and while there is genre preference, the brilliance of the Playdate is that the experiences feel universal, like they’re tapping into a specific joy that is not mitigated by preference or limited by ability, or even understanding.
The first game in the series of games that comes with the Playdate is called ‘Casual Birder’, an experience where you play a boy taking pictures of birds to complete objectives and satisfy NPCs. It is a wonder to play. It asks so little of you and yet offers you so much in return. I struggle to find words to describe these games because the simplicity of the experience is the point and yet, there is so much to say. Walking around town looking for birds invokes play in its purest sense, accentuated by looking at a small screen, using the crank to locate and photograph the birds that you find. Even in my first experience, I realized why the crank was essential; the importance of the how your hands move affects the game more than holding your hand in a static position for hours at a time like any controller or keyboard would ask of you. The Playdate asks you to ‘play’ with both it and the game you’re playing.
If you have any affinity for indie games, keep an eye on the Playdate and play it if you ever get a chance. I guarantee you will not regret it.
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Popucom makes matching three feel fresh
Popucom is poised for greatness. It’s rare for a puzzle platformer to really charm me in 2024, but it did just that. I’ve long since retired from the days of jumping and shooting just to collect coins, but this game pulled me back in.
It’s shockingly fun, diverse, and fast-paced, making me rethink my feelings towards the genre. The variety in the game is impressive. whether it’s the Zuma style mini-game (shooting colored balls in 3D match 3), phasing into different forms, and occasionally fighting robots.
The ways in which the differently tools smoothly combine the overcome a variety of ever-changing obstacles was genuinely surprising. The visual style and world are surprisingly immersive—cozy yet thrilling and brilliantly balanced for different skill levels.
Skilled players won’t often replay puzzles but will constantly feel a sense of newness and unexpected challenges. I honestly can’t wait to play more.
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This noun is probably for you
This noun is a new object created by talented artists working as a group to make something that falls squarely within a particularly niche interest. If you’re reading this, and took the time to read past the headline, then it’s likely that said niche interest is a niche interest that you, in particular, are inclined to want to know more about or want to consume media that is related to that interest. Otherwise, it is very unlikely you will make it to this sentence.
As a publication that for the most part writes exclusively about video games, you may find it interesting that we take the time to point out that you, in particular, may be interested in the game that you would likely be interested in any way and to some degree probably already know about considering that this noun is in either the New & Trending or Most Popular tab on Steam because we, as a publication, wouldn’t know about it either because the vast majority of the games we write about are games that are already receiving some sort of notable attention for their popularity (and in this case, the game that inspired this article was the fourth most popular game on Steam as of the time writing).
More critical readers might assume that the difference between an article such as this and an infomercial saying, “If you are having trouble opening jars, then this jar opening device is for you” is a vast one, but rest assured we are attempting to do basically the same thing and just hoping that you will never notice.
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Steam Next Fest Demos We Reviewed This Weekend
Demos are reviewed separately. Full releases will be evaluated again upon release though scores may remain the same.
Games are evaluated on a four-star rating system. For more information on our review process and rationale, click here.
Wild Woods
Simple and chaotic, yet difficult and rewarding though local multiplayer seems essential for enjoyment.
⭐⭐⭐
Temtem: Swarm
A fascinating survivors-like, a typically bloated genre, that feels satisfying to play despite a progression that sometimes feels repetitive.
⭐⭐⭐
Wilmot Works It Out
A cute puzzle game that relaxes the brain especially in contrast to the first game making it less appealing but charming nonetheless.
⭐⭐
Unrailed 2: Back on Track
A frenetic collaboration-required strategy roguelike that feels infinitely playable with a high skill cap.
⭐⭐⭐
Windblown
An action roguelite with co-op that ascends from the shoulders of the innovation and flow of Motion Twin’s previous game, Dead Cells.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Wild Woods Simple and chaotic, yet difficult and rewarding though local multiplayer seems essential for enjoyment.
⭐⭐⭐