Playdate, the small yellow handheld game console from software developer and indie game publisher Panic, is still in the works without a solid release date. But Panic had quite a bit new updates to share Wednesday regarding its growing third-party developer program, including some really interesting-looking indie games that are made to run on the Game Boy-inspired gadget.
One of these titles, from game developer Nic Magnier of Keen Games, is the original Doom, which Magnier got inexplicably on the monochrome 2.7-inch display. You can even rotate the Playdate physical handwriting signature, which is an optional control input, to burn the icon Doom chaingun.
In its Twitter thread, Panic revealed that more than 250 developers around the world have physical Playdate devices as dev kits that they work on to create new, custom software for the platform. Not everything is even strictly game-related. Panic says developer Ryosuke Mihara is building a calligraphy tool that uses the hand crank to adjust the direction of your brush.
A fair amount of the other experiences Panic shared in her thread seem really fun, bite-sized takes on classic puzzle and arcade games.
We first heard about Playdate in May of last year, and since then, Panic has been relatively quiet. But the company says it is working hard to complete the project and ensure it has a robust library at launch.
‘It’s so early! There’s too much to tweet! And not all of these projects will ship! But it has been great to see and run these devs, experienced as otherwise, fast. Remember: every Playdate is a dev kit. You can make your own games when you get yours. If you will, wrote Panic. “Expect a BIG UPDATE in the coming months with our timeline, pre-order details, a surprise and title unveiling of all the free games you get in Playdate Season One !!”
