2023 Playdate Games of the Year
I don’t have articles for all of these yet, and one technically came out in 2022 but had a massive update in 2023 that basically doubled the size of the game, and like many others I didn’t even get my Playdate until 2023 so these were all “new to me.” But these were my five favorite Playdate games I played in 2023.
I also liked Tchia and Diablo IV last year. But the Playdate is what really made me feel something. Let’s begin.
5. Initial Daydream (Itch.io)
It’s like Dragon Warrior on the NES if it had a weird sense of humor and featured quality-of-life enhancements to make it feel like it wasn’t wasting your time and forcing a grind. You play as “The Choosed One” and get to make deliveries for various kingdoms, before it becomes something more. This is the only Playdate game that has made me cry, in a good way. The turn-based combat makes sense and the level-up method is interesting to fit within the constraints of Pulp. Terrific stuff.
4. ART&.. More (Catalog) (Itch.io)
There are a handful of these 1-bit art galleries by Ledbetter Games available right now, and this one has enough exploration elements and mini-games to make it feel like so much more than just a showcase of unique digital art, which would already be compelling enough reason to check it out. There are submissions from all across the Playdate Cinematic Universe, and you’ll recognize names and art styles from other games as you wander the halls, collect tokens for the mini-games in the arcade, and gander at all sorts of unique takes on what the Playdate screen can do. It always felt like there was more to explore and experience, and while it can be hard to drag myself to a physical art gallery sometimes, this plus some of the things in Dreams really brought the weirdness of digital design into my own home last year.
I played this game for maybe 15 minutes a day for a solid month. I’d never played a real-time SMS texting-based game like Mystic Messenger before, and the addition of the gardening plus some of the best characters I’ve ever read in a game meant I was here for the long haul. Originally conceived of as a small game jam game before the Playdate was even released, this is the one with all the post-launch endgame content I mentioned above that kept me coming back for more. The characters in this one are truly something special, in a way that not many games have ever pulled off.
2. Stars of the Screen (Catalog) (Itch.io)
This is… kind of a collection of old Windows screen savers with mini-games inside of them? I know, I’m underselling it. But I don’t really want to spoil it. This is one of those games that you let someone play on your Playdate for an hour without telling them anything about it. Go in blind and remember what video games can be when they’re not shackled by publisher demands. Truly original in a way I’ve not seen in a long time, Stars of the Screen is a big reason that I made this website, to tell people about games like Stars of the Screen. Please buy it so they make more games.
1. Resonant Tale (Catalog) (Itch.io)
Whereas Stars of the Screen shows what games could be in the future, Resonant Tale perfects the past, paying homage to Game Boy classic The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening and doing things with Pulp that no one could’ve imagined (including the people that created Pulp). It’s like playing the old Game Boy Zelda for the first time, with all the secrets and areas to explore and enemies to slay and townspeople to trade with. Feels… so great. Did I find every secret? I hope not. I’m going to play this game once a year forever. Resonant Tale isn’t just the best game of 2023; it’s a strong contender for Best Game of the Decade. It’ll take a lot to top this, but I’d love to see everyone try.