Playdate Community Direct - Summer 2024
Hosted by PossiblyAxolotl, the first interview I ever did on this site, here is the Summer 2024 Playdate Community Direct! You can watch the hour-long showcase yourself here, and download the companion app for your own Playdate here!
This thing you’re about to read is kind of an unofficial companion post? I’ve assembled links to (almost) all the games so you can follow along with their development and get excited! Some of the games don’t have Itch pages yet, but I’ll do my best to keep this post updated over the coming months.
There’s a lot to look forward to in the 1-bit world of our favorite tiny yellow console. I’ll give you the game with a link and a short description. Don’t think of this as the “complete” show experience (far from it), but use it instead as a place to fill out your Itch.io “following” list after you watch the Direct yourself… and maybe buy some games that are already out. Let’s get to it!
Hope Lost – zombie bases, upgrade, defend, survive! Demo available now!
Agents of Groove – Disco rhythm game with a funny/weird story. Disco PaRappa on Playdate?
Along Came a Spider: Valley of the Hollow – Pulp adventure game, long-awaited sequel. No link yet, but here’s fat nose games on Itch.
Life’s Too Short: On Reflection – Catalog, Itch, or Playdate Unofficial writeup!
Magic Castle – surprise launched on Itch for $3.99!
Echo The Oracle’s Scroll from @bumbleborn – non-violent Metroidvania about climbing, like Hollow Knight and inspired by Zelda music. Cave Story vibes. YES, exactly what I want. Devlog here. No game page yet on Itch but follow dev here.
Cabel is here! Talks about the lost and found Playdates! Loves this community! (I’m gonna try to interview him later – he seems approachable and nice and maybe won’t even be mad at my unofficial Playdate website.) New Playdate cover coming after they move off Shopify. What color are we thinking?
PossiblyAxolotl is here to remind us to buy the Fun in the Sun ‘24 Bundle! I already bought it (of course – it’s 48% off regular price for ten cool games!), but you can get a special, only-20-made bundle box including a zine, two trading cards, wristband, sunglasses, tote bag, and LED fan! The “Fun in the Sun Box” and all the other Uncrank’d magazines can be bought HERE.
Bundle games:
Echoes of the Emergent – from makers of Bloom. Story-heavy, kinda creepy. Hope nothing happens to that cat! (Catalog link.)
Poker Poker Magic – poker and magic and Puzzle League?
Crank It! – Like Bop It! but local hotseat multiplayer on Playdate. Filmed at Papa Kenos and I would love a pizza right now. (Catalog link.)
The Heist of the Argonaut Limited – D&D-style text-based single-player TTRPG for Playdate! (Catalog link.)
Faraway Fairway (didn’t make it into bundle, alas, but available now) – mental health golf game!
Gnarthex drumming to Mars After Midnight and Direct Drive songs.
Sacre Sleuth by XaniaLasagna – you get to be a detective; lots of great-looking character art.
CrankVenture Capitalist – save your mom from aliens by earning money?
Shield Arena – survive waves of enemies with your shield.
Top Binz! – garbage man sim by Damos Games.
Bwirds – whimsical word game, do certain missions for certain characters by spelling certain things!
Be Kind To Yourself – wrote about this one already! A quote from yours truly is in this part of the video. ;-; My first direct, won’t be my last! (Catalog link.)
(That’s all the bundle games - what a list!)
Asobimon by Black Hole Collective/@leftovernick – monster catcher game with fusion mechanics, so Pokémon but elevated. My wife is SO excited for this (she was screaming and swearing and it was so cute). Wish Playdate was backlit so we could play all night!
Jump Truck teaser – no Itch page yet but look at this.
HOMERUN: Spin-Off Forever from @MubarakAlkhuzai – use crank as baseball bat, game carts inside the game, reminds me of Rusty’s Real Deal Baseball on 3DS (complimentary).
Shellsligner – cowboy duel game? Wild character designs. From Pizza Fuel.
Dolphin Splash! – Been so long since an Ecco the Dolphin-type game, and this is crank only. Out now for $4! Has level editor!
Gnarthex is back with Casual Birder and Ratcheteer covers.
Further and Rarer by Joel Moss – grid-based procedural dungeon delve! Pulp game. Looks like you can really spend a long time in this one, like an old Ultima. Crammed so much in here – inventory and procedural dungeons and lots to see!
Fortress by @84pinkflamingos – Pulp adventure RPG, looks like there’s tons to discover.
Fill ‘Er Up – Gas pump attendant game from Scenic Route Software. Many mini games in different genres. The CHARM on this one.
Baito Fight!!: Part-time Devil Hunter by King of Shibuya @kingshibuyaltd – made HANA. Playing this SOMEDAY SOON for the site. Real world-time life sim? Hard to explain, but sounds so cool. Real world/in-game melding, very unique. (Catalog link.)
One more Gnarthex set! Didn’t recognize this one but the album artwork said refractiveDX, then did a song from MDMA.
PossiblyAxolotl comes out one more time to thank everyone. And so do I!
Thanks, everyone involved, for making such a great Direct, and hopefully these links help you find everything you’re looking forward to. See you next time!