Date Nite

I’m just a little Midwestern boy, so I don’t cry a lot. But Date Nite, a ~20-minute Playdate game made in Pulp, just really found the exact right way to get me. I didn’t cry because it was sad, though; I cried because it was so nice.

You wake up in the morning and your lady has to go to work. That’s fine for you, because it gives you the whole day to plan the perfect date night. You’re going to make her a fancy steak dinner, get her favorite flowers, and have it all ready for her when she gets home. All you need to do is go out into the world and pick that stuff up, then bring it home and cook it. Seems simple enough!

There are lots of obstacles out there, though: bees, cars, farms that only take minigame completion as a form of payment, normal things like that. Each hurdle you overcome gets you one step closer to the perfect surprise date night for someone that you care about deeply and really cares for you in return. The minigames are straightforward and easily understandable, and there are accessibility options, too, if you get stumped. It uses the crank on some, and others test your dodging skills. The punishment for failing a game is just restarting on the same screen, so there’s no need to worry that you won’t be able to see the end.

Things don’t go as planned, of course, but that doesn’t always matter. This game cuts right to the heart of what makes a relationship work, and that’s putting in the effort for someone that you care about more than yourself. I can very much relate, and hopefully you can, too! If not, well… hopefully you’ll like this little game about love, anyway, and it will still make you feel something like it did me. That’s how I’ve always judged games: how does it make me feel? This one: very happy and inspired. I love that Pulp can help little stories like this get told.

(Released October 30, 2024, on Itch.)