Teddison Inc
Teddison Inc has been my phone replacement for the past few days. When there’s down time in between meetings, or during commercial breaks, or while waiting for the oven to preheat… instead of seeing all the terrible stuff happening all over the world on social media, I check on the big numbers on my Playdate. And this has some BIG ones.
If you’ve never tried an idle game, it’s basically something that will keep growing even while you’re not looking at it. You start with a humble bicycle that you have to crank yourself to build up watts of energy, but your cranks are quickly automated. You build a gym full of bicycles to generate even more power. It costs more, but the return is greater. You upgrade your bikes, build more gyms, expand your realm of influence. The energy you generate harnesses you bigger and more powerful energy sources. The numbers keep going up, as long as the screen is on.
With a power saving mode and a way to turn off the screen auto lock, this little game will keep plugging away as your little desk buddy all day long. Spare moment? Turn all the power it generated while you left it alone into something greater. Network your factories together to boost their efficiency and make bigger numbers, faster. Expand your influence all the way to space! And then reset the whole thing, while keeping your upgrades, for another go-around.
There are many badges to collect (basically achievements) and some cute writing when you unlock a bigger power source. There are a few typos, and some of the upgrades don’t seem to do much compared to others with a similar cost, but it can be really soothing… the steady dopamine drip of numbers going up and then unlocking something new when they’re big enough.
Idle games reward waiting. Keep watching the pot and it takes forever to boil, but look away and your cup will quickly runneth over. This week, I’ve had my cat and Teddison Inc: two little buddies that you shouldn’t play with too much, but are both very rewarding if you give them some time after a rest. And you only have to use the crank for a little while! I’ve tried “numbers go up” games that you have to keep cranking, and I just don’t have the joints for that anymore. This is more like starting an old-timey car – crank to start, then let ‘er go.
(Released November 30, 2024, on Itch, and April 8, 2025, on Catalog. Copy provided by developer.)