This Charming, Oddball Crank-Powered Console Is Getting a New Season of Games

Two years ago, the world got the hand-cranked portable gaming device it didn’t know it needed. Now, the quirky Playdate handheld console is getting a fresh batch of games.

In a video announcement Thursday, Playdate developer Panic said season 2, which includes about a dozen games, is coming in 2025. Also in the works is a “really cool surprise thing,” according to Christa Mrgan, who makes videos and podcasts at Panic and who hosted the announcement video. 

When the Playdate console debuted in 2022, one of the draws for buyers was a season of games that rolled out every week and were free to keep. That first season included 24 games. 

CNET reviewer Scott Stein called the Playdate his favorite gadget of 2022. “It’s immersive in its own small, inviting way,” he wrote at the time. “Everything about the Playdate’s design feels like part of the experience. In a sense, every game made for it feels like a piece of its crank-enabled charm.”

Reached for comment, Panic said that Playdate owners who want to experience season 2 as it rolls out will need to purchase the season when it arrives next year via Catalog, the company’s app store. Details on price, the exact number of games and the developers behind the season 2 games will come in 2025.  

While we wait on the season 2 details, here are some other games, featured in the video, that are on their way to the Playdate catalog app store:

• Owlet’s Embrace, a side-scrolling adventure featuring a cute owl who’s afraid to fly.
• Comet, a puzzle adventure about Stella, a girl searching through the dark for her brother.
• Office Chair Curling, which looks to be a very funny game with “breathtaking realism” about throwing office chairs around.
• Bwirds, a vocabulary game in which you help writers create words from letters attached to birds.
• Devils on the Moon Pinball, an occult-themed pinball game from the creators of Pullfrog Deluxe.

Bwirds is scheduled for release on Nov. 26. Dates for the others are more tentative.

In the video, the company also said the $199 console will be back in stock in December and that pizza box covers are available for it. They cost $29. The company also announced a two-week catalog sale that ends Nov. 14. The Playdate now has more than 200 games available.

On a less positive note, Panic has paused development of an eye-catching Bluetooth stereo dock that it says it’s had difficulty producing. 

Correction, Nov. 1: This article originally misstated the games coming in season 2. Those titles haven’t yet been revealed.