These five Playdate games are why you should get the handheld

I love the Playdate. It’s been sitting on my desk since it arrived in 2022, and I’ve always gravitated towards its library. There’s nothing quite like it at the moment, and every ounce of it feels unique in a world of homogeneity. Games that you’d never see anywhere else, and hardware that is rarely seen outside of, say, some Japanese arcade games.

The bottom line is that it’s fun. It doesn’t concern itself with trying to provide a massive, console-like experience with each game, instead opting to work within its limits, like handhelds used to do. They feature big chunky sprites, quick games, and some quite addictive little titles that have sucked up a good chunk of my time.

The Escapist recaps

• The Playdate launched in April 2022.
• It features bespoke games made just for the small handheld console.
• The console features a defining foldable crank that is used in gameplay.
• The Playdate sells for a RRP of $229 on the official website.
• Games release in seasons, to offer a continuing rolling slate of software.

They just don’t make handhelds like this anymore

The Playdate is unique in the handheld space as of now. Unless you go into actually purchasing retro hardware, you’re going to find that since the Nintendo Switch’s introduction in 2017, the “made for handheld” scene of games has mostly dried up. 

Even on mobile, most new games launching are either fitting a mold already established in the gold rush to be “the next one” or emulating big console releases.

This is with good reason. Hardware in systems like the Steam Deck or ROG Ally has pretty much reached parity with machines from 2019 or 2020, if not beyond. There’s no reason to sell a specific piece of software for a niche machine.

If you look at the retro handheld space, occupied by companies like Anbernic, TrimUI, and Miyoo, even these are merely methods to play older, full console experiences rather than dedicate themselves to what makes retro handhelds so good.

Instead, the Playdate is offering wholly unique experiences that you can’t exactly get anywhere else. Developers have to work within the limits of the hardware and the provided development kits. We’re already seeing some games come out, so that, to be honest, is a surprise. 

Titles like Trackmini and Super Agent even give fully realised 3D games that, yes, are basic in the grand scheme of things, but are thoroughly impressive on the tiny yellow Playdate.

Dig Dig Dino

• Developer: Dom2D & Fayer
• Released: 05/29/25
• Price: $9 (Also available in Season 2 for $39)

One of the Season 2 line-up, Dig Dig Dino, sees you as an archeologist digging up dinosaur bones and trying to put them together. The evil simplicity masks the wicked addictiveness of the constant need for reward.

Not every dig will be successful, and the failed runs might squeeze your brain into desperation. Once you hit that last bone or uncover that much-needed successful run though, it becomes all the sweeter.

To top it off, it features one of my favorite mechanics in all of video games, which is upgrading abilities to overcome the tribulations of the base game. At some point, you’ll have a small dog helping you, or you’ll be quickly digging through material that was once an irritant.

Even with its constant pummelling through a lack of success, I keep coming back to it. Like a dog with a bone.

Tiny Turnip

• Developer: Luke Sanderson
• Released: 06/26/25
• Price: $10 (Also available in Season 2 for $39)

A puzzle platformer that has you play as… a turnip! With arms! It’s laid out like a classic Metroid game, with a surprisingly large map for you to climb around and solve various puzzles in. It’s also one of the only Playdate games where extended use of the crank doesn’t begin to feel weird in the hands.

You control a turnip (with arms), using the crank to move said arms around to grip onto walls and manoeuvre around. Eventually, you’ll be able to roll and swim, all with their own quirks and hidden passages to discover.

Much like other games on this list, Tiny Turnip’s major success comes from its stripped-down nature. It’s incredibly well made, and in the future, I’d love to see the idea expanded upon, but this? This is a highlight of the $39 Season 2 bundle, giving me massive Metroid 2 and Super Mario Land 2 vibes in its aesthetics, while boasting gameplay that’s so in tune with the hardware that it feels like magic.

satOlite

• Developer: John Weachock
• Released: 03/14/24
• Price: $5

satOlite is a charming strategy game that has you defending planets by placing weapons into orbit. These range from lasers, rapid fire, and EMPs. The strategy doesn’t just come from ensuring that you have enough resources to shore up defences, but using the orbit to your advantage.

As each satellite behaves as it would in real life, satOlite rapidly becomes more than just resource management. One wrong placement can mean failing a level, but thankfully, the game is brief enough that you’ll overcome any challenge in time. There’s just something satisfying about swinging that crank around to place your defences, you know?

Spilled Mushrooms

• Developer: LuBu
• Released: 09/24/24
• Price: $7

There’s one thing that’ll always get the brain flowing, and that’s a digital card game. While it’s closer to say, a board game, Spilled Mushrooms’ fiendish puzzles had me cursing monochromatic images of bears and frogs.

As the title suggests, Spilled Mushrooms has you solving puzzles to pick up your fallen fungi. Using a deck of cards featuring animals, the game requires you to strategise through the different zones (forests, and the like) and match up animals that are best suited for the job. A tiny indicator in the corner of the cards features how many turns they’ll last and how many shrooms they can pick up.

At some point, you’ll begin to unlock different animals, like the platypus, which comes with a “confused” ability. Pairing this up with a negative effect from another critter will let you get the inverse. That’s just the precipice of where Spilled Mushrooms goes, as it very quickly begins to stack the odds against you. Let’s hope you can add up properly, because I sure can’t.

Inventory Hero

• Developer: Panic
• Released: 06/13/2022
• Price: Included with Season 1, bundled with the Playdate

If anyone knows what the premise of what a Playdate game should be, it’s developer Panic. One of the first titles out on the platform in 2022, Inventory Hero is a sublime, quick-paced game that feels like someone took an action RPG like Diablo and sliced it down to its bare essentials.

Rather than controlling anything directly, you’ll watch as your hero runs to the right, taking down enemies automatically. It’s up to you to manage their inventory and equipment, as well as their health, as you take on the forces of evil.

It’s a perfect Playdate game, as it’s devilishly simple, while ultimately being quite a challenging time at certain intervals. Coming up against a boss that’s tossing too much junk into the inventory, while desperately trying to ensure the one hat you have equipped isn’t lost to an accidental swap, is tantalising.

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References

1. https://play.date/