Playdate Podcast
The Playdate Podcast goes behind the scenes of Playdate, a unique handheld game console with a 1-bit screen and a crank. In each episode, host interviews game designers and developers about their process, challenges, and stories from making games for the platform. The show also covers the tools available for aspiring creators, such as the free software development kit and its no-code, browser-based game maker, Pulp. It aims to inspire listeners to try making their own Playdate games.
Episodes
Taria & Como
Can a puzzle platformer with a unique mechanic, a resilient protagonist, and a gorgeous synth and cello soundtrack empower you to be a force for good in the world? Creator Kip Henderson thinks so, recounting the story of the game's development, and how the idea for Taria and Como evolved over the years, and tossing a slipper into the air led to the game's fun and challenging grapple mechanic! Plus
Black Hole Havoc
How did a shared love of Puzzle Bobble and a question about Pulp lead to a Cosmic connection? Drew Loebach, Antony Saillard, and Karim Chair talk about how they teamed up to make Black Hole Havoc a fun and challenging action puzzle game filled with goofy jokes, silly surprises, and glorious animated cutscenes.
Chance's Lucky Escape
Has luck finally run out for the world's luckiest dog? Chance's Lucky Escape creators Yann Margan and Julia Minamata talk about the game's origins, using ALL of Playdate's controls, inspirations from retro cartoons and films, and the fun of subverting expectations.
This Week on Blippo+ — Week 06
PAGING PATIENT ZERO - Your audio Electronic Program Guide summary of what's on this week, only on Blippo+
Tiny Turnip
Luke Sanderson on how his game Tiny Turnip, a crank-centric climbing metroidvania, grew from its sibling game, Turnip Mountain! How'd he land on the game's unique mechanics? And why a turnip? PLUS: level design, difficulty balancing, and collaborating with composer Isabelle Chiming.
This Week on Blippo+ — Week 05
POWER TO THE PUMPULATOR - Your audio Electronic Program Guide summary of what's on this week, only on Blippo+
Shadowgate PD
Playdate is a console that feels both nostalgic and brand new—and Pixel Ghost's Ollie Coe has achieved that same blend of past influences and fresh adventure with Shadowgate PD! Hear what it took to bring this OFFICIAL remake to Playdate!
CatchaDiablos
Why hunt one demon when you can catch 'em all? Mario and JP of Amano Games talk about forming a game studio, the challenge of developing two games at once, and how they're always on a quest to learn new things!
This Week on Blippo+ — Week 04
A LEAP OF FAITH — Your audio Electronic Program Guide summary of what's on this week, only on Blippo+
Long Puppy
Eat, stretch, and fetch with Long Puppy designer and developer Indiana-Jonas, who walks us through the inspiration for his game, the challenges of translating his comic art style to 1-bit, and play-testing and iterating a LOT in order to figure out the gameplay loop.
This Week on Blippo+ — Week 03
YOU CAN COUNT ON ME — Your audio Electronic Program Guide summary of what's on this week, only on Blippo+
Otto's Galactic Groove!!
What makes a great rhythm game? The creators of Otto’s Galactic Groove join us to talk about combining classic rhythm elements, a fun narrative, and great art—plus getting the feel and timing just right on Playdate. Get ready to crank your way through the cosmos, meeting funky characters, and playing even funkier tunes!
Wheelsprung
You'll flip for Wheelsprung, a platformer with nutty physics! Award-winning Playdate developers Nino van Hooff and Julie Bjørnskov have teamed up to create 34 levels of spring-loaded fun, where you play as a squirrel on a dirt bike. The duo discuss their collaboration on a game full of fun mechanics and detailed, hand-drawn art—and how they approached development challenges like difficulty balanci
The Whiteout
Steve Chipman, whose Playdate games have been featured on Engadget's "Best Of" lists and nominated for Playdate Community Awards, talks about his love of adventure games, their unique design challenges, and how he wanted to create something unlike anything he'd done before with his dark and brooding narrative adventure, The Whiteout.
Fulcrum Defender
How long will you last in Fulcrum Defender? Find your optimal build and perfect your aiming skills to survive in this crank-powered, arcade action game! Jay Ma of Subset Games talks about what makes a great action game, getting back into game development after years of struggling with Long Covid, and how her game became part of Playdate Season Two!
Dig! Dig! Dino!
Join a crew of paleontologists and dig up some mysteries in action-puzzle game Dig! Dig! Dino!, part of Playdate Season Two! Creators Antonio Uribe (aka Fáyer) and Dominique Ferland (aka Dom2D) talk about creating a gameplay loop that feels good, weighting and balancing to make sessions feel light and finish-able, and adding poop to the game!
Oom and Pullfrog
'Oom' and 'Pullfrog' launched simultaneously on Playdate's Catalog last year,offering different—yet surprisingly complementary—gaming experiences. This special-format episode of the Playdate Podcast features a fun conversation between the creators of these two standout games, Gregory Kogos (creator of Oom), and JP Riebling and Mario Carballo (creators of Pullfrog), where they discuss their games'
True Crime Edition
Earlier this year, our Financial Controller, Jen, realized our Playdate inventory was 2,000 units short. How did that eventually lead us to a Circle K in North Las Vegas, and just how much should you tip for a roofing consultation, anyway?
Buckle up, because we are going for a ride—in Magnum P.I.'s cool car.
Faraway Fairway
Faraway Fairway is a procedurally-generated mental health golf game--but what does that mean? Hedgehog Dreams Studio Head Rokashi talks about their journey to create a relaxing golf adventure that's all about persistence and taking care of yourself.
Mars After Midnight
Lucas Pope on how he builds games, what inspired him to create one for a younger audience, and what drew him to design that game especially for Playdate!
A Love Letter to Video Games
For this final episode of the first season of the Playdate Podcast, Christa wanted to do something a little different. So she asked the Playdate team and the Season One developers one question: "What do you love about video games?"
Reel Steal and Recommendation Dog!!
Panic wants everyone to make games for Playdate, and creating better, more empathic stories—while diversifying the games industry—is key to the mission of narrative development company Sweet Baby Inc. So Panic and Sweet Baby, along with Strange Scaffold, teamed up to pair industry veterans with first-time developers from diverse backgrounds to create and ship two Playdate games in just six months.
Ratcheteer
Everything is a remix, but how do you ensure you're paying homage to the things you love, rather than just rehashing them? Designer/Developer Shaun Inman and Composer/Sound Designer Matthew Grimm talk about drawing inspiration while creating something new and original, with their Link's Awakening-inspired game, Ratcheteer——which won "Game of the Year" in the 2022 Playdate Community Awards!
Catalog
How would Panic approach making a game store? Designer Neven Mrgan, Playdate Developer Relations Head Arisa Sudangnoi, and Panic Co-Founder Steven Frank talk about creating a curated selection of games where it's fun to browse and to buy! Plus: hear from some of the developers whose games are part of Catalog’s debut!
b360
Not a lot of people know that Panic made video games in the late '70s! Cabel Sasser fills us in on b360's decades-long history, designer Neven Mrgan remains committed to the bit as he talks about his contributions to the Playdate version of the game, and Dan Messing reveals what he learned from developing b360 simultaneously with the Playdate SDK. Plus: Panic's own Jesus Diaz and Aaron Bell talk a
Battleship Godios
Creator TPMCO shares his game development philosophy and insights gleaned over decades of working on MSX systems. Inspired by side- and vertical-scrolling shooters, plus the rebounding block destruction of "Breakout," Battleship Godios is an action game requiring skill and precision, with all-new twists on some arcade classics.
Forrest Byrnes — Up In Smoke
What if the in-world fire prevention mascot from Firewatch had his own licensed platformer back in the late '80s or early '90s? And what if in making that concept game, developer Nels Anderson and artist Christina-Antoinette Neofotistou actually re-skinned an older Japanese game—that had _already_ been half re-skinned as a game about fire prevention!—that Nels had found on some random internet ROM
Playdate x Panic Podcast — Untitled Goose Game
Since there's no new episode of the Playdate Podcast this week, we thought you'd enjoy this episode of the Panic Podcast, which is all about Australian indie game developers House House, Untitled Goose Game, and what any of this had to do with a little company known for making Mac and iOS software in Portland, OR.
Spellcorked and Inventory Hero (Special Format!)
In this week's special format episode of the Playdate Podcast, Nick Suttner joins Christa Mrgan as host, while the two teams behind Season 1, Week 9 get together over zoom to ask each other about their games! Jada Gibbs, Nick Splendorr, and Ryan Splendorr weigh in on who they think the player in Inventory Hero really is, while Panic's Steven Frank, Neven Mrgan, and James Moore ask about Spellcorke
Sasquatchers
Chuck Jordan felt his "Advance Wars"-inspired tactics game was missing something—then he remembered the joy of "Pokémon Snap." Find out how the adventure game veteran ended up mixing turn-based tactics with cryptid group photography in “Sasquatchers” for Playdate.
Snak
Game Designer Zach Gage on his love of editing existing games——where he plays with expectations within a well-established rule set——and how making a few small tweaks to the cellphone classic "Snake" led to surprising gameplay in his game "Snak" for Playdate. Plus: Panic Designer Neven Mrgan talks about the inspirations behind the art he created for both the in-game graphics and the launcher card,
Saturday Edition and Star Sled
Whether it's composing music for your game or designing your own sound effects, challenging yourself to expand your game dev toolset can lead to unexpectedly satisfying results! This week, Chris Makris, creator of Saturday Edition, and Greg Maletic, Playdate Project Manager and developer of Star Sled, interview each other about their Season 1, Week 8 games in this special format episode of the Pla
Executive Golf DX
Designer, developer, composer, and newly-minted foley expert Dave Hoffman on how they made a tongue-in-cheek game about golfing and corporate culture—two topics they confess to know nothing about! Putt your way to the top of the tower and become Chief Executive Golfer, in Executive Golf DX!
Questy Chess
How Dadako founder Hawken King fused his interests in role-playing games and chess into a minimalist, atmospheric puzzle game, with help from artist Dan Clarke and musician-turned-sound designer Justin DiCenzo. As the sole surviving pawn from an outmoded chess program, trapped in an ominous machine, can you use an old rule set in new ways to stave off the oblivion of being overwritten?
Playdate Mailbag #1
Host Christa Mrgan answers listener questions from Twitter, Reddit, and the Playdate Squad Discord. Did Panic ever consider a left-handed model for Playdate? What games or apps surprised us by doing something we didn't think was possible? And what's up with Bluetooth? Listen now to find out!
Hyper Meteor
Mo Fikree—designer, developer, and CEO of Vertex Pop—talks about why he loves arcade-style games, and the ups and downs of creating the "Asteroids" homage "Hyper Meteor", including one of the hardest parts of programming\: naming things!
Zipper
With Zipper for Playdate, game designer, developer, and philosopher Bennett Foddy wanted to share his love of the particular style of isometric tactics games he grew up playing on the ZX Spectrum--games that may be unfamiliar to people from the United States. Drawing on the influences of Akira Kurosawa, the anime and manga series "Bleach", and the British game "Last Ninja 2," Zipper is a beautiful
Demon Quest ’85
Writer and game designer Duncan Fyfe tells the story of Demon Quest ’85—from the small but mighty team, to an ill-advised management system for branching narrative paths, and how they ended up eschewing Playdate's crank in favor of a visual novel that pits the likes of the Marquis Shax of Hell against Beth from your high school Physics class.
Omaze
When custom-hardware game maker Gregory Kogos tried to copy his award-winning circular puzzle platformer RotoRing directly to the Playdate, it didn't quite pan out. Find out how he persevered to turn the game's core concepts into the delightfully addictive spin-off, Omaze!
Echoic Memory
What does it mean to remember? As Samantha Kalman, Carol Mertz, Rachelle Viola, and Everest Pipkin created their innovative Playdate game blending procedural narrative and a musical memory puzzle, their ideas of memories evolved, along with their understanding of how most people hear, recognize, and recall music. What memories might be restored to the ECM1010 smart speaker devices when you play as
Flipper Lifter
A small team from game development and publishing company Serenity Forge started out with a great idea for a Playdate-specific game, but soon realized its characters were kind of… boring. One arctic facelift and a lot of QA and play-testing later, and Flipper Lifter was a fun and fast-paced penguin-moving game (with a few key voiceover cameos and a great soundtrack)!
Lost Your Marbles
How narrative development company Sweet Baby branched out from client work to create their first in-house game: the quirky marble labyrinth/narrative adventure, Lost Your Marbles! Kim Belair and David Bedard discuss Sweet Baby's mission to help marginalized people bring their talents to the games industry, and the team's next projects for Playdate! Plus: Will Herring's approach to creating charact
Pick Pack Pup
Game-jamming friends Nic Magnier and Arthur Hamer were so captivated by the announcement of Playdate that Nic built his own device (using parts found online and an old NES controller) and Arthur scrapped his fish processing plant designs for an adorable dog and an e-commerce warehouse. Here's how the duo created their narrative match three puzzle game, Pick Pack Pup, featuring music by Logan Gabri
Boogie Loops
Interdisciplinary artist, designer, technologist, and DJ May-Li Khoe teamed up with friend and independent researcher Andy Matuschak to make what they thought would be a fun project on a short timeline. While Playdate's schedule extended a bit, and then a bit more, the pair had a great time creating a whimsical music and dance maker that is a joy to use. Lay down your drum and bass tracks, add a m
Crankin's Time Travel Adventure
How Katamari Damacy designer Keita Takahashi teamed up with animator Ryan Mohler, sound designer Matthew Grimm, and developer Shaun Inman to create "Crankin's Time Travel Adventure," the very first game ever developed for Playdate by someone outside of Panic, the company that makes the device. Keita's seemingly simple idea led to deep gameplay, but was, at times, a challenge for the team
Casual Birder
When designer-turned-developer Diego Garcia first came up with the idea for Casual Birder, he never expected to fall in love with birdwatching himself. Here's how he overcame some technical challenges (plus a bit of imposter syndrome!) and joined forces with composer and sound designer Max Coburn to create a Playdate game that's funny, relaxing, and a good reminder that it's ok to be into things w
Whitewater Wipeout
How Chuhai Labs got their hands on a Playdate, their epic Pitch Jam, and how the team came together to create a zen-like homage to a classic. This episode contains spiders, and mild spoilers for Whitewater Wipeout.
The Story of Playdate
How an offhand idea to mark the 15th anniversary of a software company launched a decade-long saga of twists, turns, and mini-boss battles that led to a handheld gaming console as surprising and unique as its creators. It’s dangerous to go alone. Take this adorable yellow box, and let’s get crankin’… on the story of Playdate.
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