Playdate, A Retro Yellow Crank Controlled Handheld Gaming System With a Black and White Screen

Playdate Panic Handheld Game

Panic, the company behind Transmit, Coda and the adventure game Firewatch, teamed-up with Teenage Engineering to create Playdate, their unique version of a handheld gaming system. Playdate is bright yellow with a black and white screen, with retro design. It also sports modern conveniences such as wifi, Bluetooth, USB-C, and a headphone jack, yet also has a crank that pops out from the side.

It’s yellow. It fits in your pocket. It’s got a beautiful black and white screen. It’s not super cheap, but not super expensive. It includes brand new games from some amazing creators. Plus it has a crank.

Playdate comes with 12 weeks of new games and will be ready for shipment in early 2020 for $149.

So Playdate isn’t just the hardware. It’s twelve brand new video games, one each week. What are these games? Here’s the thing: we’d like to keep them a secret until they appear on your Playdate. We want to surprise you.

Playdate Game Face

Playdate Crank

Playdate Model Shot

Playdate Inner

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.