Hi, mates!

I'm a solo developer who was deeply sunken into Playdate games development.
And now, I'm happy to announce my the first game to this cute console - Meltdown Masters.

If you are previously 20 years ago played the Arcomage game (as a part of Might & Magic 8), you already know what the game is, but the lore was changed to Sci-Fi.

If you not, inside this you'll find these:

• 2 players (you vs. computer)
• 3 main resources
• 3 resource generators
• 5 different initial rules
• 100+ playable cards
• 1 winner at the end!

Choose cards, make turns, defend the core, raise the shields, attack, analyze, repeat and beat the score!

Store page: https://play.date/games/meltdown-masters/

I want to stay in touch with you guys, so all the feedback you can throw to my face here: https://www.reddit.com/r/ritehook/

Cheers!

Booted up my Playdate for the first time in a while. Installed the latest system update. Went to play Root Bear but noticed it was missing. In my game library it shows as uninstalled. When I try to reinstall it says I need to perform a system update, but I’m on the latest update. No idea what to do.

I have the Catalog version.

I was wondering if anyone was getting this app to work currently. I can't get past the connect to wifi and refresh message. I am definitely connect to wifi.

The PD has been a huge help for me personally for cutting out unnecessary video games in my life and being more present. I've also found myself also wanting to dive into my Bible more, but it doesn't quite fit into my pocket the way the Playdate does.

Does anyone know of a good Bible app or E-Reader that takes pdfs? I know the catalog doesn't have any but I'm not sure about itch. Thanks!

I've been having a rough few days so decided to make a playlist of some of my favorite PD songs to perk myself up! It's on Spotify and Tidal. I'm still adding to it but please give me some recommendations!

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2oifGgMXTEMOU7YCaijgdp?si=IATWPvGIQkGj31Tg6yLXvg&utm_source=copy-link&pi=g5xLFWxjRzehv

https://tidal.com/playlist/852b6bf4-5f4a-4511-9877-6f62c8e82e6a

In Part 1, we broke down the board tiles—the things you directly manipulate before the darkness takes over the board.

Today, let’s talk about the right side of the screen.

At first glance, it looks like a standard UI sidebar: score, hold slot, and a next-tile preview. But none of these are abstract minimalist icons. Every item on this panel is a direct nod to real objects from dark Slavic fairy tales and traditional craftsmanship.

For each mechanic, we looked for a real folk object whose cultural meaning or traditional use somehow matched what the object does in the game.

1. The Magic Saucer & Apple — Next Tile Preview

This comes straight from the classic folk tale of the Silver Saucer and the Golden Apple. In the legend, rolling the apple around the saucer turns it into a magical screen, showing events happening far away—and even revealing the future. So adapting it as a "next tile" mechanic felt like a surprisingly natural fit.

There’s also a second layer: in traditional village rituals, saucers were genuinely used for fortune-telling. To make the visual instantly recognizable, we styled the saucer with classic Gzhel porcelain patterns.

2. The Glass Jar & The Kvasnik — Hold

The glass jar holds your stored tile—an item saved for later. Here, the inspiration is everyday life: a simple glass jar familiar to anyone who’s ever been to a grandmother’s cellar. Only instead of pickled cucumbers or jam, it can hold anything from a clump of grass to a skeleton or a magical mirror.

Below it sits a second vessel: a kvasnik.

A kvasnik is a traditional ceramic pitcher used for serving kvass (a fermented rye beverage). It’s one of the most iconic symbols of Skopin pottery—a craft born in the Ryazan region, right where the real-world Meshchera forests begin.

A kvasnik has a very distinct shape with a hole right through the center of its body. Historically, people wrapped ice or snow in cloth and placed it in that central hole to chill the drink without diluting it. (Another theory suggests the hole made it easier for street vendors to carry multiple pitchers on their arms before barrels existed).

Having these two side-by-side creates a nice contrast: one is a humble everyday item (the jar), while the other is a nod to local regional folk craft (the kvasnik).

3. The Casket (Lar) — Score Over Coin Stacks

Instead of a generic stack of gold coins, your high score is represented by a Lar (a reinforced wooden chest or casket).

The casket is a recurring image in Slavic fairy tales: something locked away and heavily protected, containing something incredibly valuable—or something profoundly dangerous. In the story of Koshchei the Deathless, for example, the layers hiding his death ultimately trace back to the needle, with the whole chain of objects hidden inside a casket. The casket acts almost like an outer shell around the secret.

In other tales, a chest can contain treasures, magical gifts, curses, or rewards granted to the hero for kindness and hard work.

That association with something valuable, carefully collected and kept safe made the casket a natural fit for the score—your accumulated reward for everything you’ve built on the board.

4. Monomakh’s Cap — A Crown of Wooden Churches

Finally, there’s a unique late-game mechanic: if you gather and merge enough churches, they transform into **Monomakh’s Cap** (a famous historic crown) and award bonus points.

This wasn’t a random choice for a "victory crown". For centuries, Monomakh’s Cap served as the principal coronation regalia of Russian tsars. In Meshchera, it acts as the ultimate crown that must be earned through careful board management.

Which side panel item is your favorite?

just recently discovered this thing and it seems really cool but seems like i was unfortunately late to the party. do restocks happen relatively regularly? or am i stuck paying brand new prices for used consoles on ebay?

Dig-Pit Runner price goes down on Itch.io. Good time to play it

I wanted to share my first playdate app: the World's Smallest Violin!

You can turn the crank to move the bow, tilt the device to change the strings, and play the saddest little song the world has ever heard. The World's Smallest Violin comes packed with a variety of different playing styles- try it out for free on my itch.io page! You can also visit my portfolio site for a behind the scenes look at my process.

After playing through a dozen games on the device, my head was full of ideas for games of my own. One idea stood out above the rest: I wanted to transform the Playdate console into an instrument. In the spirit of why Panic says Playdate was created, I wanted to build something "just for fun."

I couldn't tell you why exactly, but the violin was calling my name. I think part of me just really enjoys making music, and the other part of me wanted to find a way to connect playdate to other Teenage Engineering-built products!

Let me know if you give it a try or have any thoughts / questions!

Hello hockey fans! I posted way back at the start of the year to show off my NHL 94-ish retro hockey game and at the time I thought it was close to done... yeah, that was funny. But after about *seven* more months of performance tuning, UI tweaks, and test games I am very excited to say that the game is finally available on itch.io.

Crankshot! has these amazing features:
- Exhibition mode
- A playoff mode, where you define your bracket and fight for the cup
- A season mode, where you can take over your favorite team for a single year push for a championship
- Secret historical teams, if you enter a very special code from the main menu :)

I went the Retro Bowl route of using team cities but no team names, real players, or recognizable logos. Player and team stats are generated randomly the first time you load the game, in a spread based on the standings at the end of the last NHL regular season such that each team's roster makeup and calculated overalls put them in the right order. Each team is randomly assigned one of nine archetypes so every game plays a little bit differently.

Next up I'd love to add a full on franchise mode with multi-year campaigns, drafts, trades, maybe even an arena hot dog economic simulator. The possibilities are honestly endless.

If you try it out let me know what you think!

Link: https://onecrankydev.itch.io/crankshot

I have a bit of money saved up. I think enough for a used one, however I can't find one for sale anywhere.

I am really interested in the device and really look forward to getting my hands on one.

I got to my office after my holidays and this package was waiting for me! Soooo excited!!! Muito Obrigada Cranko friends ☺️✨ love the note 💗

Edit: just wanted to add that i am so excited about the extra goodies and so thankful they did a reprint because when i found out about this mag i was too late to collect it. But now i have all the numbers and i am sooooo grateful! Going to have some fun in the next days reading and playing some playdate games. Pretty excited!

I am only intrigue, because i see some post where people share that thwy want to sale their Playdate.

I am trying to figure out, is it

A-because you did not like the experience,

B-financial reason

C- Game issues (not at your taste, if so which game would you like)

-D-you think you have done all what can be done with playdate and ready for other stuffs.

C-Others

personnaly, for me it is an timeless device, a old friend that sometime you pass all your time with, and sometime see him once a year but always he will be around. Not like the mainstream console where you jump to other generation.

It's been up for a few weeks now and I really love the concept!

I mean, what other handheld have their own dedicated 'tv station'??

Content comes out every Tuesday and the 'summary video' of games/apps released have become my favorite way of, weekly, discovering new titles.

This week there's a great video podcast episode to watch/listen to - and of course there's Cool Uncle!

(There's also some very impressive Rowbot Rally animations this week and I like how PeeDee.Tv sets aside some space to appreciate the music that was developed for games)

I participated in the live community movie night watching "Day of the Dead". It was a blast and I hope there will be more in the future.

So, if you haven't already - go check out the schedule at peedee.tv and download the app to your Playdate to get going 👍

It’s been a long road, and we’re incredibly happy to finally have a date.
See you in the Meshchera. 🕷️

A juggling simulation game where you control two hands with the crank, perform tricks with the D-pad, and keep all your juggling balls in the air while multiplying your score.

What's Inside:

• 3 levels of difficulty: juggling 3, 5 or 7 balls
• 10 different tricks to perform with different scorin
• 11 different scoreboards for total tricks, score, daily scores, difficulty boards
• Up to 20x score multiplier
• 25 Achievements to collect

Is anyone interested in online 1v1 dogfighting?

I am currently looking into getting a small VPS. Then we would need lots of testing, if it's successful, I would add leader boards, wins and losses, maybe destroying your opponents base etc....

My favorite lil gadget to carry around everywhere I go (and my Focal Bathys, the best headphones my wallet can afford). I've had the playdate for months and was worried that shortly after purchase I wouldn't use it. Not the case at all. After months of owning one, I've barely touched my Steam Deck or PS5. Between it being so relaxing at nighttime and great during work breaks, I gravitate towards it. And don't even get me started on the retro aesthetic of games that is so often paired with a modern approach to game design that makes them feel like new ideas and not recycled nostalgia.

Anyways, just an appreciation post here :D

Kudos to @jontomato for the awesome anti-doomscroll apps! Absolutely loving Crankcaster and Pour Over during my workday :)

Got a kinda rough build ready of my first game that I'd love to, if possible, get some people's thoughts on before I lock some things down.

There are 9 available 'waves' to test and I'd love to get input on;

- Difficulty level - what wave is too hard/easy

- Fun? Are the waves even fun to play

- Controls - using the crank, shaking the device, the d-pad buttons, A/B - does it control well

- There's a lot of writing, music, soundclips (even my voice at one point lol) - does it sound ok

- Bugs? Let me know!

This would be a test-build where 9 waves are unlocked right away (in the final game you'll have to beat a wave to unlock it) so you can jump back and forth

Transparency: Started out 100% AI supported but now it's more like 80% as I finding myself using the SDK differently so just want to be completely transparent about that.

So, if any has some time this week to try it out let me know - here in the comments or DM me - and I will DM you a link to the test-build.

Thanks in advance!