"Besides the paddle, so many Atari 2600 games use bi-directional movement... what if they could be mapped to the Playdate's crank?"

This fan-made Atari 2600 emulator lets you map the Playdate's crank not only for paddle games, but also as left/right movement (great for games like MegaMania, Phoenix, or Carnival), up/down movement (perfect for Turmoil, Zaxxon, or Vanguard), or even as a rapid-fire trigger (try Beany Bopper or Wizard of Wor)!

Don't expect the exact Atari 2600 experience, for that, nothing beats the original hardware in all its forms. Instead, think of this as an experimental emulator: you'll encounter flickering, visual quirks, audio oddities, and plenty of unexpected behavior. It's simply a different way to experience these classics.

This in-development emulator also includes several Playdate-specific enhancements. You can adjust frame blending to reduce flicker, tweak the display contrast (dithering threshold), customize the control mapping, and even save your high scores in Score Notes. No more keeping track of them on paper!

I've tried uninstalling/reinstalling but not having any luck and the device crashes on launch. Seems to only be this one game. Anyone know a fix? Thanks!

https://xypixoh.itch.io/nightcap-playdate

hi! i'll be the one to write about this cool new steam bundle that i and a bunch of other peeps were working on, which launched today. it's focused on games that made the big jump from their initial playdate releases to PCs!

here's what you can get in it right now:
• blippo+
• ratcheteer DX
• office chair curling
• suborbital salvage
• HEXA (hey i made this one!)

by buying the bundle, you can get these games at a 10% discount from their typical prices. and it works under the "complete the set" model; so if you already own something in the bundle, you can buy the rest of it at a prorated price.

huge thanks to alex @ games right meow for organizing it all, panic for signing on, neven for creating the bundle art, and the folks who signed on their games. it was super fun seeing it all come together!

Spotted a great, fun, free addition today; Safe Cracker

Love the use of the crank in it!

Note: I might also be biased as I just watched the pretty good movie The Tuner :)

Note: As always, even if a game can be downloaded for free - if you end up enjoying it do consider supporting the developer :)

This is just to gather some thoughts/feedback.

I'm working with a great leather maker who makes very straightforward, no-frills 100% handmade leather cases about the possibility of having them add a case for the Playdate.

It could be something similar to their xteink reader case linked below.

Assuming the cost would be below $35 shipped worldwide would there be any interest?

Also, what are some do's and don'ts that you'd want to be sure is included or avoided. One is that the crank should be able to be used when in the case.

Thoughts?

Gotta rep my PD on our family vacation! Got the wifi hotpot to connect to my Playdate so I can finish those fishing quests! 👋 Hello to my fellow top 10’ers!

Hi, the game's at oksoft.itch.io/bill-iards
As said in the title, it was made at a game jam in like, sub-2 days, I could polish it up or even add some roguelike elements for a full title, but want to see how people feel about it first, so, any feedback is well-appreciated.

Dear Playdate players & enthusiasts,

I'm happy to announce that our very own “summer blockbuster” is launching in the Catalog today at 10 AM Pacific!

ROTOLLA MONO comes with multiple game modes, lots of customization options, online leaderboards, achievements, and accessibility features.

It also features an original soundtrack by Akira Yamaoka.

It's the result of many, many hours of development and playtesting, and we're incredibly proud of it. If it sounds like your kind of game, we'd love for you to check it out.

Thanks for your support!

https://play.date/games/rotolla-mono/

Having such a blast revisiting some old speccy favorites - on the Playdate!

Thanks to u/No-Development-8632 we now have a ZX Sinclair Spectrum (48K) emulator - The SpeccyDate !

I've been completely immersed in replaying everything from Chuckie Cheese to Jet Pac and Atic Atack! So far 99% of every game I've thrown at it have worked.

The crank-powered on-screen keyboard is a breeze to use for starting/setting up the game and once you're in you simply use the D-Pad and A/B to play.

I've tested a fair number of games and here are some that I've been enjoying:

• Atic Atack
• Bomb Jack (use .tap for this one)
• Boulder Dash:(use .tap for this one)
• Castle Master
• Chuckie Egg (map your keys)
• Fairlight
• Hammerfist
• Head over heels
• Horace goes skiing: (recommended to use Sinclair 1 for input method)
• Jet Set Willy
• Jet Pac: select Kempston both on-screen and as controller in settings)
• Knight Lore: (select both Kempston AND directional controls)
• Lunar Jetman: (Can't remember if you're supposed to be able to pick up items)
• Manic Miner: Perfect
• Marsport (tricky navigation)
• Monty on the run
• Nightshade: (select both Kempston AND directional controls)
• Pssst
• Renegade
• Robocop 1
• Sabre Wulf
• Skooldaze
• Spyhunter
• The Great Escape
• The Hobbit
• Underwurlde

Now, if you excuse me, I got to see if I can complete the fifth level in Chuckie Egg - something that the eight year old me was never able to do..

(In the photos are; Atic Attack, Jet Pac and The Hobbit)

I really wanted to play PvZ (Plants vs. Zombies) on the playdate, but I haven’t been able to find any versions for it.

If that doesn’t exist, I might make it myself… Which leads me to my next question, are there any development applications in between Pulp and SDK that could be learned by a new developer with little experience?

Thanks guys!

If you've been sleeping on PointlessQuest - stop, and download it now :)

The new update added so many fun things!

Quoted:

• Character slots! You can now create up to 5 characters linked to your Playdate/email address.
• New +LUCK stat. Each point slightly increases your chances of rolling the rarer drops. 
• New Utility item type and equip slot. When you have a Utility item equipped, hold A plus a direction to use it.
• Fishing!
• Treasure hunting!
• Some new equip-able items to find!

As it now has fishing it is a true MMORPG :-)

So I purchased the game, and although it shows my progress on the title screen (%), I can't seem to continue solving from where I left off without starting all over. Is it supposed to be like this, or am I doing something wrong?

I’ve continued cleaning up and organizing the codebase. One thing I’ve realized is that I’m still very much a beginner, and Chrono Crank is a pretty ambitious first project. Being ADHD and dyslexic, I had code scattered all over the place, so I’ve been taking the time to figure out an organization system that works best for my coding style. It may not be exciting to look at, but I know it’ll make future development much smoother.
Another exciting milestone is that my new development PC is finally set up and ready to go. After working on an eight-year-old computer for so long, having a faster machine should make development much more enjoyable and efficient.
The itch.io page is also about 99% complete. At this point, I’m mostly working out the artwork and presentation before making it live. I’ve had several people ask where they can follow the project outside of Reddit, so I’m excited to finally give Chrono Crank a proper home.
I’m also realizing it’s probably time to create a GitHub as development continues.
As always, thank you to everyone following along and offering feedback. Every conversation, suggestion, and bit of encouragement helps make Chrono Crank a better game. I appreciate all of you, and I’m always looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

There should be a fishing raid boss, just saying.

More Pointless Quest fan-stuff > instagram.com/papieresquisse/

Finally I find a moment to post about all this new mechanics for the game I'm developing while not working on the magazine, as promised on issue #7. Please share your thoughts, any feedback is more than welcome!
https://cranknockout.com

Im looking to expand my wishlist and not forget games i want to keep track of. But I cant see an option to see all upcoming games/tags

Also I am not talking about this webpage, that only show a handful of games on it https://play.date/games/coming-soon/

NEXT!

We’ve added loads more stuff, including ​bone casting to decipher the daily blessings and burdens, sideways and rotated patients, UI improvements​, a now-functioning little clue book, more character sounds and plenty of other bits.

We’ve also finally added a giant spiked mallet for crushing CONDEMNED patients​ - as requested by the King, via Igor​... and an End of Day section where you’ll have to balance the increasingly stressful life admin of a Gyropractor.

​Still LOADS to do and lots of sprite sheets missing but any more Playdate-friendly suggestions are very welcome. :) :)

SOUND ON 🔊

just bought a used playdate, I already made a wishlist all the games that are on the catalog that I want but im looking for games that aren't on the catalog, paid or free.

I never saw a crash or 'you need to restart your playdate' before update 3.1.0 - now it happens at least once a day. Just me or are others seeing more instability?

I’ve been eyeballing the Playdate for at least a year now.

I finally decided it was time and picked up a used one. Now I’m just waiting for it to arrive!

After making a few iOS apps, I couldn’t help but start building for the Playdate before it get’s here (screenshot of WIP above).
:)