Playdate Podcast: Recent Episodes
Panic
Playdate is the new handheld that comes with a unique 1-bit screen and 24 free games! The Playdate Podcast takes you behind the scenes for stories from game designers and developers, and the people who made the little yellow game console with a crank. Hear about the ups and downs of development, and get inspired to make your own Playdate games, using the free software development kit or Playdate’s no-code, browser-based game maker, Pulp!
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.
Show Notes* Cabel’s GDC Talk * Magnum, P.I. * Circle K Froster * Episode page with photos * Episode transcript
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.
Show Notes* Faraway Fairway on Catalog * Hedgehog Dreams on Twitter * Rokashi on Twitter * Taylor Anderson’s website * Sam Webster on Twitter * Faraway Fairway Original Soundtrack * Grindstone * Sweet Baby Inc. * Lost Your Marbles Game Page * Reel Steal Game Page * Recommendation Dog!! Game Page * Episode Transcript
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!
Show Notes* Mars After Midnight * Mars After Midnight Devlog on Itch * Independent Games Festival * Papers, Please * Papers, Please Devlog * Return of the Obra Dinn * Return of the Obra Dinn Devlog * Bitwig * M8 Portable Tracker * Playdate SDK * Recreating a mummy’s voice * Episode Transcript
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?”
Show Notes* Whitewater Wipeout * Casual Birder * Crannkin’s Time Travel Adventure * Boogie Loops * Lost Your Marbles * Pick Pack Pup * Flipper Lifter * Echoic Memory * Omaze * Demon Quest '85 * Vertex Pop * Zipper * Questy Chess * Executive Golf DX * Saturday Edition * Star Sled * Spellcorked * Inventory Hero * Snak * Sasquatchers * Forrest Byrnes: Up in Smoke * Battleship Godios * b360 * Ratcheteer * Reel Steal * Recommendation Dog!! * Arcane Kids Manifesto * Metroidvania * Picross S * Tetris * Shadow of the Colossus * Spelunky * The Legend of Zelda * Super Mario Bros. * Borderlands * Myst * The Last of Us * Animal Crossing * Dark Souls * Earthbound/Mother * Katamari Damacy * Memento * Valheim * Ori and the Blind Forest * Untitled Goose Game * Firewatch * Episode Transcript
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 sixth months. Hear how the mentors and mentees approached these projects, and then download and play Reel Steal and Recommendation Dog!! for free, via Catalog for Playdate!
Show Notes* Reel Steal’s game page * Recommendation Dog!!'s game page * Strange Scaffold * Sweet Baby Inc. * David Bedard on Twitter * Strange Scaffold/Xalavier Nelson Jr. on Twitter * Julia Minamata’s website * Sherveen Uduwana on Twitter * Will Herring’s website * Adanna Nedd’s website * Louisa Atto’s website * Maxine Sophia Wolff’s website * David Nguyen on Twitter * Isaiah Henry on itch * Raphael Batista de Lima on Behance * Neha Patel’s website * Eleanor Hébert’s website * Ayla Myers’ website * Jay Squared’s link tree * Hassan DuRant’s website * James Wright’s website * Jenna Yow on itch * Will Stacey on Twitter * Jerry Belich’s website * Nikki Liu on Behance * Lupin III * Tiger Handheld Games * Episode Transcript
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!
Show Notes* Shaun Inmans’s website * Matthew Grimm’s website * Charlie Davis’ website * Ratcheteer: Deluxe Sound Version on Bandcamp * The 2022 Playdate Community Awards by Tiny Yellow Machine * Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening * Pulp * CAPS * Game Boy * Retro Game Crunch * Episode 4: Crankin’s Time Travel Adventure * Tiled Level Editor * Photoshop * Cubase * Chipsounds by Plogue * Kazumi Totaka * Wave Race 64 * Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins * Hirokazu (Hip/Chip) Tanaka * Metroid * Kid Icarus * Dr. Mario * Mother * Balloon Fight * Super Mario Land * Jake Kaufman * Shovel Knight * Masashi Kageyama * Gimmick! * Pokémon Videogame Series * The Blue Marlin * HAL Laboratory * Fontstruct * Plastic Fern * Spoiler-free Ratcheteer hints * Ratcheteer game page on Playdate’s website * Episode Transcript
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!
Show Notes* Catalog * A Joke That’s Worth 99 Cents * Playmaker * Skew * Swap Machina * Grand Tour Legends * Bloom * Eyeland * The Botanist * Tapeworm Disco Puzzle * Down the Oubliette * Reel Steal * Recommendation Dog!! * Carve Jr. * Direct Drive * Hidey Spot * Word Trip * Playdate games on itch * Mario Paint * HyperCard * Kid Pix * The Last Worker * Playdate Pulp * Pulp Mill, Pulp-to-Lua converter by NaOH * Playdate SDK * Tapeworm Disco Puzzle wins “Soundtrack of the Year” in the Playdate Community Awards by Tiny Yellow Machine * Submit your finished Playdate game to be considered for Catalog!! * Playdate Update #3: Catalog * Episode Transcript
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 about their musical and sound design collaboration.
Show Notes* Cabel Sasser’s website * Neven Mrgan’s website * Dan Messing on Mastodon * Steven Frank’s website * Aaron Bell on Twitter * Jesus Diaz and Aaron Bell (as Factory Default) on Bandcamp * Macworld/iWorld * CD-ROM * Panic Disc on the Internet Archive * Breakout * Arkanoid * Tiled Level Editor * TRON * Vectrex * VVVVVV * SEGA Genesis * Wipeout * Yamaha SY85 * Pantscast - Panic Podcast Episode #2 * b360 game page on Playdate’s website * Episode Transcript
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.
Show Notes* TPMCO’s Website * TPMCO on Twitter * MSX * TAROTICA VOO DOO * Xevious * Pac-Man * Braid * Breakout * Super Breakout * Famicom * Battleship Godios game page on Playdate’s website * Episode Transcript
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 forum? It’s the story of Forrest Byrnes: Up In Smoke!
Show Notes* Nels Anderson on Twitter * Christina-Antoinette Neofotistou on Twitter * Jared Emerson-Johnson * Gord McGladdery on Twitter * A Shell in the Pit * Olly Moss on Twitter * Firewatch * Firewatch Easter Egg (Spoiler!) * Mark of the Ninja * Smokey Bear * Tiled * Super Mario Bros. 2/Doki Doki Panic * Yo! Noid * Famicom * Diablo * Corel Painter * Photoshop * Yogi Bear * ZX Spectrum * Arduboy * DuckTales for NES and Game Boy * Forrest Byrnes: Up in Smoke game page on Playdate’s website * Episode Transcript
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 Spellcorked’s development, game design, and incredible animation.
Show Notes* Jada Gibbs on Twitter * Nick Splendorr on Twitter * Ryan Splendorr on Twitter * Tony Ghostbrite on Twitter * Em Halberstadt on Twitter * A Shell in the Pit * Ryan Kingdom on Twitter * Neven Mrgan’s website * James Moore on Mastodon * Steven Frank’s website * Nick Suttner’s website * Factory Default (Aaron Bell and Jesus Diaz) on Bandcamp * WarioWare * Bugspeed Collider * Tunic * Kigurumi * Ninetendo Switch Joy-cons * Transmit * Untitled Goose Game * Untitled Goose Game Episode of the Panic Podcast * The Story of Playdate * Felix Kramer on Twitter * Progress Quest * Diablo * Borderlands * Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead * Marie Kondo * Midnight Gospel * J2ME * Dustin Mierau on Twitter * Ratcheteer * Playdate SDK * Firewatch * Thor: Ragnarok * Ultima Online Horse Pants Anecdote * Spellcorked game page on Playdate’s website * Inventory Hero game page on Playdate’s website * Episode Transcript
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.
Show Notes* Chuck Jordan’s website * Chuck Jordan on Mastodon * Jared Emerson-Johnson’s website * Jared Emerson-Johnson on Twitter * Ghia Mercado’s website * Sasquatchers’ website * Lucas Arts * The Curse of Monkey Island * Sam and Max Hit the Road * Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People * SimCity 4 * Disney Imagineering * Jake Rodkin on Twitter * Idle Thumbs * Telltale Games * Firewatch * Monstrum Series on YouTube * Final Fantasy Tactics * Advance Wars * Pokémon Snap * HyperCard * Grim Fandango * Playdate SDK * Sasquatchers game page on Playdate’s website * Episode Transcript
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, an homage to over-the-top game box art of the '80s and '90s.
Show Notes* Zach Gage’s website * Zach Gage on Twitter * Neven Mrgan’s website * Neven Mrgan on Twitter * Snake game * TI-83 calculator * Pendleton Ward * JW (Jan Willem Nijman) * Little Big Planet * Super Mario Maker * The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks * Snak game page on Playdate’s website * Episode Transcript
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 Playdate Podcast!
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!
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?
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!
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!
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 beautifully-crafted homage to classic samurai films and 8-bit black and white games.
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.
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!
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 a technician tasked with repairing them? And how does Playdate remember where you left off when you leave a game?
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)!
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 characters, one-bit art, and sprites, and Neha Patel talks sound design and composing a hum-able soundtrack.
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 Gabriel!
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 melody, and tell your pizza to twerk with this sparkly composer that's full of fun details!
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 to crank out!
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 without learning absolutely everything about them first.
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.
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.