When Panic Inc. announced that it was working on a new handheld console back in 2019, it immediately caught the attention of many due to its simple design and potential for developers. The company was founded in 1997 and mostly worked on software for Apple products before entering the world of video game publication in 2016. After publishing only two games, the well-received Firewatch and Untitled Goose Game, Panic conceived an idea for the Playdate and shifted its focus onto its development.
The Playdate is a small, yellow square that only has a D-pad and two buttons. Oh, and it also features a crank on its side that has already been used for creative gameplay mechanics like time travel and riding a surfboard. Its screen only displays black and white, but games look gorgeous on its LCD screen. The Playdate is an open-source console which means anyone can develop games for it, but there are some pre-existing series that would feel right at home on it.
10 Paper Mario
The Paper Mario games typically take you through enormous environments that resemble gorgeous dioramas or pages from a pop-up book. While this wouldn't be possible on the Playdate, the concept for the series and its gameplay could easily be adapted into an interesting adventure on the hardware.
Instead of navigating 3D areas, the game could tell a linear story that requires you to twist the crank to move forward. If the battle system was similar to the one from the original Paper Mario games, you could use the face buttons to attack and use action commands during intense turn-based battles.
9 Firewatch
Whether it's Untitled Goose Game or Firewatch, it's surprising that Panic hasn't included a spin-off or reference to either world on their console. It's much easier to imagine the latter of the two making it onto the Playdate, possibly as either a 2D or first-person adventure.
It could be an interesting way to retell the original game's story or maybe even a new one. They would need to replace the voice acting for text, while also approaching puzzles and exploration with limited mechanics. Either way, Firewatch on the Playdate could still be an ambient yet complex journey.
8 The Elder Scrolls
Skyrim has notoriously appeared on nearly every console over the last decade. It's even been available to play on Alexa devices since 2018. The reveal trailer for Skyrim: Very Special Edition jokingly showed Keegan-Michael Key playing the game on an Etch A Sketch, and now it's kind of easy to imagine it running on the tiny handheld device.
Because the Playdate allows sideloading, there is a good chance that Skyrim may find its way onto the platform even without an official release from Bethesda. It didn't take long for Doom to run on the console, so hopefully, more ports of incredible games are on the horizon. Playing through this epic adventure using only a few buttons and a crank could become a fresh take on an old adventure.
7 Zero Escape
The Zero Escape series consists of a trilogy of games that follow a group of strangers that have been taken prisoner and must play various lethal games that will test their endurance and trust in one another. Each entry experiments with concepts like The Monty Hall Problem to tell twisted and exciting stories.
When you're playing through any of the Zero Escape games, you will spend most of your time reading, solving puzzles, or making decisions that will affect who lives, who dies, and the story as a whole. Each of these elements could be translated onto the Playdate for a journey that grows tenser as you twist the crank towards an unknowable outcome.
6 Astro Bot
Over the years, Astro Bot has become the ultimate mascot for showcasing new hardware with creative game design and mesmerizing levels. Astro Bot Rescue Mission utilized PSVR to create one of the platform's most immersive adventures, while Astro's Playroom demonstrated the potential of the DualSense controller's adaptive triggers and haptic feedback.
While it's unlikely that Sony would allow one of their studios to spend time and resources on a Playdate game, the developers at Team Asobi could create an amazing Astro Bot experience that could possibly innovate the crank's implementation or use the Playdate's monochromatic display in interesting ways.
5 The Dark Pictures Anthology
Similar to the Zero Escape series, The Dark Pictures Anthology follows a group of people as they spiral into chaos. Each game requires you to make decisions that will affect the outcome of the story and who survives the ordeal. The production value for the games is typically big, as they usually include celebrity cameos and gorgeous visuals.
It would be interesting if Supermassive Games decided to use the crank on the Playdate in the same way a crank works on a Jack-in-the-box. You would need to rotate the crank to move your character forward, but doing so could also cause a monster to jump out at you at any moment. You could still use the face buttons to make game-changing decisions, as long as you can handle the tension of an inevitable jump scare. It would be an excellent game to play under the comfort of a blanket fort.
4 Cooking Mama
Cooking Mama almost seems like it would be too perfect for the Playdate. The simulation game could teach you new recipes while also using the device's limited control scheme in creative and effective ways. There hasn't been a new entry in the series since Cooking Mama: Cookstar, but a new title on the Playdate could help revive its reputation.
The crank could be used in a multitude of ways, from grating cheese to cracking pepper and other cooking-based activities. It could even have you spin the crank at specific speeds to avoid kitchen mishaps like overboiling water and over-whisking eggs. The game could also be updated seasonally to include new recipes to learn and master.
3 Rapala Fishing
After looking at the Playdate, one of the first games you might expect to find on it would be a fishing simulator. Holding the console with the crank is very evocative of holding a fishing rod and the two feel like a match made in heaven. Surprisingly, there isn't a solid fishing game yet, but the right developer might be able to catch an audience with their expertise in the genre.
There isn't really a dominant brand in the fishing-simulator genre, but Rapala has been one of the longest-running and most consistent franchises on the market. Developers for the series have created games exclusively for the Kinect, and even released a fishing rod peripheral with many of their Wii titles that required you to crank your Nunchuck like a reel.
2 Katamari
The crank on the Playdate is versatile, and there is a ton of potential for developers to find new ways to implement it into their titles. Grinding salt or fishing are natural ways to use it in video games, but what about using it to roll every person, animal, and thing in your way into a giant ball to impress a Cosmic God?
Katamari is a series of third-person puzzle games that requires you to roll everything you see into a ball to help re-create stars and planets. Its simple premise could be adapted to the Playdate by having you rotate the crank to move forward or backward while using the D-pad to change direction. Its presentation could be interesting on the smaller screen and present a new way to play a fan-favorite game.
1 WarioWare
Since the inception of WarioWare, the series has consistently found new ways to play and enjoy games. WarioWare: Twisted! for the Game Boy Advance was packaged with a gyro-sensor because you had to spin your console around to play its microgames. Even Game & Wario for the Wii U found creative new ways to use the GamePad for single-player and multiplayer games.
The developers behind the series would have a blast creating new microgames featuring their stellar characters and infamously hilarious gameplay. Every entry in the series has typically only required a few buttons, and the inclusion of the crank could only mean another opportunity for Wario to try and become rich and successful.