Today’s games, Taria & Como and Black Hole Havoc, look like two more cool implementations of the Playdate’s unique capabilities. The first, developed by Popseed Studio Inc. and JuVee Productions, is a puzzle-platformer about a girl with a prosthetic leg trying to rescue her younger sister. With a swing-focused central mechanic it looks like it could be influenced by Bionic Commando, which happens to be the third best NES game of all time according to some website you’re currently reading. (Taria & Como also lists EGOT winner Viola Davis as an executive producer.) Black Hole Havoc, meanwhile, is a puzzler about saving the world from masses of black holes; you control a little cannon at the bottom of the screen that rotates on a fixed point (a la Bust-a-Move) and shoot down those black holes by creating your own that are the same size. It’s from Cosmic Bros and can be played with either the Playdate’s signature crank or its buttons.
They’ll be joining the 10 games that have already been released during season two. That list includes Fulcrum Defender by Subset Games, Dig! Dig! Dino! by Dom2D and Fáyer, Nino van Hooff and Julie Bjørnskov’s Wheelsprung, Scenic Route Software’s The Whiteout, Long Puppy by indiana-jonas, Otto’s Galactic Groove by Team Otto, Pixel Ghost’s Shadowgate PD, CatchaDiablos by Amano, Chance’s Lucky Escape by Goloso Games and Julia Minamata, and Luke Sanderson’s Tiny Turnip.
What might be the biggest breakout hit of season two isn’t technically a game, of course. That’s Blippo+, the “intergalactic TV station” that has been broadcasting through Playdate since season two started. Blippo+’s 11-week run ends on August 7 with a series finale, but will be coming to other platforms later this year.
If you don’t know what this whole Playdate thing is about anyway, it’s a unique little handheld gaming platform full of weird, interesting games and experiments by a host of talented game designers. And it has a crank. I won’t lie and say that I play mine every day, or anything, but I know that when I do pick up my Playdate I’ll definitely wind up playing something fascinating and unexpected. You can learn more at the Playdate site.
