Crank-powered console Playdate’s Season 2 of video games is coming

Certainly, the Steam Deck has largely dominated my handheld gaming time after it came out. Yet, that’s not to say a few other devices haven’t made me peek, and Playdate has made me peek the hardest. Now, with Season 2 games on the horizon, I’m properly intrigued.

The thing about Playdate, specifically, is that it stands out in a world where almost any modern device can play almost any video game. It’s a fairly premium micro-handheld that comes with its unique suite of games that are (usually) controlled using the crank found on the rightmost side of the device.

It’s a novel concept if there ever was one, but the novelty doesn’t stop there, as you don’t get all of Playdate’s games at once. Instead, Season 1 offerings are dropped into your game library one by one after a set period, and the company behind Playdate, Panic, has just confirmed that Season 2 is coming.

Playdate Season 2 is coming in 2025

“When Playdate was first revealed in 2019, one of the original dreams for the platform was to have all Playdate owners experience a season of mystery games tailored for the hardware at the exact same time,” says Panic’s announcement. “Due to a global pandemic, an unprecedented chip shortage, and the realities of shipping new between 2020 and 2022, that did not come to be. Playdate Season 2 hopes to deliver on that original idea.”

This means that Season 2 will be a proper iteration of Season 1’s piecemeal handling of the idea, with new games releasing simultaneously across the globe for all owners of the Season 2 licensing. Unfortunately, we don’t yet have any information on anything specific concerning Season 2: no pricing details, no developer information, and nothing on the games themselves.

Notably, Season 1 of games released for Playdate comes included with the base asking price of $199. This makes guessing Season 2’s cost difficult. Similarly, if Season 1 is anything to go by, it may be a bit of a given that the games themselves will be a mixed bag.

While its quirkiness might suggest otherwise at a glance, Playdate has actually been a very successful release. To begin with, the device is still on back-order even today, and dropping $199 on it simply means you’ll be added to the growing list of people waiting to get their crank on. Further, Playdate had moved about 53,000 devices in the April of 2023, which Panic didn’t necessarily expect would happen.

For those who don’t necessarily subscribe to the concept of “seasonal” game releases for the Playdate, there is currently a big sale running at the Playdate Catalog store. That’s a good opportunity to stock up on some high-quality standalone titles, but remember that you’ve only got until November 14 to do so.

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