Playdate | Critical Consensus
Marie Dealessandri
Features Editor
Wednesday 20th April 2022
We were almost not expecting Playdate anymore.
Initially announced in 2019 by Firewatch and Untitled Goose Game publisher Panic, the handheld device suffered from a few delays.
The launch was initially due in early 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic pushed it back, with pre-orders ultimately announced for July 2021 and a release expected by the end of that year. Its first batch of consoles, 20,000 units, sold out in less than 20 minutes.
Later that year, Playdate was delayed to early 2022 due to a "critical issue" with the device's battery life, leading the company to replace all of the existing batteries with brand new ones.
But finally, on Monday, the console started to ship to players who were part of the first round of pre-orders. People ordering now will have to wait until 2023.
Playdate, a small 76 x 74 mm handheld device with a distinctive yellow colour and a crank on its side, was manufactured in partnership with Teenage Engineering, a company known for its quirky designs.
It sets consumers back $179, with the launch device also including its first season of games (more on that below) in the price.
"It's a surprisingly versatile bit of kit, the Playdate, and one I feel will enchant and enthral anyone who has a deep and inherent love of all things games"
Katharine Castle
And despite delays and a lot of interrogations about whether or not the console would live up to expectations, it sounds like it does: reviews so far are extremely positive, with critics praising its original design and its novel approach to delivering and playing games.
"It is extremely rare to have a new device come into a space and feel like it's changing a lot of ideas around how games are played,
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