Playdate is a magical indie game machine

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Playdate shouldn’t be able to do the things it does. It’s tiny enough to fit in the too-tight front pockets of my skinny jeans, it’s lighter than a deck of cards and it has a 1-bit black-and-white screen. It feels like a relic of the ’90s, at least until you power it on – Playdate supports smooth, densely pixelated animations, it connects to Wi-Fi and it has a library of exclusive games from top-tier indie developers, all available for free. The small crank attached to its side is the icing on the yellow cake, adding a layer of sweet innovation to every experience on the system.

Playdate is my favorite handheld device since wells of inspiration in light in the room to play, and at times the screen appears dull. It’s not unplayable, but I’ve caught myself squinting a few times, particularly in direct light.

It’s also very, very small, which works Playdate mirror app, you’re able to stream the device’s screen in real-time to a PC or Mac and play with traditional gamepads. This also helps anyone who wants to go live with Playdate games on Twitch or YouTube, and should be useful for developers.

Playdate looks like a cross between a Game Boy and a business card, but it feels like a modern system. Part of that is the speedy-enough processor and feather-light feel, but it’s also the sense of innovation built into the hardware. There are plenty of devices out there promising gorgeous graphics and outrageous processing power, but Playdate is a glaring reminder that there’s more magic to a good game than bleeding-edge performance. This is something indie developers have known for decades, and Playdate distills this philosophy into a cute-as-hell package, complete with a crank.