Pre-orders for Playdate’s pocket gaming console will begin on July 29th

More than two a few years later was first introduced, Panic’s Playdate finally has a pre-order date: Thursday, July 29. This charming and bright yellow handheld video game console special crank for its part, and the price of $ 179 includes 24 games developed exclusively for the device.

You will not be able to play all 24 games immediately. Panic will deliver two games a week to the device via Wi-Fi for three months until all 24 are on the system. This includes Season 1 games and unfortunately Panic doesn’t have much to share in Season 2.

“We are waiting to see how many people are interested in Playdate before determining how the games will be distributed in the future,” a Panic spokesperson wrote in an email. “We’re going to adjust as needed. Right now everything is on the table, but nothing has been decided.” (Panic, which is primarily a software company, has released popular games for other platforms as well as popular ones) Firewatch.)

I’ve been playing with the pre-production version of Playdate for over a week. The little gadget is fun for the short moments of the day when you’re shrinking your thumb, just like when you’re waiting for the train. It is the size of a Post-Its range and fits most pockets.

The games I’ve tried so far …Crankin’s time travel adventure, Lose Your Marbles, White water cleaning, and Saturday edition—I don’t necessarily have the depth or duration of games I might be accustomed to on handheld devices like GameBoy, but they can be surprisingly challenging.

But unlike modern mobile games, with in-app purchases, ads, and awkward touchscreen controls, Playdate’s physicality does. amusing. Especially the crank. Take it out and start rotating it as a control mechanism for games. Not all titles use cranks, but both do stand out. You can work the crank so that a surfer can do tricks with the waves to get the marble to a specific target or to control the time. (Unfortunately, even though he seems ripe for it, there’s still no fishing game. Let me worry about some fish, Panic!)

Games like Crankinena it was really hard for me because you have to have a fast and accurate crank. You will fail a lot. But after finishing the level there was a great sense of achievement.