// THE VERGE — GAMING
The humble Playdate has become one of gaming’s best deals
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The handheld’s new season 3 makes an excellent library of games even better.
The handheld’s new season 3 makes an excellent library of games even better.
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The Playdate, Panic’s tiny yellow handheld that launched in 2022, has slowly but surely become a great deal — which is a good thing, because everything else in gaming has only gotten more expensive. Despite being a weird device with a black-and-white screen and a crank jutting out the side, the Playdate has managed to cultivate a strong and constantly growing library of games. And with the handheld’s new season 3 of games, the deal has only gotten better.
Playdate’s “seasons” are basically curated collections of games that are released over a short period of time. For season 3, there are eight games in total, with two launching weekly over the span of four weeks. The whole thing costs $39, and the season is off to a pretty good start with two games that are indicative of what the overall Playdate experience is like.
One is called Soggy Froggy, and it’s an arcade game about giving a frog a bath. The little guy sits in a cauldron over a fire, and your job is to keep the water at just the right temperature to keep him warm and cozy. Do nothing and the water quickly heats up, but turn the crank and you can cool things down. If the water gets too hot, well, the poor little froggy boils to death. The goal is to keep him alive for as long as possible, making it a game about chasing a high score that’s both cute and morbid. I can’t stop playing.