Panic’s unique and experimental gaming console, Playdate, is finally available to pre-order. The crank-based console made its first appearance over two years ago and has left fans wondering whether or not the console would ever make it to production. And now, we have our answer!
Panic, the company behind the cute console, opened up a round of 20,000 first-come-first-serve pre-orders today that would ship sometime later in 2021. That round sold out quickly (in under 20 minutes), but the company is still accepting new pre-orders; these ones, however, won’t ship until sometime in 2022 at the earliest.
The handheld console’s unique crank, minimal buttons, and tiny yellow design are fun and intriguing. And paired with its black-and-white display, the Playdate makes for a creative—albeit niche—take on modern gaming consoles. It also has a few neat accessories you can order alongside the console like a synthetic leather cover, a Stereo Dock, and the Pen. Currently, we don’t see any accessories besides the case listed on the site, but the others may be sold out already or slated to release later.
Several games will ship with the console, too, including Executive Golf, Sasquatchers, Lost Your Marbles, Saturday Edition, Questy Chess, Zipper, and more. You can always port Doom if you want to crank the chainsaw for real, too.
If you’re looking to purchase one of the consoles for yourself, you can do so now on Panic’s site for $179. The company has yet to announce a specific release date set, however, just that it “ordered 20,000 units for 2021” and will “make even more for 2022, adjusting production based on demand.” Hopefully, it’ll be sooner rather than later, as we can’t wait to get our hands on it and try it out.
