Playdate Podcast

How narrative development company Sweet Baby branched out from client work to create their first in-house game: the quirky marble labyrinth/narrative adventure, Lost Your Marbles! Kim Belair and David Bedard discuss Sweet Baby’s mission to help marginalized people bring their talents to the games industry, and the team’s next projects for Playdate! Plus: Will Herring’s approach to creating characters, one-bit art, and sprites, and Neha Patel talks sound design and composing a hum-able soundtrack. Show Notes Sweet Baby’s website David Bedard on Twitter Kim Belair on Twitter Will Herring on Twitter Neha Patel on Twitter Will Stacey on Twitter Ayla Myers on Twitter Felix Kramer on Twitter Lost Your Marbles game page on Playdate’s website Episode Transcript

Game-jamming friends Nic Magnier and Arthur Hamer were so captivated by the announcement of Playdate that Nic built his own device (using parts found online and an old NES controller) and Arthur scrapped his fish processing plant designs for an adorable dog and an e-commerce warehouse. Here’s how the duo created their narrative match three puzzle game, Pick Pack Pup, featuring music by Logan Gabriel! Show Notes Nic Magnier on Twitter Arthur Hamer on Twitter Nic Magnier on itch.io Arthur Hamer’s website Logan Gabriel on Twitter Logan Gabriel’s website Nic’s DIY Playdate 1 Nic’s DIY Playdate 2 Nic’s DIY Playdate 3 Nic’s DIY Playdate 4 Game Maker’s Toolkit on itch.io Can You Pet The Dog on Twitter Idle Thumbs Firewatch Olly Moss Pick Pack Pup game page on Playdate’s website Episode Transcript

Interdisciplinary artist, designer, technologist, and DJ May-Li Khoe teamed up with friend and independent researcher Andy Matuschak to make what they thought would be a fun project on a short timeline. While Playdate’s schedule extended a bit, and then a bit more, the pair had a great time creating a whimsical music and dance maker that is a joy to use. Lay down your drum and bass tracks, add a melody, and tell your pizza to twerk with this sparkly composer that’s full of fun details! Show Notes May-Li Khoe on Twitter May-Li Khoe’s website Andy Matuschak on Twitter Andy Matuschak’s website Andres Velasquez on Twitter One Thousand Birds, sound design studio where Andres Velasquez is a partner and music creative director Federico Ardila on Twitter La Pelanga DJ Coalition Scribble Together MakeSpace Mario Paint The Story of Playdate Playdate Mirror Playdate on Twitter Christa Mrgan on Twitter Boogie Loops game page on Playdate’s website Episode Transcript

How Katamari Damacy designer Keita Takahashi teamed up with animator Ryan Mohler, sound designer Matthew Grimm, and developer Shaun Inman to create “Crankin’s Time Travel Adventure,” the very first game ever developed for Playdate by someone outside of Panic, the company that makes the device. Keita’s seemingly simple idea led to deep gameplay, but was, at times, a challenge for the team to crank out! Show Notes Uvula Keita Takahashi Ryan Mohler Matthew Grimm Shaun Inman Crankin’s Time Travel Adventure game page on Playdate’s website Episode Transcript

When designer-turned-developer Diego Garcia first came up with the idea for Casual Birder, he never expected to fall in love with birdwatching himself. Here’s how he overcame some technical challenges (plus a bit of imposter syndrome!) and joined forces with composer and sound designer Max Coburn to create a Playdate game that’s funny, relaxing, and a good reminder that it’s ok to be into things without learning absolutely everything about them first. Show Notes Casual Birder on the Playdate Website Diego Garcia’s Website Max Coburn on SoundCloud Max Coburn on Band Camp Casual Birder game page on Playdate’s website Episode Transcript

How Chuhai Labs got their hands on a Playdate, their epic Pitch Jam, and how the team came together to create a zen-like homage to a classic. This episode contains spiders, and mild spoilers for Whitewater Wipeout. Show Notes Chuhai Labs Atari Lynx California Games Merch Playdate Software Development Kit Nova Unreal Engine Busan Indie Connect BitSummit Whitewater Wipeout game page on Playdate’s website Episode Transcript

How an offhand idea to mark the 15th anniversary of a software company launched a decade-long saga of twists, turns, and mini-boss battles that led to a handheld gaming console as surprising and unique as its creators. It’s dangerous to go alone. Take this adorable yellow box, and let’s get crankin’… on the story of Playdate. Show Notes Playdate website Teenage Engineering Nintendo Game and Watch Famicom Disk System Metric Designworks Episode Transcript