Thread by @playdate

Introducing Playdate, a new handheld gaming system from Panic.

It fits in your pocket. It's got a black and white screen. It includes a season of brand-new games from amazing creators. Oh and… there's a crank???? play.date

Yes. A thread…

Our company @panic has been around for a long-ass time, and we've made lots of great software. But one day we realized: we're self-funded, and there's nobody to tell us what to do. Why aren't we trying more new things?

So, we also started publishing video games. It's been fun and rewarding. First, Firewatch from @camposanto, and later this year, the joyful Untitled Goose Game from @house_house_.

But there was another thing we'd never done. A thing that we figured would be harder than any thing we've ever done. But something that would stretch our skills and help us grow.

Hardware.

"We should build a thing!" became "let's make a game system!" became "oh and it should include a bunch of cool games!" became "we should make the games surprises!" and… well, it just grew. It wasn't long until we had a janky-but-functional prototype.

But we didn't know beans about mechanical engineering or industrial design. So we cold e-mailed Teenage Engineering (@jugendingenieur), a company that makes things we really love. Their spirit was infectious. They were on board. They came up with the crank.

Oh yeah, the crank! No, it doesn't power the device. It's a flip-out rotational controller that puts a fresh spin on fun. Some games use it exclusively, some use it with the d-pad, and some not at all.

About those games. We reached out to some of our favorite people, like @KeitaTakahash, @bfod, @helvetica, @shauninman, and many more.

Here's a peek at one: Crankin's Time Travel Adventure, from Keita. It's fun and funny.

But here's the trick: every game is a secret. They're all included with system, and they will be delivered to you each week, for a few months.

Our dream is simple: that you wake up on new game day excited to see what you can play next.

We've worked on this for four years. We've learned so much — well, there was so much we didn't know. It wasn't all smooth sailing, but little by little we created this thing. And today, we're announcing it to the world, and shipping it in early 2020.

(PS: there are even more surprises to reveal when Playdate goes up for sale later this year…)

If this seems cool, visit play.date and sign-up for the waiting/mailing list ASAP.

(The earlier you're on the list, the earlier we will e-mail you when it's ready.)

Thank you for reading. We're so excited share this with you. We made Playdate just for fun. 💛