As everyone else unboxes their beautifulNintendo Switch 2and dives intoMario Kart Worldlike its Gamer Christmas, I’m left abandoned, wondering why Father Miyamoto forgot to stop at my house this year. I know full well it’s because the cost of living is increasing, wages are being cut, and I was forced into buying a new fridge so that I can feed my family food that hasn’t grown a mycelium community, but that doesn’t make me feel any better.
I’m Cinderella, not invited to the ball. I’m Eric Andre screaming at the gates. I’msad that I’m not playing the newest instalment of one of my favourite seriesright now, instead of working. And I’m watching enviously as all my friends share their best shortcuts and flaunt their finest victory poses.
So I’ve decided to occupy my mind with an alternative.
Independent Consoles Are Just As Much Fun
Do you know what also released this month? Not a rival console, butPlaydate’s Season 2. For the very reasonable price of $35, you get access to two new games each week, for six weeks. And let me tell you, they’re already bangers.
I was most excited to play Fulcrum Defender when the season was revealed. Subset Games is one of the few developers that I’ll happily throw money at without having seen a single screenshot. It earned its laurels with FTL: Faster Than Light and Into the Breach, and Fulcrum Defender deserves to be talked about in the same breath as its forebears.
A 360-degree tower defence game, Fulcrum Defender epitomises ‘easy to learn, impossible to master’. You’re the small circle at the centre of a radar-esque UI, and you must gun down the encroaching shapes before they hit your fulcrum. Choose your upgrades wisely and you can go far. Inaccurate cranking or poor decision-making can ruin a ruin. But then you get to start all over again.
However, there are plenty of surprises, too. Dig Dig Dino! seems like a pretty straightforward archeology simulator at first, but soon eschews expectations and twists in ways you wouldn’t expect. This week, The Whiteout is already sating my need for a branching narrative adventure. I’m not even finished and I’d happily recommend it to any Playdate owner.
Of course, there’s Blippo+, too. Whatever that actually is.
Constraint Breeds Innovation
Two buttons, a D-pad, and a crank. That d*rn crank. The Playdate’s simple setup offers so much opportunity for creativity, and it feels like developers are finally getting the hang of the pocket-sized device. I loved Lucas Pope’s Mars After Midnight as much as the next person, and Root Bear is my absolute favourite tech demo to show my friends what this cranky console is all about. These games laid the foundations for the console, made players wonder about the heights it could reach. Now it’s beginning to reach those heights.
There’s a confidence to Season 2. Not every game is entirely crank-based. Developers are now self-assured enough that their games don’t have to be gimmicks. Some use the crank for movement, others for a core mechanic, but there’s always more going on as well. Whether that’s narrative pathways or roguelike upgrades, these are games first, and crank-led experiences second. The crank is applied only where it’s needed, and that makes it more special.
The constraints of this console have bred – and continue to breed – innovation. I’m still gutted that I’m not playing Mario Kart World. I would still rush out and buy a Switch 2 if a stranger gifted me the cash for some reason. But Nintendo has provided an iterative console rather than an innovative one.
Mario Kart runs better, looks better, but by all accounts itsopen world is a little blandand bloated. Nintendo has lifted the constraints, and its first-party developers have filled the gap with triple-A trappings – graphics, framerates, etc. Those things are not the things that make a game good. A game needs heart, soul, streamlined mechanics, a commitment to a core idea. And maybe a tiny crank.
