Imagesource: https://play.date/

In Issue #15 at the beginning of September we already mentioned the PlayDate easy peasy SDK PULP. But at the time the software was still in alpha status and not available to the general public.

Now Panic Inc. is getting serious. The first usable beta is available since a short time, and is really impressive as a browser-only product. Drawing tools, animation, level editor, custom font, chiptune music and sound effects ... similar to the PICO-8 development environment, the SDK allows to work on all aspects of a PlayDate game directly in PULP.

I'm pretty sure we'll be hearing a lot more about PlayDate, especially when the second production batch of the console ships in 2022. Not a real retro topic, but the restrictions of the console are very reminiscent of early 8-bit'ers and make the thing likeable.