Firewatch Publisher Releases New Crank-Based Handheld Console

Some developers are quirkier than others. Hell, Devolver Digital has made a whole brand out of their quirkiness, and it’s getting to the point where it’s getting kind of predictable. But there’s one developer out there that’s only just now experimenting with their quirkiness: Firewatch and "asshole" Goose Game publishers Panic, who is venturing into this bold new world with a brand-new product: a crank-based console.

No, not crank “powered,” but crank-based, which is to say, it’ll have a crank on the side that will be used to control some of the games that will be built into this rather small, humble system.

Called the “Playdate,” this shockingly yellow game boy-sized console has a small crank on the side, which will work together with the two buttons and the D-pad on the front to play a collection of 12 games, which will actually be unlocked over a period of 12 weeks. And these are promising to be more than just simple mini-games: right now two superstar developers have been revealed to be working on games for this project, specifically Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi and Getting Over It developer Bennett Foddy. But I wouldn’t be surprised if the list grew longer the closer we get to launch.

The console is supposed to launch sometime this year, and it’s also supposed to be packed full of secrets, so while I doubt we’ll get a ton more information in the incoming weeks and months, I’m sure that whoever does finally pick it up is going to be plenty surprised. But if there’s one thing I don’t mind being spoiled on, it’ll be “where can I buy this” and “how much will it cost,” because it’s certainly got MY attention.

But again, we don’t know quite yet. For the time being, all we can do is watch and wait...