Panic’s crank-based gaming console, the Playdate, is officially set for its third season of games, launching in late 2026. For now, no new games have been announced for this upcoming season, but Panic has promised an array of surprises, with new novel, quirky experiences likely to be part of the action.
‘Playdate fans and developers are some of the kindest, most enthusiastic people I have ever met, and it makes me and everyone here at Panic happy to see Playdate bring people so much joy,’ Greg Maletic, Head of Special Projects and Playdate at Panic says.
Playdate Season 3 announced – quick links
The Playdate’s future includes education and play
In a new video, the Panic team has outlined strong plans for the Playdate’s future, including its third season of games, and new forays into the world of education.
As outlined, the Playdate now has its own educational program, with opportunities for educators to provide access in the classroom. The launch of this curated program to outline coding and game design skills has inspired uptake at several institutions worldwide, including North Carolina’s Duke University.
The console is now part of the Master of Engineering in Game Design, Development, and Innovation program, with developers taught how to code within the console’s unique limitations – games can only operate with a handful of buttons and a crank.
‘The students can design something in class and build it really quickly or over a short assignment, and then grab the Playdate and go around campus having people test their games,’ Ernesto Escobar, executive director of the GDDI program at Duke says.
‘Because of the simplicity of the tool and because of the portability, because of the constraints, it allows for this iterative loop to be very quick.’
Surprise new game launches for the Playdate
In addition to announcing the Playdate’s third season, and outlining the impact of its educational program, the Panic team has also revealed a nice surprise for Playdate owners: a brand new game.
As announced, you can now purchase Office Chair Curling for the device. It’s a new game developed and published by osuika that tasks you with curling office chairs, using the Playdate’s crank handle to wind up and then aim your chairs. You’ll need to consider the weight of the employee on the chair, and avoid various obstacles including cleaners, water puddles, and more.
This experience should tide players over in the lead-up to more news about the Playdate’s next season of games. Stay tuned, and we’ll likely hear more in the coming months.
Also on ScreenHub: Tomodachi Life devs reportedly got into ‘big debate’ about whether Miis should fart
Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is a fun, light-hearted life simulator where you can control a flock of Miis – humanoid beings – as they go about their day. As you control these tiny people and allow them to make friends, you’ll ‘level them up’ and be able to assign specific quirks to better define their personalities.
One of the available quirks… is that your character can be flatulent. According to a new in-depth developer interview, this particular quirk was the subject of ‘big debate’ at Nintendo.
As shared by developers Takaomi Ueno, Ryutaro Takahashi, Toru Minegishi and Daisuke Kageyama, each developer brought their own sensibilities and ideas to the development of Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream. They also had their own ideas about which personality quirks would make it into the game.
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