3 Years Later, Playdate Is Still Gaming's Best-Kept Secret

Despite the name it appears this isn’t for children. Is that right?

HEY!

OVER HERE!

THERE'S A SECRET...

THAT SOMEONE NEEDS YOU TO KNOW ABOUT!

We love our Playdate. Admittedly, when I first got the Playdate, it was a bit of a flash in the pan for me, possibly due in part to not having many games to try while Season 1 was trickling out. But since then, my daughter has reached the age (8) where she can really enjoy it, and that has pulled me back into it as another thing we can share together.

The achilles heel of the Playdate is screen brightness. There's an awkward sweet spot where you need to pour light onto the screen for it to be viewable but simultaneously avoid reflection from the light source. I guess for younger eyes that's less of a problem. But for me, I've had plenty of scenarios where I considered playing and then realized it was going to be impossible to comfortably set up a lighting environment.

I have clip-on lights for books. Maybe I should get one for the Playdate. Has anyone had success with that?

It's $230. The idea is neat, but this is absolutely an instance where the target market isn't large enough to sustain sales in the long-term.