You can now make your own Playdate games in a web browser
Pulp fiction.
Playdate's Pulp, a creation tool allowing you to make your own games for the upcoming handheld with a crank, is now available in open beta.
The software, which is free to use, allows players to create and test games in a web browser before exporting them to use on a Playdate when it launches later this year.
If you're familiar with game making tools, it's similar to (and inspired by) Bitsy, allowing you to make room-based games without any programming knowledge, and comes complete with a pixel graphics editor, animation tools, a sound sequencer and the ability to create your own fonts. Essentially - everything you should need to make a game.
I found it pretty easy to get something up and running quickly - albeit something very simple! - and for those who are more experienced with game making, supports code with its own PulpScript scripting language.
As well as Pulp, Playdate creators Panic also said a full SDK for "more advanced game coding" is due to be released very soon - and will also be free for anyone to use.
Originally intended to launch last year, Playdate was delayed due to a "surprise battery issue", and is now set to launch from early 2022 onwards, based on your place in the pre-order queue.
If you want to know more about Playdate, we went hands on with the handheld and a small handful of games last year: "What it comes back to with the Playdate is charm, and there are buckets of it here, in the console and in the few games I've played so far."