Is it just us, or does it really, truly feel like things are looking up? First came news of the USA pulling the world’s most anticipated U-turn in the middle of a chaotic political motorway (cheers for that, by the way, American readers). Next, news of an effective vaccine for Covid-19 – then another, and another. After the year we’ve had, we initially struggled to identify the emotions we were feeling. Hope? Relief? Joy? Never heard of ‘em.
Alright, that’s not strictly true. It’s just been a while. One-and-a-half years ago, in fact, we featured the physical embodiment of a sunny disposition on the cover of Edge: Playdate, Panic’s bizarre little crank-controlled handheld console, designed to deliver a brand new indie game to you once a week for an entire season. But with unabashed positivity and excitement sometimes comes a touch of naïveté – and the team at Panic soon found itself reckoning with unanticipated challenges. In Knowledge this month, we catch up with them to discuss how Panic is dealing with the responsibilities of Playdate becoming a platform.