Uptown top cranking

With its little monochrome display and crank controller, the Playdate is a handheld console like no other... or is it just a box of hype?

Crank you for the music

You'll be surprised by how loud the built-in speaker can go. In fact, we were never really tempted to plug in headphones.

R2900 (import)/play.date

The pocketable Playdate feels more like a high-end toy than a fully-fledged portable console. Its diminutive proportions mean you tend to hold it from the bottom but it screams at you to pick it up. You'll have to wait until 2023, though it's sold out until then.

It might look like an old-school handheld but there's no cartridge slot: 24 games are automatically delivered to your Playdate over the course of 12 weeks. Not every title in the eclectic lineup held our attention, but even some of the less engaging ones use the crank in interesting ways.