Playdate leans hard on that retro-cool factor, but it’s also adorable. Even the digital volume rocker—accessed through a Home menu button—is joyous, each notch higher or lower playing musical notes like a virtual xylophone. While the hardware still effortlessly charms after three years, its unchanged nature means problems at launch are still problems now. The lack of a backlight remains particularly frustrating, making it tricky to use Playdate in dimmer spaces. With Playdate, I initially had only those two games to hand, which forced me to practice, learning how best to time jumps and mastering the surprisingly precise crank controls.