Panic announced the initial lineup of Playdate Season 2 games during a recent livestream, and one of them is Fulcrum Defender, the latest project from Into the Breach and FTL: Faster than Light developer Subset Games. It’s an arcade-action game where you control a turret using the Playdate’s hand crank and stop incoming projectiles before they reach the center of the screen.
In our Into the Breach review, we called it a “pristine and pragmatic tactical gem,” and it won the BAFTA for best original property, along with “best strategy game” at The Game Awards 2018. FTL launched in 2012 to critical acclaim for its design and soundtrack. However, Subset Games’ Justin Ma said during the stream that they weren’t trying to create another hit. In fact, they didn’t actually plan on releasing Fulcrum Defender at all for a while.
“I was making it as a form of self-therapy,” Ma said. “I have been struggling with long COVID the past few years, and I wanted to prove to myself that I can still make games in my current state.”
11 other games join Fulcrum in the Playdate Season 2 lineup.
- Dig Dig Dino! (Dom2D and Fayer)
- Taria and Como (Popseed Studio Inc and JuVee Productions)
- Shadowgate PD (Pixel Ghost)
- Black Hole Havoc (Cosmic Bros)
- CatchaDiablos (Amano)
- Chance’s Lucky Escape (Goloso Games and Julia Minamata)
- Long Puppy (indiana_jonas)
- Otto’s Galactive Groove!! (Team Otto)
- The Whiteout (Scenic Route Software)
- Tiny Turnip (Luke Sanderson)
- Wheelsprung (Nino van Hooff and Julie Bjørnskov)
Two games will release every week for six weeks during Playdate Season 2, which begins on May 29 and costs $39. Season pre-orders are open now.
