Playdate is bumping its price to $199 in April

Starting today, you can also check out the Playdate Catalog that’s adding a host of new games, including a couple of neat freebies.

Playdate is announcing a suite of new games and a pricing update. The $179 USD handheld is going up by $20, effective April 7th, bumping the price to $199.

According to Playdate’s website, the price increase is due to increased manufacturing costs. Makes sense since the price of just about everything (insulin, happily notwithstanding) is going up. Originally, the Playdate was announced at a $149 price point until parent company Panic increased the price to $179 while increasing the number of games players would get for free from 12 to 24, as well as the device’s storage capacity.

If you haven’t yet gotten one and if your budget allows (and if you don’t live in one of the many countries where it isn’t available, including its manufacturing home base in Malaysia), you should. You also don’t have to worry about shelling out the extra cash just yet. You have until April 7th to preorder the adorable Pikachu-colored handheld gaming portable at the current price of $179. 

Today marks the rollout of the Playdate’s Catalog, which will allow players to shop a list of games for purchase. Right now, Playdate operates on a “seasonal” basis whereby players will get 24 games for free at a clip of two games a week for 12 weeks. With the new storefront, new games are always on offer for purchase, with titles ranging in price from free (two games are included as a bonus for this season) all the way up to $15. 

My colleague Andrew Webster has more to say about the new games, but in perusing the list, a couple of them stand out.

The first game is one of the freebies Recommendation Dog!! from Sweet Baby because I know I’ll love anything writer and game designer Xalavier Nelson Jr. does with dogs. My next recommendation is Grand Tour Legends because, well...

The Playdate Catalog launches today.