Katina Alford

If your Playdate wishlist is anything like mine (endless), here's a good excuse to actually go ahead and free some of those games from limbo: Panic is running a sale across the Playdate Catalog to celebrate its three-year anniversary. Sure, the majority of Playdate games are pretty cheap as is, but they can still add up when you're on a wild purchasing spree. Ask me how I know! The sale started on March 5 and goes until March 19 at 1PM ET (10AM PT), so take advantage of the discounts while you can. 
There are 423 games available in the Catalog now, according to Panic, so if you're having trouble deciding on which you should go for, I've got you covered with a few recommendations right here. 
Season Two

If $39 felt like too much to drop on Season Two when it came out last summer, now's the time to get it. Playdate's second season had only half the number of games as its first, but it still felt like a much stronger collection. Each of its 12 games is really solid, and there's plenty of variety in terms of genre and style, from puzzles and hours-long adventures to fast-paced action games that are great for bursts of intense play. And, it comes with Blippo+ — an oddball cable TV simulator that's unlike anything out there right now. 
All of these games are worth playing, but there were definitely some standouts from the bunch: The Whiteout, a post-apocalyptic adventure that'll surely hit even harder now considering the winter we've had; the puzzle platformer Taria & Como; the arcade action game Fulcrum Defender; the climbing adventure, Tiny Turnip. I also really enjoyed Dig! Dig! Dino! for something on the chiller side. 
Outside Parties

I have not been able to shut up about this game since it came out. It's unique, it's creepy, it's completely engrossing and it really pushes the limits of what the Playdate can do. Outside Parties is a horror scavenger hunt, presenting you with one massive picture to scrutinize and find hidden scenes within, using the crank to adjust the brightness constantly so you can find anything that may be buried in shadow. As you find these targets, more and more of the game's story comes to light through eerie audio clips. It is such a cool experience and the atmosphere of it all is incredible. You'll get many hours of playtime out of this one too, with over 150 targets to find and lots of lore to uncover. 
Crankstone

A full-blown western for the Playdate! Crankstone is a gallery shooter with minigames mixed throughout, and between the aesthetic, the music and the activities, it's a lot of fun. You can choose the story mode to get right into the shooting and defending the town from outlaws, or head to the saloon to pick from the handful of mini games individually, including some fast-paced "spot the correct card" deck shuffling games and a few mimicry games involving the crank. It's like a wild west theme park crammed into the Playdate, which is to say, it's wonderful. 
Echo: The Oracle's Scroll

This is one of my all-time favorite Playdate games. Echo: The Oracle's Scroll is a metroidvania without the usual combat, focusing entirely on exploration and puzzle-solving in a vast network of subterranean kingdoms. In this game, the Blight has forced civilization underground, and you play as a child who has been sent on a mission to deliver a scroll from the bottom-most territory, where the humans live, up to The Archives. 
There are all sorts of treacherous environments underground, including magma lakes and areas filled with hostile vegetation, making for what is at times a challenging platformer that requires lots of creativity to make your way through. The tone is a bit somber, but quirky characters — like a frog prince with a bouncy belly — keep things from getting too dark. 
Carte Blanche

This one's for lovers of classic card games. There are six games in this virtual card game parlor (which is run by a bird named Blanche): Cribbage, Gin Rummy, Spades, Cassino and Spite & Malice. It's great for if you already know what you're doing, but I found Carte Blanche to be a really good introduction to these games for absolute beginners too, thanks to the easy-to-follow tutorials. When you win games, you'll be rewarded with coins that you can spend at Blanche's slot machine, which is stocked with little trinkets she's collected.
Castle Kellmore

Castle Kellmore absolutely rules. This first-person action game puts you in a series of mazes where you have to fight off floating-head-style monsters as you hunt around for keys and try to find the doors and portals to your escape. There are sixteen levels, and upon finishing each one you'll get a little summary of how long it took you to complete that area and what percentage of the level's enemies you killed. I also really get a kick out of the sounds in this game. The enemies slurp and squelch, and your character will let out a hilariously passionless, "Ah" or "Ooeuugh" after picking up a health boost or getting injured. Great for fans of dungeons!
Piña Rollada 

If you've ever played any of the Super Monkey Ball games, the gist of this one should be pretty familiar: roll the ball through the course and collect all of the fruits before reaching the exit. Don't fall off the edge, and do it all in as little time as possible. Piña Rollada makes use of the Playdate's accelerometer, which means you control the ball's movement by tilting the console (there is also the option to use the D-pad instead). The courses start getting tricky pretty much right away, with thin paths that don't have any guardrails, obstacles to avoid and moving platforms. And, just going near the exit will result in the ball getting sucked in, so you have to keep that in mind as you collect any surrounding fruits if you don't want the level to end prematurely. 
This is another one of those games that is both frustrating (in the fun way) and totally addicting. Expect to yell a lot.
Other games to try
These are just the games I've been enjoying lately, but there are tons of other Playdate games worth checking out during the sale, like these cheese games and Spilled Mushrooms. And if you need even more recommendations, take a look through our list of the best Playdate games, where you'll find gems like Summit and Bwirds. There are quite a few I'm planning to finally spring from my wishlist too, including The Shape That Waits.
Update, March 15 2026, 7:15 PM ET: This story has been updated to include additional game recommendations.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playdate-games-to-check-out-before-the-catalogs-3-year-anniversary-sale-ends-181500370.html?src=rss

In an unexpected twist, humans have taken some jobs back from AI. Embark Studios' CEO Patrick Söderlund recently told GamesIndustry.biz that the studio "re-recorded" some of the AI-generated voice lines in Arc Raiders with human voices, only after its successful launch in October.
"There is a quality difference," Söderlund told GamesIndustry.biz. "A real professional actor is better than AI; that's just how it is."
With Arc Raiders' player count peaking at nearly half a million users on Steam, the game's breakout success was still marred by its use of text-to-speech AI. While there was no generative AI used for the visuals of the extraction shooter, Embark Studios paid its actors for approval to license their voices for text-to-speech AI, according to Söderlund. Even though Söderlund said that the text-to-speech AI was reserved for lines "that aren't as essential to the immersion of the experience," many players weren't happy with this creative decision.
Responding to the criticism, Embark Studios is seemingly reversing course and relying more on its voice actors. Söderlund said that the studio pays its voice actors for their time in the recording booth and will "continue to bring many of them back as we carry on updating the game." However, it's important to note that Söderlund told GamesIndustry.biz that "some" of the AI-generated lines were replaced by voice actors, which could indicate that the studio isn't looking to completely ditch its text-to-speech AI anytime soon.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/arc-raiders-replaced-some-of-its-ai-generated-voice-lines-with-professional-actors-184915627.html?src=rss

To capitalize on Claude's recent spike in popularity, Anthropic is offering a limited-time promotion that doubles usage limits for anyone using its AI chatbot during off-peak hours. From March 13 to March 27, users on Free, Pro, Max, and Team plans will get double the usage limits in a five-hour window when using Claude outside weekday hours between 8 AM and 2 PM ET. According to Anthropic, the promotion is automatic, and users don't have to enable anything to get the benefits.
A small thank you to everyone using Claude: We’re doubling usage outside our peak hours for the next two weeks. pic.twitter.com/W7TEBPditq— Claude (@claudeai) March 14, 2026

Anthropic said that this promotion applies to anyone using Claude on web, desktop or mobile, but also with Cowork, Claude Code, Claude for Excel and Claude for PowerPoint. Previously, Anthropic offered a similar event from December 25 to December 31, doubling usage limits for Pro, Max 5x or Max 20x subscribers. However, Anthropic is targeting an even wider audience with its latest promotion since only Enterprise users are excluded this time around.
Anthropic is marketing the promotion as a "small thank you to everyone using Claude," but it's likely tied to its ongoing battle with the Department of Defense. After refusing to remove certain AI safeguards for the Department of Defense, Anthropic was listed as a supply chain risk and lost its contract with the federal agency. In turn, OpenAI signed a deal with the Department of Defense, leading to many users deciding to boycott ChatGPT in favor of Claude and other AI chatbot options.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/anthropic-is-doubling-claudes-usage-limits-during-off-peak-hours-for-the-next-two-weeks-163645928.html?src=rss

Apple's exclusive deal for US broadcast rights of Formula 1 was a big shift to streaming from ESPN's cable coverage of the past, but after the first race (the Australian Grand Prix), it seems to be going well. "The 2026 Formula 1 season on Apple TV is off to a strong start, with fans responding positively and viewership up year over year for the first weekend, exceeding both F1 and Apple expectations," Apple VP Eddy Cue told The Hollywood Reporter. 
Apple didn't give any ratings or other details, but we can glean some clues from previous data. Last year, ESPN said the Australian GP averaged 1.1 million viewers, way up from the previous record of 659,000 in 2019. If Cue's comments were accurate, that means Apple TV's audience was above that, which would be impressive considering that it's a streaming-only service. 
When Apple's Formula streaming deal was first announced, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali was bullish on the deal. "It will allow us to enter in the houses of other people in a different way, in great quality that is very important for us," he told Racer. Indeed, Apple is pouring resources into it in a way that ESPN never did. That includes advanced tech that offers multiple ways for fans to watch, including Multiview, Podium Viewer, driver cams and 4K Dolby Vision coverage, Cue noted. 
Apple has jumped into Formula 1 racing in other other ways as well, taking advantage of a surge in the sport's popularity aided by Netflix's series Formula 1: Drive to Survive. The streaming service's F1 movie starring Brad Pitt did huge box office numbers and is likely to see a sequel. Apple also struck a deal with Netflix on the aforementioned Drive to Survive series to share streaming of the current season eight (which details the F1 2025 championship). That agreement will also allow Netflix to stream the F1 Canadian Grand Prix live, along with Apple TV. 
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/apple-says-f1-streaming-already-exceeds-everyones-expectations-111028328.html?src=rss

Bandai Namco has announced a new Little Nightmares game, this time for virtual reality. Little Nightmares VR: Altered Echoes is developed by Iconik and not by Tarsier Studios, but it’s still connected to the beloved titles Little Nightmares I and II. Remember Dark Six, the protagonist Six’s dark doppelganger from the previous games? Well, in this installment, you will control her as she goes on a journey to reunite with the actual Six in order to reunited with her and become whole. The adventure horror puzzle game promises an “eerie, atmospheric universe” with an immersive first-person perspective. It features new locations within Nowhere, a nightmarish world only accessible through dreams filled with dangerous creatures, such as the human-like Residents. The Thin Man, the antagonist of the franchise’s second installment, is also back. Little Nightmares VR: Altered Echoes is optimized for the PSVR2, the Meta Quest 2, 3 and 3s, the Oculus Rift and Rift S, the Pico 4, the Valve Index and the HTC Vive. However, it also works with other PC VR headsets. It will be available on April 24, 2026, and you can add it to your Wishlist right now on the PlayStation, Steam and Meta stores. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/little-nightmares-vr-altered-echoes-arrives-in-april-101626370.html?src=rss

Many of us remember the halcyon days of being a kid in the ‘90s, spending a weekend afternoon with remote control in hand and a seemingly endless well of stuff to watch on TV. Now you can relive the experience thanks to the appropriately named Channel Surfer web app. It's essentially a YouTube discovery tool that surfaces interesting videos, but presented in a retro homage to the cable channel screen. Channel Surfer is the work of developer Steven Irby. He has 40 channels on the app right now, mostly grouping content by theme. There are channels for typical cable fare like news and sports, but also music, movies and a number of more tailored tech subjects like AI, gaming, gadgets and space. "I built Channel Surfer because I’m tired of the algorithms and indecision fatigue," he told TechCrunch, which is where we discovered the app. "I miss channel surfing and not having to decide what to watch. I want to just sit and tune into what’s on and not think about what to watch next."It seems Irby isn't alone, because he posted on X that the number of views he's getting for Channel Surfer already broke 10,000 on its first day.OMG this blew up overnight! I got over 10,000 views on day 1. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/fY20ZVB3Xl— Steven Irby (@StevenIrby) March 12, 2026

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/youtube/this-web-app-lets-you-channel-surf-youtube-like-a-90s-kid-watching-cable-220651107.html?src=rss

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the union that covers warehouse workers, drivers and a diverse collection of other laborers, has come out against Paramount Skydance's merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. In a press release, the Teamsters announced that it has submitted a report to the US Department of Justice's Antitrust Division outlining its concerns about the impact of the deal, and is urging the DOJ to intervene in the merger."This merger threatens the livelihoods of the very workers who built these studios into industry giants," Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien said in a statement. "We've seen what happens when corporations consolidate power: jobs disappear, production leaves American communities and workers pay the price. The DOJ has a responsibility to stop deals that eliminate competition and harm working families. Unless Paramount and Warner Bros. can guarantee enforceable protections for domestic production and labor standards, this merger can’t be allowed to move forward."The Teamsters are primarily concerned with how merging the two companies will consolidate power, and eliminate jobs in the process. "Previous mergers have a well-documented track record of harming workers — Disney’s 2019 acquisition of 20th Century Fox resulted in eliminated production units, significant job losses and canceled projects," the union says. Motion Picture Teamsters, the division of the union concentrated in Hollywood that transports the equipment, props and crew members that make productions possible, stand to be most impacted. The high likelihood the merger impacts competition in the market is why the Teamsters expect the DOJ to step in, or in the case Paramount and Warner Bros. aren't able to provide "enforceable commitments to increasing and maintaining domestic production, strong labor standards and guarantees against layoffs and erosion of union jobs," block the deal entirely.Engadget has asked the Teamsters union what it plans to do if the Department of Justice doesn't intervene. We'll update this article if we hear back.If it's allowed to eat Warner Bros., Paramount Skydance has committed to producing 30 theatrical films annually, evenly split across the two studios’ slates. The larger issue is that the company's offer to acquire the studio is predicated on the idea it will quickly pass the muster of government regulators. Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison is the son of Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, who's known to have close ties with President Donald Trump, and has already benefited from favorable treatment from the administration. There's a real possibility that Paramount's new merger could similarly sail through, regardless of the Teamsters' concerns.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/teamsters-urge-doj-to-block-paramounts-warner-bros-merger-215115721.html?src=rss

With Claude enjoying a moment of newfound popularity among regular people, Anthropic is previewing an update designed to make its chatbot better at explaining some concepts. Starting today, Claude can generate charts and diagrams as part of its responses, either when asked directly or when it decides visuals might be helpful to the user. For example, try asking Claude what's the best way to fold a paper plane. Where previously it was limited to text, now it can show you step by step how to fold a Nakamura lock plane. Anthropic is quick to point out what it's introducing today isn't image generation. When producing visual aids, Claude will use HTML code and XML vector graphics. Anthropic likens it to giving Claude access to its own whiteboard. The new feature is available to all Claude users, regardless of whether you pay for one of Anthropic's subscriptions. However, the company does warn it's releasing beta software, so expect some quirks along the way. The feature also isn’t available on mobile just yet. This release comes just days after OpenAI made ChatGPT capable of generating interactive visuals when explaining science and math concepts.  This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/claude-can-now-generate-charts-and-diagrams-160000369.html?src=rss

Honda has announced it is canceling three electric vehicles it was months from starting production on at its EV Hub in Ohio. The Honda 0 SUV, the Honda 0 sedan and the Acura RSX are all being wound down. The company showed off all three models, and touted them as in near-production form at CES 2025. Unlike the Honda Prologue and Acura ZDX, which run on GM's Ultium platform, the scrapped models were built on Honda's own Zero platform and would have been its first fully in-house EVs.
Honda in part blamed the elimination of federal EV tax credits, eased fossil fuel regulations and US tariffs for the decision. The company said US demand for electric vehicles had slowed because of the policy changes. In China, it admitted it could not match the value offered by newer manufacturers building software-driven vehicles on shorter production cycles. CEO Toshihiro Mibe said at a press conference that the demand shift had made EV profitability "very difficult," according to Reuters.
The company said it will redirect resources toward next-generation hybrids and only bring EVs to market when demand justifies it. It also shared plans to expand in India, where it expects the hybrid market to expand. Honda is not alone in pulling back from EV production, with brands like Hyundai, Kia, Volkswagen, Porsche and Ford having all scrapped or delayed major US EV projects since federal policy shifted.
The total restructuring of its EV business could cost Honda up to 2.5 trillion yen ($15.7 billion), with the company set to lose money for the first time since going public in 1957. Mibe and Executive Vice President Noriya Kaihara will forgo 30 percent of their compensation for three months, with other senior executives giving up 20 percent. Honda said it plans to share a detailed long-term strategy at a press conference in May.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/evs/honda-cancels-three-evs-that-were-months-away-from-us-production-155523384.html?src=rss