Playdate Season 2 review: The Whiteout and Wheelsprung

Panic has released the second week of games for Playdate's second season, following up on the strong start with Dig! Dig! Dino!, Fulcrum Defender, and the surprise rollout of Blippo+. This week's games, The Whiteout and Wheelsprung, are polar opposites, with a somber narrative-heavy adventure and a dirtbike game featuring realistic physics. The Whiteout is a narrative-driven post-apocalyptic game that feels hopeless from the start, but its beautifully written story and sentimental moments make it stunning. The Whiteout's gameplay involves linear exploration, searching for resources, solving puzzles, and making choices, with a slow pace that helps to illustrate the difficulty of survival. Wheelsprung, on the other hand, is cute, charming, and silly, with a squirrel to ride a dirtbike to collect nuts in obstacle courses. The game is challenging and frustrating, but also fun and creative, with a level editor to create their own tracks.