DirectDrive

What it is

DirectDrive is "a silent-movie-musical game about being an intern in the music industry in 1927". Its core mechanic is turning the crank at the right speed to keep a direct-drive record player playing in time with the music and the action on screen. Too fast or too slow and you fail. The game has four chapters, four singers, twelve 1.5-minute songs, minigames, "flow modes", a music player and a downloadable soundtrack. It uses the buttons, D-pad, crank and accelerometer, and it needs "cranking at somewhat continuously variable speeds". Headphones recommended.

It's by DAC vector, and it won Best Soundtrack at the 2023 Playdate Community Awards (per the store page). It was once the Playdate's most expensive game at $15 and now costs $10. Panic lists it in "Crank Wonders". The content note mentions "a mild amount of mature themes".

Who made it

What others are saying

Callout (?): No review yet. We haven't reviewed DirectDrive yet. This page is an overview built from official and press sources.