Engadget (Cheyenne MacDonald, 21 Jun 2025). "Shadowgate makes for a really cool game on the Playdate… It's a lesson in persistence, really… The art and music really elevate the whole experience."
https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playdate-season-2-review-shadowgate-pd-and-catchadiablos-130020943.htmlGames / Season Two / Shadowgate PD
OverviewSeason Two
Shadowgate PD
Puzzle / AdventureCrank: yes (precision)$10
1 · official Catalog GIF (1-bit still: screen-1-still.webp)
2 · official Catalog screenshot
3 · official Catalog screenshot
4 · official Catalog screenshot
5 · official Catalog screenshot1 · official Catalog GIF (1-bit still: screen-1-still.webp)2 · official Catalog screenshot3 · official Catalog screenshot4 · official Catalog screenshot5 · official Catalog screenshotOverview. Not yet reviewed. No score. Checked 12 Oct 2026. Built from official and press sources.
What it is
Shadowgate PD is an official remake of Shadowgate, the 1987 MacVenture point-and-click adventure that later reached the NES, Game Boy Color and Nintendo 64. You're "The Seed of Prophecy", making your way through a living castle to defeat the Warlock Lord. You explore room by room, collect keys and items, solve puzzles and try not to die, which the game makes hard: floors drop away, dragons breathe fire, and letting your torch go out is fatal. The store page promises "more ways to gruesomely die than gamers previously thought possible". Each time, you revive in the room where you died.
It's by Ollie Coe of Pixel Ghost (Life's Too Short, Time From Earth), with art by Thantropy and music by Ben Perry. It was built in Pulp, Panic's browser-based game maker, which explains its tiny 618.8 KB size. The crank flips inventory pages and switches between inventory and game, but it's optional. Panic's accessibility note says the difficulty "is intended for experienced players". The store page says 20% of net sales go to building wells in Malawi.
It came out in Week 4 of Playdate Season Two (19 June 2025) alongside CatchaDiablos and now sells for $10 in the Catalog and on itch.io. It was a 2025 Community Awards finalist for Outstanding Innovation in a Pulp Game and Outstanding Visual Achievement in a Pulp Game. A Playdate version of the next MacVenture, Déjà Vu PD, has been announced for the Catalog.
Who made it
What others are saying
Playdate: The Unofficial Website (Nick Simberg, Jun 2025). "a VERY faithful port, warts and all… It's almost meant to be played like a roguelike."
https://www.playdateunofficial.com/the-games/shadowgate-pdCallout (?): No review yet. We haven't reviewed Shadowgate PD yet. This page is an overview built from official and press sources.
Sources
Checked 12 Oct 2026.
- Official Catalog page (description, credits, size, dates, content/AI/accessibility notes). https://play.date/games/shadowgate-pd/
- Season Two page. https://play.date/games/seasons/two/
- 2025 Playdate Community Awards results (Playdate Squad). https://playdate-wiki.com/wiki/The_2025_Playdate_Community_Awards
- Engadget, Cheyenne MacDonald, 21 Jun 2025. https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playdate-season-2-review-shadowgate-pd-and-catchadiablos-130020943.html
- Playdate: The Unofficial Website, Nick Simberg. https://www.playdateunofficial.com/the-games/shadowgate-pd
- Panic press release, 9 Sep 2026 (Déjà Vu PD announced). https://www.gamespress.com/PLAYDATE-SEASON-3-BEGINS-OCTOBER-8-PRE-ORDERS-AVAILABLE-NOW
- Playdate Podcast transcript: research/gamepages/sources/shadowgate-pd/podcast.txt.
OverviewNo score
Overview
Not yet reviewed.
No score. This page is built from official and press sources.
On the card
The 1987 castle-of-death adventure, remade for Playdate with new art and music. Expect tricky puzzles, a hungry torch and many, many ways to die.
From the sources
