New on itch.io: Apex Street League and CARGIX

Two new paid Playdate games went up on itch.io over the weekend.

Apex Street League (Shadow Break Games, $1 USD, published 18 October) is "a 3D arcade racer for Playdate". You start in a Bolt RS hatchback with an empty wallet, race for credits and buy your next car. There are ten cars and six circuits (dockyards, forest roads, quarry hairpins and city streets), three four-round championship cups, Quick Race and Time Trial modes, and five rivals. Three difficulty settings, optional crank steering and auto throttle are in Options. The download is 6.2 MB, and there's also a free demo. When we checked on 19 October it was #1 in itch.io's Playdate top sellers.

CARGIX (Matan Dessaur, $5.99 CAD, published 17 October) comes from the developer of CRANKFLIP. Its tagline is "Pack it. Ship it. Don't get fired." You stand among eight bays, turn the crank to aim and throw crates off a belt, and keep the boss in his window happy. Bounced or dropped crates make him angrier, and "five seconds of furious and you're done". There are 15 shifts over five weeks, with a new rule each week, 45 stars to earn and an endless OVERTIME shift. You can aim with the crank, tilt or the D-pad, and a coach helps on your first day. It's a 921 kB download. When we checked it was #7 in the Playdate top sellers.

Both pages disclose AI assistance with code. Both games are sideloads (download from itch.io, then upload at play.date/account/sideload). Neither is in Panic's Catalog.