Cultivator

Do you remember the immaculate vibes from when you first turned on the original Metroid Prime on the GameCube? Weird sounds, visuals that didn’t quite make sense, and a feeling that you’re about to see something unlike anything you’ve ever seen before? That’s what Cultivator is like, but in narrative game form.

It’s going to get the most attention for its impressive visuals, but don’t downplay the sound. Even more than some music games, quality headphones are a must for the full Cultivator experience. This is so impressive for a small console where the music can be a secondary priority, and the pulsing art matches the heartbeat of the music. Many of the backgrounds remind me of Windows Media Player visualizers from 20 years ago, but they’re in black and white and do a great job of showing people how much you can squeeze out of a 1-bit Playdate screen.

It looks and sounds amazing, but what’s always been most important to me is how a game makes me feel. This one nails that, too. It’s a laser-focused story with barely any actual “gameplay.” There are some codes to decipher (I got stuck on one; give them some time) and some seeds to plant, but that’s the extent of your input. The seeds, you can wait for them to grow in real time or you can “sleep” to fast forward past that if you don’t want it to be a game you check in on later. The ideal way to play is to treat it like Bloom/Patience/Hablet and make it part of your daily Playdate routine, but there’s no shame in time-skipping, either. Note that if you fast forward, the whole thing will be over in about an hour. But what a ride!

You play as a little round floaty ball thing and talk to a visualizer who needs your help re-vegetating the world. It’s hard work, but someone has to do it! The way that the story unfolds is interesting and dramatic and I’m not going to spoil it, but it does such a good job of feeling like more than the sum of its parts. Like how Thumper is “just” a game where you just ride down a rail and push directions at certain times or Tetris Effect is “just” a falling block puzzle game, the synesthesia of it all elevates it to something that will live inside of you long after you stop playing. It’s not a big or complicated game, but it utilizes the medium in a precise, artistic way to deliver maximum impact.

Come for the music and visuals. Stay for the feeling that you can only really get from a video game crafted masterfully. Also: it only costs one dollar. Everyone with a Playdate should see, hear, and experience Cultivator.

(Released January 6, 2026, on Catalog. Copy provided by developer.)