PinFinger

Five Finger Fillet, or simply “The Knife Game,” is a very dumb game to play in real life. Luckily, we have video games for that. It was a mini-game in Red Dead Redemption 2, and now there’s a version for everyone to play on the Playdate called PinFinger. The game is that you splay your hand on the table and then try to very quickly stab a knife between your own fingers, one at a time, without cutting any of them. Sometimes there are different patterns, like all in a row, or first-second-first-third-first-fourth to add some intrigue. This is a very “don’t try this in real life” situation. Whoever loses a finger first is the loser, I guess?

In PinFinger, the whole thing is controlled with the crank. The stabbing is automatic and increases speed as you get farther along, and three pokes of your own hand mean you lose the level. There are three opponents to unlock, each with a different pattern, and you can build up combos as your speed increases and you perform flawlessly.

At first, the cranking is like a clock. Stab, move, stab, move, stab, move. But as the speed increases, you get into this sort of flow state as you’re smoothly moving the crank without stopping. There’s a tiny target between the fingers to hit, and nailing it right in the center gives you extra points, but even getting close will keep your combo going. Hit a certain score on one opponent to unlock the next, and there are global daily and overall online leaderboards to see who is the best.

It looks good and feels good, but it is also a very focused experience. There isn’t anything to it beyond the finger-dancing, but it’s a great way to take every bit of your attention for a few minutes instead of looking at things on your phone. And anything to keep us off that is a good thing!

(Released April 28, 2026, on Catalog. Copy provided by developer.)