There’s one very specific reason I keep a Wii U handy, and that’s so that I have an easy way to play the classic pinball game Devil’s Crush. Over the years, it has become a comfort game for me. I’m not entirely sure what it is, but there’s something about the combination of familiar pinball gameplay and the demonic imagery that works so well together, and lets me lose myself in the chase for a high score. But now I have something else to fill that need, and it comes in a much smaller package.
Devils on the Moon Pinball for the Playdate has an extremely literal title. It’s a game about playing pinball on the moon, which happens to be home to a bunch of little devils. It only has one pinball table, but there are three different tiers, and it’s all designed around occult and astrological themes. In addition to that, you can unlock various one-off challenges on smaller boards, like having to hit every pin onscreen before time runs out.
There are two things that are great about Devils on the Moon Pinball. First is that it works at all. The developers at Amano have managed to cram a physics simulation that feels at least somewhat realistic onto the itty-bitty Playdate, and it just feels great to play. You get the satisfying thunk of launching the ball, the chaos of watching it bounce around a complex playfield, and the ability to nudge the ball to help aim your shots just so. And, in my experience at least, it all happens without any detectable slowdown, which can be a real buzzkill in a pinball game. It’s really been fun to watch Playdate developers push the device to its limits, and Devils on the Moon is the latest example. (If you’re curious about how they pulled it off, the team has written a series of very technical development blogs.)
This technical wizardry leads into the second great thing about the game: it has so much personality. The pinball table is covered with little animated guys; there’s a smirking moon in the middle tier that puts Majora’s Mask to shame, and mischievous demons all over the place reacting to your performance either by mocking you or lending a hand. I especially like the catlike blobs that can save a ball from being lost. And like the best digital renditions of pinball, the board changes regularly depending on how you play, opening up new avenues to score points and, more importantly, new little guys to find. There’s even an in-game grimoire that tracks all of the devils you’ve captured.
There’s an unspoken rule, at least in my mind, that every handheld needs at least one really solid pinball game. They’re the kinds of games you can pull out to kill a few minutes, or really get lost in as you chase a high score, which makes them ideal for a portable device. The Game Boy had Pokémon Pinball and Kirby’s Pinball Land, while the Nintendo DS had Metroid Prime Pinball. Now, the Playdate has Devils on the Moon Pinball, and I can finally pack my Wii U away.