CranKnight (for Playdate)
A downloadable game
About
Spin to win on the Playdate! CranKnight (Crank-Knight) is a short but challenging, chaotic rogue-ish/survivor-ish hack-n-slash game where you fight waves of enemies while using the power of the Playdate crank to swing your weapons to fight and block.
- Select from 5 unique weapon types, with multiple branching upgrade options for each!
- Hold up to 4 different weapons at once to come up with countless
combinations to fight your way to victory! - Upgrade your armour to 4 different styles, each with unique passive benefits!
- Select an amulet that is charged as you swing your weapons. Unleash its full power for devastating effects!
- Choose your own path through multiple rooms with unique enemies!
- Complete achievements to show what you've accomplished and unlock secret weapon upgrades!
(Please purchase the Catalog version for access to the Challenge mode and official scoreboards!)
Controls
| DPad | Move |
| Crank | Spin Weapon(s) |
| A | Accept (in menus), Spin Clockwise |
| B | Go back (in menus), Spin Counterclockwise |
| A & B | Activate Amulet (when fully charged) |
Install Instructions
Note: This game is only playable on the PlayDate console.
CranKnight Version 1.1 requires playdate version 2.7.5 and higher.
Following the official guide: https://help.play.date/games/sideloading/
- Log into your Playdate account: https://play.date/account/sideload/
- Upload the "CranKnight.pdx.zip" file downloaded from this page
- On your Playdate, go to Settings > Games. Hit the "Refresh" button and select "CranKnight" when it shows up.
- After it's done downloading, you're ready to play!
Credits
Programming, Art, Sound, and main theme by me (Caden Marofke / Dinosire).
Cantate Domino by Anonymous Choir is licensed under a Public Domain License.
The Endless by Kevin MacLeodis licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.
J. S. Bach: Toccata and Fugue in D Minor by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.
dpaint_8, peridot_7, ruby_12 fonts Copyright (c) 2022 Scott Lawrence. Used under MIT license.
Special thanks to all the people I bugged to play early builds and who provided essential feedback, especially:
Karina Lebedeva, Eric Himbeault, Morgan Epp, Jon Gaudet, Cody Edwards, Christian Lo, Sam Anderson.
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $5 USD. You will get access to the following files:
Development log
- [Catalog Only] Scoreboards & Challenges! (v1.2.0)Sep 02, 2025
- v1.1.7Aug 07, 2025
- Now available on the Playdate Catalog!Aug 05, 2025
- v1.1.6Jul 27, 2025
- Random Cleanup v1.1.3Jul 24, 2025
- Performance Improvements! (v1.1.2)Jul 23, 2025
- v1.1.1 Small UpdatesJul 17, 2025
- MEGA UPATE (v1.1.0)Jul 07, 2025
Comments
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Hey there ! Quick message to tell you that I started your game today and I'm loving it ! I almost got to what I believe is the end but got a crash, the error message was "not enough memory", I guess a full rapid arrow build was too much for the game ?
AH oh no! I’m so sorry about that! I’ll do some more testing to see what I can do about that! Sorry again, and thanks for letting me know!
Hey there again! Just wanted to let you know that I took a crack at improving performance and the "not enough memory" crash should be fixed now in version 1.1.2
Thanks again for reporting this issue!
Hello ! Good to know I'll try to update soon ! I've been spending a lot of time lately on your and I have to say that I love it ! There's two things I'd like to see : being able to discard the new weapon choice (if there isn't what I want, you could also add achievments for completing the game with 3-2-1 weapon) and to be able to see what is the new upgrade you are getting in random mode (seeing stats, etc before the new round).
Once again, great job for making that game !!
That’s so awesome to hear, that means a lot!
Good idea for previewing the random upgrade, that makes a lot of sense, I should definitely do that.
Really interesting idea in adding a “skip weapon” option with the achievements. Maybe I could just let you skip by pressing B in that selection screen?
Thanks again for taking the time to give me your feedback, I super appreciate it!
Just writing back to say I've implemented an update to the random mode regarding your second point in version 1.1.3.
I'm still hashing out the skip button idea, and I may need to restructure some things, so I thought I'd get this little update out first. Thanks again for the great feedback!
Nice ! Good to see the efforts you put on the game :)
Hey, really enjoy the game! I was wondering if you considered adding a hold down a or B to rotate weapons option for those who maybe aren't as crank friendly?
Hey there, I’m really glad to hear you liked the game! I can take a look at implementing that, thanks for the suggestion!
I was able to quickly try out adding the accessibility option you mentioned (hold A to rotate clockwise, B to rotate counter clockwise).
You can download it now in version 1.0.3.
Let me know what you think, and thanks again for the suggestion!
Thanks! I really like it this way. The only comment I have is it can spin faster with the crank than the buttons. I wonder if could have two speeds, a faster one by double tapping the button? I dunno. Anyway great game and looking forward to future updates.
One other comment. I find it hard to spot when I get damaged. I dunno if could have a flash effect or something when it happens?
Good point about the damage, I agree that it could be more obvious, as I don’t always notice when I’m playing either hahaha, I’ll see what I can do! As for the speed, I’ll play around with some control schemes, I’m concerned double tapping could lead to some accidental behaviour, but I’ll see what I can do. While I agree the crank can get faster, I hoped the buttons would be at least a fairly balanced speed.
Anyway, thanks for the continued feedback and support, I super appreciate it!
Here's a review if anyone wants to see it in action. I had fun with it, it's obviously limited in scope being a playdate game and a bit of a linear progression than the game which inspired it, but it's a good take on the genre and uses the crank well to freshen things up a bit. A clear should last a little over 10 minutes if you're lucky, and with a bunch of achievements, it's a good title for short bursts.
Thank you so much for the review! I’m really glad you enjoyed the game, great analysis! You brought up some good points that I thought I should clear up:
Thanks again for the review, I really appreciate it!
Just wanted to follow up with this review now that version 1.1.0 released. It’s essentially a whole new game, you can see the changes here! Again, thanks for the feedback, it really helped make the 1.1 update awesome!
https://dinosire.itch.io/cranknight/devlog/981453/mega-upate-v110