Every now and then, I feel a pang of regret I didn’t buy a Playdate handheld before the waiting list stretched into infinity. Platform 10 is the latest reason for said regretful pang.
Platform 10 is a number game for the Playdate system based on the Sydney train network. It’s based on the apparent Sydneysider habit of turning the four-digit carriage numbers each of the city’s trains bear into a game to pass the time. (If you are from Sydney and have heard of this game, or played it yourself, please shout out in the comments.)
“Every train carriage in Sydney is given a 4 digit long carriage number,” reads a blurb by developer Gabe O’Reilly. “Back in the day, me and some mates of mine had a game where you’d have to take those numbers and make 10 out of em; using whatever math function you could think of. 5290? (9×0)+(5×2) = 10, Easy.
“As it turns out, we were not that creative. ~400million trips are made on the Sydney rail network a year, and just about every commuter seems to have independently had the same idea (sometimes with some slight rule variations). At this point, its become a bit of a folk game within New South Wales.”
The game’s primary mode involves sitting on a train platform and watching carriages go by. As they pass, your character will make a note of the train’s carriage number. You take out your calculator and see how quickly you can combine the numbers to make 10 using any mathematical formula you like. The mode functions as a kind of time attack, recording the time it took you to complete ten trains. Start over and try to beat that number. The game embraces the black-and-white 1-bit visual style the Playdate does so well.
This is exactly the kind of game that became a playground hit on the Game Boy. It’s a game that encourages you to check your time against that of your mates and create interpersonal leaderboards to see how can complete the fastest run. The also includes global leaderboards, in case you’d like to pit yourself against a planet of number crunchers.
If you own a Playdate, I’d recommend picking it up. Platform 10 is just $6 on the Playdate store, and I reckon that’s a few bucks well spent.
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