The Playdate handheld continues to throw up surprises and the arrival of Taria & Como in July 2025 is yet another. This is one of the most ambitious games on the system.

A striking physics-based puzzle platformer by indie dev Popseed Studio Inc and published by JuVee Productions.

In it, you take control of the young lady Taria and launch her around stages as she seeks to rescue her little sister. This is a gem! Swing with us as we explore its intricacies.

Social Commentary and Platforming Excellence in Taria & Como

There are a surprising amount of diddy platformers on the Playdate, with the atmospheric Echo: The Oracle’s Scroll (2024) showing what the system can achieve (in the right hands, anyway).

Taria & Como joins that top-tier group of best games on the system.

Full credit to indie dev Kip Henderson and the wider team on this, as it’s technically very impressive indeed. But, crucially, it’s also a lot of fun to play, an impressive gameplay challenge, and packs an important message into the mix.

The plot involves the young lady Taria. She has a prosthetic leg and is on a mission to rescue her sister, all with the guidance of a robot dude Kit. This opens up a very well implemented physics-based game mechanic where you swing across the screen and use momentum to launch to new areas.

It’s tricky to master and makes for one of the most rewarding Playdate games available. Here it is in action for a few glorious minutes.

Just an FYI, but the Playdate’s crank is put to good effect on Taria & Como. When you connect Kit to various support systems, you can lower Taria down using the crank—that builds up the moment you need to reach new areas.

Again, some areas are very tricky to get right and a little fiddly on the small controls. But once you’ve nailed it, you do get an excellent sense of accomplishment. Huzzah!

There’s also an impressive score by composer Jesse Haugen. It has an orchestral sweep to it! Amazing stuff, for such a little handheld system and how advanced the rest of the game is.

Taria & Como is a delight. There’s about 90 minutes or so of gameplay time here, a mighty achievement to cram a platformer like this onto the yellow system.

Notes on Taria & Como’s Wider Themes

The game launched as part of the Season Two package for the Playdate and closed the 12 set of games in that season. We presume it was the final game to launch as it’s so clearly the best of the batch (which it is).

It’s got a lot of attention in the Playdate community. As noted on Playdate: Unofficial’s Taria & Como review:

“Instead of some magical sci-fi reasoning, though, protagonist Taria has her leg prosthetic – which allowed her to walk, run, and jump – replaced with a leg prosthetic that’s “approved” by the in-game health insurance stand-in. Your actually useful robot companion is likewise replaced with a healthbot that treats you like a child and pretends it has your best interests at heart. It is NOT subtle. And it shouldn’t be.

Despite living in the most technologically advanced time in history, the big money-holders in America have never been more anti-human than now. Insurance companies deny life-saving surgeries to cut costs. Prisons are privatized. The post office – which delivers mail to every single address in the county as a public service – is defunded. Schools are in shambles. Rights that were guaranteed are dissolving. Ten people have unimaginably blessed lives while millions suffer. The people at the bottom do their best.”

Before concluding with:

“Created by disabled artist Kip Henderson in association with Viola Davis and Julius Tennon’s JuVee Productions, Taria & Como is one of those games that, given the opportunity, could change the world … It will make you think not just about the perfect swinging angle to get to the next platform and complete the level, but about how so much out there is placed in direct opposition to us succeeding as individuals.”

We include these segments as we feel the reviewer has expressed this in a way we’d be floundering around and incapable of. Beautiful written sentiments and a reflection on the frustration many feel in society, with minority groups marginalised to make way for a few more billionaires.

Here to combat it is the best of culture, which has the highest of values. And this little story of disability, skill, and perseverance complement a great fun platformer.