'Reduce Flashing' Mode

When you first turn on your Playdate, you are asked if you have photosensitivity and wish to skip the intro. The first launch animation has a few parts that are flashy, and we wanted to be extra careful.

When you make this decision, Playdate will remember it. It sets a “Reduce Flashing” setting system wide that any Playdate game can read, and make a decision on how to display content in the game. For example, a game could choose to turn off a visual effect entirely, or a game could choose to show a photosensitivity warning when you launch the game.

This setting will also skip the “New Game” animation, which is also a bit flashy. And we’ll do a double-check before Season One launches to look for games that might need to change their visual behavior based on this setting. If we have anything to report, we’ll add it to this article.

Accessibility is extremely important to us, and we’re always worried we might miss something, so that’s where you come in. We’re open to any and all feedback! Please reach out to us via help.play.date if you have any suggestions at all on making Playdate more accessible regarding photosensitivity or anything else.

How do I turn this setting on or off?

Go to Settings > Accessibility.