Differences between the Playdate SDK and Pulp

The Playdate SDK is the best way for experienced developers to use every capability of the Playdate. It includes a rich set of APIs, a compiler, and documentation. You can write your games using Lua, for ease of development; or C, for games that need extra performance; or, combine both languages in the same project. Typical SDK features are included: graphics, sound, inputs, text, collisions, etc.

Another neat option is our web-based game maker, Playdate Pulp. It’s a click-and-place game studio with all the tools you need to build your first game—or your twentieth experiment—in a quirky little environment. With Pulp, you’ll be able to create your art and music; use our scripting language, PulpScript; and preview your game, all in the browser. It’s not meant to be as full-featured as our SDK, but it’s a one-stop editor you can use without installing anything.