Pine

1 · official Catalog screenshot
2 · official Catalog GIF (1-bit still: screen-2-still.webp)
3 · official Catalog screenshot
4 · official Catalog GIF (1-bit still: screen-4-still.webp)
5 · official Catalog GIF (1-bit still: screen-5-still.webp)
1 · official Catalog screenshot
2 · official Catalog GIF (1-bit still: screen-2-still.webp)
3 · official Catalog screenshot
4 · official Catalog GIF (1-bit still: screen-4-still.webp)
5 · official Catalog GIF (1-bit still: screen-5-still.webp)What it is
"People come to this island to end their suffering. But how that suffering ends... depends completely on them." In Pine you play Jake, arriving on Pine Island late in the day "bearing a load in your rucksack that only you know of", with a nagging feeling he's been there before. The store calls it "a psychological sci-fi thriller-adventure" and lists influences including Jacob's Ladder, LOST, The X-Files, Inception and Metal Gear Solid. It's heavily story-driven, with "moderate to rather difficult puzzles, stealth action, and light combat", and runs an estimated 8–12 hours. It uses only the A and B buttons and D-pad, with no crank. A free instruction manual is available separately. The content note mentions mild profanity and video-game violence, and says it "deals tastefully with mature themes".
It's a multi-act Pulp game. Simberg reports that Panic's Shaun Inman added a game switcher to Pulp so Pine, first released on itch.io, could come to the Catalog as one file. It's by intellikat, released in the Catalog in October 2025 for $5, with updates into May 2026. It was a finalist for Outstanding Visual Achievement in a Pulp Game at the 2025 Playdate Community Awards.
Who made it
What others are saying
Coverage is thin: we found no independent review. There's a Community Awards finalist mention and itch.io devlogs.
Callout (?): No review yet. We haven't reviewed Pine yet. This page is an overview built from official and press sources.
Sources
Checked 12 Oct 2026.
- Official Catalog page (description, credits, size, dates, content/AI/accessibility notes). https://play.date/games/pine/
- 2025 Playdate Community Awards results (Playdate Squad). https://playdate-wiki.com/wiki/The_2025_Playdate_Community_Awards
- itch.io page and manual. https://intellikat.itch.io/pine
- Playdate Community Wiki. https://playdate-wiki.com/wiki/Pine
- Playdate: The Unofficial Website, Ware-wolf Campfire Stories (switcher backstory). https://www.playdateunofficial.com/the-games/ware-wolf-campfire-stories
Not yet reviewed.
No score. This page is built from official and press sources.
"People come to this island to end their suffering." Jake arrives on Pine Island with a secret in his rucksack, and something about the place feels familiar.

