Playdate: The Unofficial Website (Nick Simberg, Jan 2025). "RowBot Rally is one charming game… Maintaining a consistent speed to keep your boat going in the right direction is tough!"
https://www.playdateunofficial.com/the-games/rowbot-rallyGames / Catalog / RowBot Rally
OverviewCatalog
RowBot Rally
Racing / AdventureCrank: yes (precision)$15
1 · official Catalog GIF (1-bit still: screen-1-still.webp)
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5 · official Catalog GIF (1-bit still: screen-5-still.webp)1 · official Catalog GIF (1-bit still: screen-1-still.webp)2 · official Catalog GIF (1-bit still: screen-2-still.webp)3 · official Catalog GIF (1-bit still: screen-3-still.webp)4 · official Catalog GIF (1-bit still: screen-4-still.webp)5 · official Catalog GIF (1-bit still: screen-5-still.webp)Overview. Not yet reviewed. No score. Checked 12 Oct 2026. Built from official and press sources.
What it is
"Team up with a mechanical pal and row for the gold in the annual Fish Bowl!" Evil "RowBots" have taken over the big annual boat race. You're a small rabbit who finds a defective RowBot in a junkyard and enters as its rowing partner. Your robot rows at a steady pace, and you row the other side with the crank: match its speed to go straight, or row faster or slower to turn. Simberg describes it as "a top-down boat racing score chaser game with seven unique levels", and Panic's staff note mentions "a cute animated story" between races. Button-only controls are available, and it respects the Reduce Flashing setting. A free demo is on offer, and the source code is on GitHub.
It's by Rae (who also made HEXA). It came to the Catalog in December 2024 for $15, one of the highest prices on the store, with updates into October 2025. It was the 2025 Playdate Community Awards' big crank winner, taking Outstanding Use of Crank and Outstanding Visual Achievement in an SDK Game, and a finalist for Accomplishment in Accessibility and Best Launch Experience. Panic includes it in its "The Cranky Award" collection, "Crank Wonders" and "Monochrome Masterworks". Panic's 9 Sep 2026 press release announced RowBot Rally 2 for the Catalog.
Who made it
What others are saying
Panic staff note (Catalog page). "A boat-racing game that has a clever use of cranking to row your boat in the right direction."
https://play.date/games/rowbot-rally/Callout (?): No review yet. We haven't reviewed RowBot Rally 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/rowbot-rally/
- 2025 Playdate Community Awards results (Playdate Squad). https://playdate-wiki.com/wiki/The_2025_Playdate_Community_Awards
- Playdate: The Unofficial Website, Nick Simberg. https://www.playdateunofficial.com/the-games/rowbot-rally
- Panic press release, 9 Sep 2026 (RowBot Rally 2 announcement). https://www.gamespress.com/PLAYDATE-SEASON-3-BEGINS-OCTOBER-8-PRE-ORDERS-AVAILABLE-NOW
OverviewNo score
Overview
Not yet reviewed.
No score. This page is built from official and press sources.
On the card
Team up with a junkyard RowBot and row for gold in the annual Fish Bowl. Crank in sync to go straight, faster or slower to turn, between animated story scenes.
From the sources
