Blippo+ Review – I Promise You’ve Never Played Anything Like This

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Blippo+ is a truly unusual game – perhaps one of the strangest you’ll play. Available on Steam, Switch, and the Playdate handheld, it’s hard to even call it a typical video game. It’s more like a recreation of flipping through TV channels in the late 80s or early 90s, something younger players might not recognize. It seems like it would appeal to a very niche audience, but I found it surprisingly enjoyable because I appreciate unique and odd experiences.

Blippo+ is a game that feels like watching old cable TV from the 1990s. It starts by ‘scanning’ for channels, just like TVs used to do, which brought back childhood memories for me. Once it finds around a dozen channels, you simply sit back and watch the short, live-action skits that play like TV shows.

Unlike streaming services like Netflix, this TV schedule happens live. Programs aren’t available to watch whenever you want. It’s a constantly repeating lineup, meaning you’ll miss things on other channels if you’re tuned into one. Luckily, each segment is short – just a few minutes – so you’re not committed to a long show. This makes it possible to see everything eventually, either by flipping through channels or sticking with one until it repeats its full cycle.

Blippo+ puts you in the role of someone watching TV broadcasts from the planet Blip. The people there look just like us, but their style is a fun mix of 1990s fashion and otherworldly makeup and hairstyles.

The show’s TV programs are just as strange and imaginative. You can watch cooking shows demonstrating recipes with alien vegetables, and a host with a third eye leads a show all about astrology. But the most fascinating part is the news broadcasts, which reveal that thousands of ‘PeeDees’ – the planet’s version of smartphones – have been turned on in other parts of the universe. It’s like you’re secretly watching another world, having stumbled upon their broadcasts.

This idea feels perfectly suited for the Playdate, a unique handheld console that releases games weekly, creating a built-in community around discussing them online. Interestingly, within the game’s story, the Playdate is actually the device everyone uses! While I wasn’t able to try it on the Playdate itself, I found that Blippo+ still captured that nostalgic feeling of flipping through TV channels – especially when playing with a controller – just like you might remember from the past. It really delivers on its core concept, even on Steam.

One of the best features of Blippo+ is its channel that feels like an old-fashioned TV guide. Like those guides from years ago, it shows you what’s currently on and what’s coming up, so you can decide what to watch. Blippo playfully recreates this outdated experience, using background music and voiceovers while shows play, even if you don’t tune in. Everything has a distinct 1990s look – it’s intentionally drab, with the muted colors and lower quality you’d expect from pre-HD television.

Every Thursday, Playdate releases new content for Blippo+, expanding the game’s story. These updates cleverly connect to each other, creating a larger narrative. Within the game, the characters in Blip are aware they’re being watched, turning the experience into a unique, self-aware series about strange life on other planets.

The way you unlock new content differs on Steam and Switch. Instead of receiving it automatically, you get notifications about new drops after watching about 30-40 minutes of the in-game shows. This is because Playdate users have been discovering the weekly Blippo+ content for months, and the Steam/Switch release is meant to let other players experience it at a similar pace. While this makes it harder to share discoveries with the Playdate community – something I enjoyed – the game is still enjoyable even without that shared experience.

Blippo+ is primarily designed for people involved in theater, and while I had fun with it even without that background, it’s definitely geared towards them. The game’s short scenes are filled with a unique, subtle humor and a clear love for acting and the arts, which might not appeal to everyone. Even players who are excited about the nostalgic ’90s vibe of watching soap operas and music videos might find the scenes don’t quite live up to their expectations.

Blippo+ does a fantastic job of recreating that feeling of aimlessly flipping through TV channels, like when you’re putting off doing something important. However, most of the shows on the platform feel very similar – they all aim for the same kind of dry, quirky humor. After spending about eight hours with Blippo+, nothing really stood out as being genuinely serious or heartfelt. Perhaps the creators didn’t want to explore that side of their fictional world, or maybe they’re suggesting that the planet Blip is simply populated by carefree, somewhat shallow characters who never take life too seriously.

What I loved most about Blippo+ was how it playfully copied TV shows we have here on Earth. There was a scientist character, similar to Bill Nye, who interviewed bizarre guests – like a brain in a jar, supposedly a famous Blip philosopher. I even ‘read’ reviews of a show called “Werf’s Tavern,” which was clearly based on “Doctor Who,” complete with outdated and cringeworthy stereotypes. The adult channel, Zest, hilariously captured the feeling of trying to get a clear picture on cable TV in the ’90s, with grainy images and saxophone music. And “Realms Beyond,” one of my favorite shows, was like “The Twilight Zone” but told as a radio play, focusing on spoken word storytelling.

Blippo+ doesn’t usually make fun of any particular TV show. Instead, it focuses on recreating the *feeling* of older shows and genres – like little snapshots from the past. Not everything on Blip is great, but there are definitely some worthwhile programs if you’re looking for something to watch on a relaxed weekend.

Blippo+ is a uniquely strange experience, almost like a creative art project that unexpectedly went global. It’s impressive what the creators achieved with limited resources – it’s a really resourceful, do-it-yourself creation. Calling it a ‘game’ isn’t quite right; it’s more akin to watching a nostalgic ’90s TV lineup, but without the ability to choose what to watch. It’s interactive in a similar way to how TV used to be back then. This experience is unlike anything you’ve likely played before, and younger players may not have encountered anything similar. However, some people might find it confusing rather than entertaining. If you connect with Blippo+’s unusual style, it might evoke a strange sense of longing for a different world.

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2025-09-23 19:40