Running the PlaydateSDK on an Android device

SDK Development Discussion
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For anyone wanting to develop on the go, I figured out how to get this all working

Screenshot_20260427_144545_Winlator
Screenshot_20260427_144545_Winlator2000×1200 266 KB

  • On Android device download and install the latest build of Winlator - Releases · brunodev85/winlator · GitHub

  • Still on Android download the latest Windows version of the PlaydateSDK (it’ll default to the linux one - you need the Win version!)

  • Launch Winlator, create a new profile, all the defaults should be fine (though you might want to tweak the screen resolution) - check the D: is mapped to the place your playdatesdk downloaded to

  • Inside your windows container, install the sdk from d:

  • I couldn’t figure out how to set default env vars, so make yourself an env.bat containing:

    set PLAYDATE_SDK_PATH=%USERPROFILE%\Documents\PlaydateSDK
    set PATH=%PATH%;%PLAYDATE_SDK_PATH%\bin\

  • Then launch a cmd prompt, run that bat, then use pdc and playdatesimulator as you usually would

  • To make the keyboard appear, press back and the menu appears, then press the keyboard button

  • You might need to fiddle with different keyboards to find one that properly works - the one I was using doesn’t have a working backspace, for instance, which makes doing anything somewhat infuriating

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My game in dev runs at full speed on my old samsung tablet, so could be a viable way of demoing if you need a bigger screen and don’t fancy lugging a laptop with you.