Blippo+

Blippo+
Developers	Yacht, Telefantasy Studios, Noble Robot (Nintendo Switch, Windows), and Dustin Mierau (Playdate)
Publisher	Panic
Director	JJ Stratford
Producers	Jona Bechtolt, Claire L. Evans, JJ Stratford
Writer	Claire L. Evans
Composers	Rob Kieswetter, Jona Bechtolt
Platforms	Playdate, Nintendo Switch, Windows
Release	May 29, 2025 Playdate May 29, 2025 Steam September 23, 2025 Itch.io September 23, 2025 Nintendo Switch September 23, 2025
Genre	FMV
Mode	Single-player

Blippo+ (or Blippo Plus) is an experimental live action FMV New Wave, Off-Cable TV simulator game developed by Yacht, Telefantasy Studios, and Noble Robot, and published by Panic. It was first announced on December 12, 2024 as a game for the Playdate. The Playdate version released on May 29, 2025 as a bonus game for the Season 2 bundle pack. The full color version was later released on Steam, Itch.io and Nintendo Switch on September 23, 2025. Blippo+ is currently considered to be the first Panic-developed game to be released on both the Playdate system as well as onto major platforms.

Premise and gameplay

In Blippo+, the player receives transmissions from the fictional alien planet Blip. This comes in the form of the planet's principal TV service provider, also called Blippo+. By consuming the alien media, players piece together the culture of Planet Blip and uncover the mystery of a space anomaly nicknamed "The Bend."

Gameplay consists of channel surfing via Blippo+'s Electronic Program Guide (EPG), receiving messages from the network, and reading through text content. Writer and producer Claire L. Evans described Blippo+ as "a six hour science-fiction movie disguised as a television network disguised as a video game."

The game contains 11 batches of 1-minute television programs, with each batch containing of 45-50 different episodes spread across 9-10 different channels. Programs play in real-time similar to traditional linear television. The entire programming block repeats on a 5-minute loop. An additional channel called Femtofax contains text content and serves as a forum-like service for fictional subscribers to the Blippo+ service. The 10th batch ends the story of Blippo+ while the 11th is just the credits and outtakes.

Versions

Gameplay features and graphical elements vary between the Playdate and Windows/Switch versions of Blippo+, but the core video and text content is similar across both versions.

Playdate version

Upon launching the game, Players must use the Playdate's crank and gyroscope to align and lock on to the alien signal, after which they can access the EPG. The game runs on a 11-week real-time cycle, where every Thursday replaces the batch of content available to watch. Players cannot navigate between batches. The "Desktop Electronic Program Guide" (DEPG) page on the official Blippo+ website indicates which week the game is currently on, and what programs and channels are currently available. This is meant to simulate real TV as it allows each person to talk to the community about what they might have missed and catch up in the process.

Windows/Switch version

The "color version" of Blippo+ contains additional features and mechanics as well as full color video content, although the game offers a "Low Data Mode" which displays the 1-bit versions of video content as it appeared in the Playdate version.

The color version does not run on a real-time cycle. Instead, subsequent "packettes" are unlocked after players have watched a certain threshold of material, and players can re-load previous "archived packettes" via an in-game menu. User logs display various statistics including how many times there has been a signal loss and how much time has been spent watching programs.

If a player remains on a single packette for an extended period of time, the image will slowly begin to warp with color bleeding and image distortion. When this happens, a Tuner Calibration option becomes available, where players must adjust various signal values until the picture returns to normal. If players repeatedly ignore a request to calibrate the signal, the image degrades severely and eventually results in a complete "signal loss."

Channels

There are a maximum of eleven different channels on Blippo+. Ten channels contain video content, while the 11th is Femtofax, a teletext-like forum service. In packets one, six, seven, and eight, there is no Salutation Station channel, meaning the number of total programs varies from 45–50 per packet. Each of the channels contain five shows each, and each show runs for exactly one minute. All shows have a 1980s to 1990s style of Television.

• Channel 00 – Salutation Station (SAL) – A special educational channel that can only be accessed on week two to week five and then returns in week nine to week ten. It houses Bliptionary, a cultural learning outreach program where a Text to speech SAM hand drawn face teaches viewers in the various vocabulary's of Planet Blip; Do you Party?, a mailbag show hosted by a former music trideo jockey named Poly Pixel where Blipian viewers send letter to her, asking questions to the alien viewers; Cubis! (short for Curiosity Unleashed, Breakthroughs in Science!), a learning program hosted by Vim Shoulders; Subspace Lunchbox, an educational program about Blippian eating cultures; and Look Alive, a fashion program on Planet Blip's fashion scene.

• Channel 02 – Blippian Public System (BPS) – A regular public programming channel, usually the first one you pick when starting the game. It houses State of The State, a news show hosted by Madeline Planet; Snacks Come Alive!, a cooking show hosted by Jane Teapot; Lens on Life, a science show hosted by Harry Quantel; Small Talk, a talk show hosted by Gidget Gadget inspired by Talk Soup; and Werf's Tavern, a sitcom show that is a mix of Doctor Who, Star Trek, and Cheers about a intergalactic bar that can travel to planets run by a bartender named Werf and an on-board artificial intelligence named SODA.

• Channel 08 – Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMBR) – A live feed particle feed channel that shows different statics that consciousness particles can produce. It houses Celestial Snow, Dance of the Ants, Zig-Zags, Dots on Parade, and Fleas & Fuzz.

• Channel 13 – MainScreenTV (MSTV) – Another regular TV channel. It houses Wake Up, Universe!, a morning show hosted by a happy-go-lucky morning woman named Nina Beverage and a drowsy, sleepy nighttime man named Brenden Challenger, inspired by Regis and Kathie Lee; Boredome, a youth show where a group of teenagers talk about what is on their minds with the only noticeable person being Bridie Telstar, inspired by MTV; Confetti Cowboys, a space western show where two cowboys named Wyatt Lightcap and Billy Teagle use a rocket ship to go to space; Brain Drain, a science show hosted by Professor Ned Telson where he talks to the consciousness particles of dead people inside glass jars; and Movie Maniacs, a late-night movie trailer show which airs trailers of an action-packed superhero film series called Fighting Trillions.

• Channel 18 – Tee Vee EX (TVX) – An entertainment, talk, adventure channel. It houses Clone Trois, a medical soap opera show where everybody is played by the same actor named Seemie Simmons about a place called Oblivion Hospital run by group of clones of the same person; Quizzards, a fantasy role-playing quiz show that is a mix between Dungeons and Dragons and trivia game shows run by a wizard named The Quizzard; Rubber Report, a gossip show hosted by Neomie Lifto; Countertop, an informal Current Events commentary show hosted by an overworked diner waitress named Debbie Diner; and Realms Beyond, a storytelling show, similar to The Twilight Zone, hosted by Erich Von Zipploch.

• Channel 21 – Femtofax (FAX) – A BBS/Teletext/Discussion forum service for Blippo+ where you look at messages from various Blippains on different forums. According to Claire L. Evan's book Logos from Planet Blip, Femtofax was inspired by the BBC's Ceefax service, the world's first teletext information service. It houses Trash Type, a place to submit complaints; The Read Only Review, a place for reviews from a Blippian named AC Trilby; Recipes for Recluses, a place for how-to-dos run by Dr. Minette; Tex-X; a place for love; Micro Meditation, a place for a small meditation; Frill Hunter, a place for events, places and job seekers; and Subspace Spotlight, a place for space lovers and amateur astronomers.

• Channel 30 – Time Dilation Network (TDN) – A calming channel. It houses Psychic Weather, a weather show hosted by Barbara Lightworker, "The Psychic Barbara", inspired by the Psychic Friends Network; Let's Tique!, an antiques show hosted by Otto Frotto whose voice gets worse every week, inspired by Antiques Roadshow; Total Calm, an ambient video relaxation show that shows calming oceans; The Exquisite Telethon, a poetry telethon "literary experiment" show where viewers send the host Renzo Sixlove a series of words to put into a poem, inspired by the Jerry Lewis Telethon; and Bushwalker, a overly dramatic first person hiking show (considered as a fan-favorite) where The Bushwalker hikes through a series of woods and hills.

• Channel 38 – Mega Tips Tee Vee (MEGA) – A tips channel. This supposedly airs documentaries on giving viewer some top tips by all programs just air static which different error messages. It houses Top Tip, Total Tips, Tidy Tips, Tips Too, and Tip Triangle.

• Channel 49 – Microwave Theater (MWT) – An experimental programming channel on Blippo+. It houses Subroutines, a workout show run by three people known as the Television Engineers; Video Cola, an intermezzo show where it turns your TV display into a refreshing beverage; Fetch!, a stop-motion animated children's show where it shows random skits; Party Music Nonstop, a dance countdown show where different music's are performed on; and Tales From The Tube, a computer-generated virtual host show hosted by Planet Blip's first synthetic TV host Blinker, inspired by Max Headroom.

• Channel 72 – Auxiliary Cable Access Broadcast (ACC) – An unused local access channel that mostly shows test cards. It houses AUX Access, Local Access, Global Access, Universal Access, and System Ident.

• Channel 99 – The ZEST Channel (ZEST) – An adult-only channel. All programs have been scrambled leading to them unable to be watched or seen. It is inspired by tantalizingly encoded premium cable channels that were common on TV in the late 1970s to early 2000s. It houses Skywave Diaries; Squish Tussle; Cathode Confessions; Tantric Computing, which is mostly seeable, showing what could only be described as "technology porn"; and Nocturnal Transmissions.

Story

Most of shows aired on the various channels on Blippo+ are exactly what you would expect from the lost era of TV, they are described by Claire L. Evens as "TV cocktails". Sitcoms, news sources, gossip, trivia shows, obscure rerun and so much more but most of these show do indeed have an overarching story throughout the game.

When the first batches of the Playdate were released, a mysterious space anomaly has linked two planets together, one is earth and the other is a alien planet called Planet Blip where a species of humans called Blippians live and mostly spend their lives watching TV that has a growing culture of 'Manic Entertainment' told within the span of 10 weeks, through the various news outlets and other shows.

Every Blippians emits what is called consciousness particles which allows Blippians to continue existing upon death.

Blippo+ is a publicly-operated network owned by its parent company Ekistics Entertainment, made to broadcast educational and cultural programming with FamtoFax being a subscription based teletext forum-like service where subscribers can comment or type stuff on the various forums.

In week one, a scientist named Doctor Zeph Boing, a Scientist at the Gak City Central Observatory (GCC Observatory) discovered the mysterious anomaly in space, this anomaly has been given the nickname in week 2 as The Bend, she along with another scientist named Professor Ned Telson studies this strange being, they discovered that it links to a planet that Zeph Boing described as a "blue and green Blip-like planet". (This planet is indeed confirmed to be what we know as Earth) and that The Bend is stable enough to send telecommunications signals from their planet to the other which is essentially how we are able to access Blippo+ in the first place. On Famtofax, one person in Subspace Spotlight reported a low hum or buzz during the week.

In week two, Blippo+ makes a new channel called Salutation Station to educate the new "alien viewers" on the other planet with Poly Pixel hosting the "Do You Party?" show.

In week three, the Blippian Experimental Advisory Working Group approved The GCC Observatory's Plan of selecting five Blippians people at random to journey through The Bend as "Bendonauts" to make contact with the other planet, one of them happens to be Poly Pixel's best friend and one of them was at Debbie's Diner in Countertop for his last meal on Blip before traveling into the bend, at the same time Neomie Lifto of Rubber Report tells viewers that Professor Ned Telson has been "iced" out of any Bendonaut Launch Operations due to his rumored crackpot theories.

In week four, The Bendonauts did not return from The Bend and are presumed dead, due to this the council is planning to decommissioning the Space Bending Program and people on Planet Blip begin to believe that The Bend is not real, in response Doctor Zeph Boing hosted an open dialogue at the New Gak City Observatory, Neomie Lifto of Rubber Report finds it is oddly convenient that The Bend seem to have appeared just at the right time where Blippo+ was on a quote "Rating Slump".

In week five, the Planet Blip honor the lost of the five Bendonauts but at the same time Elbo Ivers (who was previously seen on Lens On Life) broke into the GCC Observatory by climbing through an open window but he discovers that at the same time an unknown woman arrived on Planet Blip through The Bend out of nowhere, named "Mike Zero" or "Michael Zero". the news was quick to believe that she might be one of the missing Bendonauts but it is clear that she is not one of them. Professor Ned Telson on Brain Drain talks to his mentor Taffy Rompler about Bend physics. at the same time Neomie Lifto of Rubber Report states that Blinker of Tales From The Tube is beginning to lose his marbles as the synthetic TV host which causes a campaign from Blippians to free Blinker.

In week six, Blippo+ CEO Lisa Duo decides to remove Salutation Station from the programming guide, in the Wake Up, Universe show Nina and Brenden state that Lisa Duo is concerned about The Bend and ask the two to broadcast her announcement, in the announcement she says that The Bend is a source of disruptive programming, signal intrusions and dangerous interference and request for the space bender to be dismantle and to cut off access to The Bend immediately, Michael Zero becomes a huge celebrity and the most talked figure on Planet Blip. the news attempts to get answers from her but The Bend seem to have scrambled her brain leading her to speakin what sounds like poetic nonsense, the teens on the Boredome show seem to understand her, Michael Zero arrives at Debbie's Diner to order one hot shingle with a shimmy and a shake, guzzled in zig-zoil, this cause people to come to the diner to order the same order as the "Zero Special", Micheal Zero's face begins to spontaneously appear of refrigerated gelbread at Debbie's Dinner leading to multiple fans flocking to Debbie's Diner to see, the bread was toasted before it could be captured. AC Trilby of The Read Only Review reveal that Planet Blip is capitalizing off of Mike Zero and that TV's treatment of her is not helping with anybody's anxieties nor getting closer to any answers related to The Bend.

In week seven, people on Planet Blip are beginning to have what is called "Zero Fever" due to how popular she has become. on State of the State, Professor Ned Telson shares a controversial Space Bend theory that someone has placed The Bend intentionally and is sentient but the host Madeline Planet walks away, seemly disappointed at him, AC Trilby of The Read Only Review begins to question if Professor Ned Telson is a real scientist. On Small Talk, Gidget Gadget says that Mike Zero was originally a Blipian named Midge Invisible who (in a security footage) was on a tour of the bending facility, she wanted to get a closer look at The Bend but presumably she accidentally jumped into The Bend and became Mike Zero, on Boredome the teens have Elbo Ivers on the show, he says that him and Mike Zero are in touch together, when he is asked on what does he think about Lisa Duo shutting down the space bender, he replies that he can not let that happen, stating that The Bend is "our future", the teens and Elbo Ivers begin to make a plan. Neomie Lifto of Rubber Report reports that Famtofax user are now commonly talking about "The Low Hum" that was mentioned in week one, she also reports that people begin to report encounters of "space aliens with two butts" (which was a joke heard in week one of Boredome) Famtofax user SCHWA manages to get a recording of The Low Hum.

In week eight, the Boredome crew and Elbo Ivers form a resistance group to start the revolution, they have taken over the GCC Observatory, they are dissatisfied over Mike Zero's treatment on television, on Rubber Report the teens interrupted the show during the broadcast. on Small Talk, Lisa Duo still wants to protect Planet Blip from the other planet and to destroy The Bend by cutting off the signal at the source, on Brain Drain, Professor Ned Telson invites Michael Zero on his show for a little experiment, he gives her a neocortical scanner to see how many consciousness particles she has but it reveals that Michael Zero hold the consciousness of over a billion Blippians, multiple people in one body.

In week nine, Salutation Station returns from the programming guide by the teens with Poly Pixel returning as host, there are now multiple moments of interference and interruptions cause by the teens throughout the shows, the teens says that Mike Zero told them that there is more to life then just watching Television, the teens are getting some people to help them in repairing the bender, they have team up with a musician named The Star Sawyer to input The Low Hum into a tone burst named "Toneburst #12" which might allow safe passage into The Bend, they encouraged anyone watching TV to join them in traveling through The Bend and simply "Get Bent".

In the final week, week ten, the teens have Mike Zero speak in her own words to encourage Blippians to join them in The Bend, they are ensuring that "First Contact will be Televised". all channels air their last episodes telling the lessons of their programs, as according to Madeline Planet, this week is a historic moment in Planet Blip's history, it seems that the revolution is working as millions of Blippians are joining to get bent, one of them happens to be one of Brenden Challenger's daughter's Patsy, she can't tell viewers what is right, wise or safe but to only sit in a chair and tell things to viewers as it happens, host of Lens On Life, Harry Quantel is going to the GCC Observatory to get bent himself, Neomie Lifto of Rubber Report says that as long as there is scandal, romance and tittle tattle to tell, she will be there to tell, Debbie Diner of Countertop is choosing to stay where she is, thinking that the universe will always need a nice quiet place to come back to and that she will always be there for you, Blinker of Tales From The Tube now understands his role to keep the remains of human history forever long after civilization is gone and AC Trilby of The Read Only Review understands that he is just a one-man person whose opinions shouldn't reflected on how people see things.

In the end we see a video what the teens and the Blippians saw went traveling through The Bend, before we are able to see what lies on the other side, the video ends and the credits roll, leaving their fates unknown...

Claire L. Evans as stated in a manifesto in the Blippo+ Launch stream: "Reality TV has nothing to do with our reality, we're sick of cutting cables, signing up for free trials, sharing passwords and subjecting our souls to endless advertisements. The burden of choice is so unbearable that we end up watching reruns or worse, some new show that looks like slop and feels like it hates us and let's not even talk about the internet, what does the world come to? The billionaires can blast right off because mars isn't the answer. Planet Blip is. Planet Blip is more than a planet, it's a blueprint for a better world that welcomes all refuges from mediocrity. We built this planet for everybody"

Development

Ten years ago, Panic Inc. showed Yacht a prototype of the Playdate hardware at a music festival and invited the band to make a game for them. The concept of Blippo+ was approved by one of Panic's co-founders Cabel Sasser. According to the Los Angeles Times, Blippo+ was in production for a year, followed by a year of post-production. The footage was shot with real analog television equipment to give the game the appearance of being a collection of real programs from the 90s. The COVID-19 pandemic led to general disruptions in the entertainment industry, allowing the developers to hire talent and use props they would otherwise not have been able to access according to Creative Bloq. There were intentions for Blippo+ to be an advertising tool for the Playdate system as the Playdate can be seen in various channels but this was denied. The Blippo+ logo is a nod to the postmodern design that permeates the Blippo+ world—it has two references to the history of computing and infographic display: the curve of the letter L mirrors the smiling profile of the original macintosh finder icon, and the shape of the lower-case i is the universally-recognized symbol for "information". The Electronic Program Guide was inspired by the history of television scrolling guide channels, dating back to 1981. Some of the shows on Blippo+ were inspired by the following: Cheers, Doctor Who, Star Trek, Talk Soup, Dick Cavett, Leta Powell Drake, MTV, Walter Cronkite, NHK World, The Twilight Zone, the Jerry Lewis Telethon, Max Headroom, Regis and Kathie Lee, Antiques Roadshow, and the Psychic Friends Network. Femtofax was inspired by the BBC's Ceefax service, the world's first teletext information service. The ZEST Channel was inspired by tantalizingly encoded premium cable channels that were common on TV in the late 1970s to early 2000s.

On May 29, 2025, the Playdate version of Blippo+ was released as part of the Playdate Season 2 bundle pack that contain 12 other games included. The Playdate version was programmed by Dustin Mierau.

The Switch/Steam version was developed by Mark LaCroix.

Reception

The game received a positive review from Engadget for its unique style of being "more like an old episode of The Twilight Zone if it were made by Tim & Eric and aired after midnight on Adult Swim". GameSpot gives the game a 7 out of 10 for its amusingly bizarre recreation of channel-surfing in a bygone decade but criticized it for the shows all tending to have a singular vibe despite the many genres attempted. Writing for Inverse, Robin Bea praised the programming and overall narrative and called Blippo+ a "storytelling feat". Writing for PC Gamer, Joshua Wolens noted that Blippo+ was less of a game and more like interactive art, but praised the authenticity of the programming to 1980s and 1990s television, as well as its take on a Ceefax-like system.