Uncrank'd Quick News Update # 29
What's brewing for the 1st week of September? Artember is here, shipping & tariffs update, contests, Conspiracy Corner with D.E.V.A.N., #Playdate Autumn Direct anyone?, & more
The newspaper style QNU can be found here once it is published at 11 A.M. US EST or directly on this page. Sometimes there are updates after the original release. Check out the updates on Substack.
Send all inquiries to uncrankdproductions@gmail.com
Support Uncrank’d and its many projects through Buy me a Coffee:
Artember has begun!
There are three art based projects happening in the Playdate community. Check them out below.
👉2nd Anniversary mailer
Just like previous mailers, you can have your art displayed on a mailer bag. Normally, the bags are yellow, but Uncrank’d is going purple for 2 years. Next year may be aqua; who knows?
Art criteria:
The max size is 120 px by 120 px.
Your art being black and white or inversed (white & black) for it to be seen clearly on the mailer.
There were four 400 pixel x 240 pixel slots, but one has been taken. There are only three places left. Here are some questions and statements that I wanted to clear up.
Please label your art this way: artistname_gamename.png.
Example: xanialasagna_boondoggle.pngIf you’re sending in more than 1 piece of art, add a number at the end.
Example: xanialasagna_boondoggle1.png, xanialasagna_boondoggle2.png, etc.
Q: “Art may be scaled up or scaled down.” Can you clarify what this means?
A: What this means is if lots of art comes in, I will have to scale down the art to make sure everything fits. Vice versa for small art: if there aren’t too many submissions, I will scale the art up to fit on the mailer.
Q: Do I need to buy a magazine to get a mailer?
A: No, you do not have to purchase issue 9 to get the mailer. I would ask for a small fee to cover the shipping. There will be 2 full pages of the mailer in the digital and print copies.
Q: Does the art have to be Playdate-related?
A: Preferably yes. You get to show off the art from your game. If you really want to submit something that isn’t Playdate-related, reach out to me and we’ll talk.
Q: My art skills aren’t that great. Can I still send in something?
A: Of course! There is space for everyone.
You don’t have to only send in your art for the mailer. There are two other open projects where you can contribute some art.
The 2026 calendar
One of these projects is the Project Coffee Table art book.
👉Project Coffee Table Art book
BOOK 1 - near the 50 60 page mark!
Articles: 100% | Content: 100% | Layout: 99% Editing the last article.
BOOK 2 - more spaces available.
Art: 85% While double checking the art I received, some artists have two pages while others have one, there is still more space available in the book. I thought I had enough art, I was wrong. I can do another two week push to get your art in. Remember it can be:
Pixel art - color or black & white (game art may be scaled up if its in-game sprites)
Hand drawn - color or black & white
Digital art - color or black & white
3d printed art
Photography - this will go to the Around the World section. It can be the view from your window, backyard, a landmark, etc. Make sure your Playdate is in the image.
You can do a page of a bunch of pixel art, one large piece of art on a page or a double spread. You also have the choice to have just your name in the left hand corner or write up a small bio about yourself. If you have any questions, reach out to me on Discord, here, or on socials.
👉Christmas/Holiday art collab
For the month of December 2026, I am looking to do a community art collab for the calendar. The theme is festive or the holidays observed during the month. Interested? Reply, send me an email or a DM on Discord.
The max size is 120px x 120px, and you can send up to six images in black & white
👉Shipping and Tariffs update
Sadly, this is affecting Uncrank’d in many ways. Read this post from September 1st. I spent some time talking to Shopify’s customer service Tuesday afternoon after looking at some recent updates, and there is some news.
With the latest update, Shopify can charge the duties and import tax at the time of checkout. Below is a quick example from Shopify showing the import tax and duties being calculated at the time of checkout.
The price of the duties depends on the HS Code of the item (which was explained in the September 1st post), which then gives me the import tax, which is just "Taxes" in the image. The bottom line is since I can do that, I would not need to increase shipping costs.
Storenvy does not have the same feature as Shopify to manually add duties and import taxes. This means I would have to take the info from Shopify and manually enter it into Storenvy for every item. I’m still thinking if I should even keep Storenvy and just upgrade to a better plan with Shopify. Watch this space for details.
👉Questions about the Advent Calendar?
I’ll be making a video with some questions and some new ones that came in from devs. If you have a question, send it my way and I’ll add it to the video. It’ll be coming out later this month.
👉Dev Shoutouts
Pencilmarks by Dennis van Zwieten
Crank Tower Defense by AiCoding
👉Uncrank’d U-Turn: All things UNC TV
Episode 25 comes out next week Friday. Send in your trailers, news, art, and/or music, and I’ll add it into the episode. In the meantime, send in a question for the AMA or see what merch item you’d like to see with the UNC TV crew.
This year, October 31st is a Friday, so the 2nd Uncrank’d TV Halloween special will premiere that day. Time to be announced at a later date. Got something Playdate-related that is spooky, such as music, a trailer, or art? Get them in by October 4th. A little birdy told me that D.I.V.A., D.E.V.A.N., and Luna Perl are gearing up for Halloween.
Conspiracy Corner with D.E.V.A.N.
A new segment called Conspiracy Corner with D.E.V.A.N. is being added to the show. It is not actual conspiracies, but just a fun spin on your favorite Playdate games. It’s more of a what-if scenario, unless your game has some deep lore or a hidden meaning.If your game has some lore or a “conspiracy” that you want D.E.V.A.N. to do a deep dive on, he’s your guy. Please feel free to send me a DM on Discord or an email with the details, and I’ll add it to the episode script.
D.E.V.A.N. will continue his deep dive into Soothsayer for the next episode. Has anyone figured out the password for the lore book?
👉PROJECT “Method CODE”
Two new characters will be added to the Uncrank’d TV crew for season 4! SIERRA & CODY. The idea: These two will give out coding tips in any of the Playdate languages. Again, this is on a voluntary basis. SIERRA is a female character, while CODY is male. The character designs will be posted soon. Would you like to help the community by voicing either of these characters, or would you like to help with writing some coding tips? It could be for any other of the Playdate-friendly languages. CODY will talk about it, while SIERRA will break it down in code blocks. They were first seen in episode 24.
If this is something that interests you, record yourself saying the line from the character you want to play.
SIERRA: Sierra here! Let’s dive into some coding and unlock YOUR full potential!
CODY: Let’s make every line of code you write a step towards creating something amazing.
Send in your voice sample to uncrankdproductions@gmail.com
If you want to help with explaining the code, you can reach out too. I’m far from being an expert in any of the Playdate languages so your input matters.
The last day to send in your recording (.wav or .mp3)was September 3rd but I will extend it to September 20th. If the sound file is larger than 25MB, use a file transfer service (Wetransfer, Drive, Dropbox etc.) and send me the link.
👉 Important dates
Here are the deadlines:
👉 2025 Advent calendar: Devs, the last day to join up is September 30th. For the devs who have already joined up, start thinking of what item you want to have in the physical calendar.
👉👉 Send in your pixel art for the 2nd anniversary mailer from Sept. 1 to Sept. 20th.
👉👉👉 Project Coffee Table: Book 2 - The new deadline is September 9th to send in your art.
Reserve your Project Coffee Table books, and calendars using the form below. Pre-orders open next month.
👉Playdate contests
https://xanialasagna.itch.io/narrative-nexus
The next contest is live, and it’s a Halloween-themed short story contest! Check UNC TV: Episode 23 for the spooky reveal by Luna Perl. The last day to send in stories is October 15th. The app is in the process of being updated.
👉September’s Caption This contest!
The new contest has started! If you’re a member of the Uncrank’d Discord, send in your caption in the uncrankd-contests channel, or use this form: https://forms.gle/LWmA91wjJ6hm2noC6
👉August’s Caption This winner
Last month’s winner was Shadow815x. Check out the short below.
🎉 Milestones Reached🎉
YouTube: On the road to the next milestone. »»»»»»»»»»
Substack: On the road to the next milestone. »»»»»»»»
Bluesky: On the road to the next milestone. »»»»»»»»
Mastodon: On the road to the next milestone. »»»»»»
Since Uncrank’d is still growing, every milestone is special. Thank you for supporting Uncrank’d.☺️
👉The 2025 Solstice Showcase
I know it’s only September but start to get your holiday wishes, art, music and trailers ready for the 2025 Solstice Showcase hosted by D.I.V.A., D.E.V.A.N & Luna Perl.
More keychains will be made along with a new one for 2025, and the Blizz plushies will be available too. I still have a few left from last year, if you’re interested.
The Blizz Bundle: A keychain and plushie
👉Playdate Autumn Direct anyone?
The form will go live later this week for a late October or early November Direct, giving devs a little past a month to get a trailer down. Just like for the summer, if the trailer threshold isn’t met, it will be an Uncrank’d Autumn Showcase hosted by D.I.V.A., D.E.V.A.N., and Luna Perl. If the Uncrank’d Showcase happens, UNC TV will be on hold until the showcase premieres. The Halloween episode will not be postponed.
Thank you for your continued support and see you next week!
-XL