Ratcheteer DX announced for Nintendo Switch

Today, Panic and Shaun Inman announced Ratcheteer for Nintendo Switch. We’ll be seeing it sometime in 2026.

Ratcheteer originally debuted as part of Playdate Season One. For the new DX version, it’s now in full color, new visual filters are planned, the stereo soundtrack will be in uncompressed CD-quality, and support for ten new languages will be added in.

More information can be found in the following overview:

The surface has been claimed by an Impact Winter, but beneath the ice and earth, mankind hibernates. As a young apprentice mechanic, you wake up in the dark. The Power Plant is offline. The Water Treatment Plant seems to be too. The Cryo Colony is in danger!

What begins as a simple trip to fetch your mentor’s wrench sets off a winding journey through the caverns below to a vast Snowcean above to rescue friends, foes, and strangers alike.

Along the way, you’ll find and master eight unassuming tools, each opening new paths for exploration. Starting with just the Crank Lantern to light your first steps into the dark and the Wrench Sword to swing at what you find lurking in it, you’ll be bounding, drilling, gliding, stomping, and dashing your way across the world of the Ratcheteer by the time you reach the end.

Originally released for the black-and-white Playdate, this updated version reimagines the game in full color with a CD-quality stereo soundtrack and support for 10 languages.

Key Features

• Explore more than 250 rooms across 6 regions and 6 dungeons
• Master 8 unassuming tools and maybe even an alien language
• Challenge 6 unique bosses (can you find the secret boss rush time trial?)
• Play in full Color, Pea Soup green, Playdate gray, or high contrast black-and-white (with optional scanline, grid, and dot overlays)
• Listen to Matthew Grimm’s 8-bit masterpiece with CD-quality stereo sound
• Experience an original story in 10 supported languages

Inman noted in today’s announcement: “Ratcheteer DX starts in the dark. No power, little context, less direction. Each tool you collect unlocks not just new areas, but sheds new light on its story. I wanted the player’s understanding of the world to grow apace with their ability to navigate it. Originally imagined in stark black and white, bringing the game to PC and console was a chance to rediscover that world in color and to share it with new players who love classic top-down adventures where the joy comes from finding your way, not fighting for survival.”

Access more Nintendo Switch coverage from us here.