Posted December 02, 2022 by Mouflon Cloud
#walkthrough #playdate #faq
Stars of the Screen presents itself as a gallery with a bit of a mystery… and perhaps, some players may never find the other part. So, if you’d like to unlock everything easily, skip some of the puzzles, explore everything there is, or check that you didn’t miss anything… this walkthrough is for you!
“All the best games come with a full game walkthrough anyway.”
— Earthbound localization and marketing team, 1995 (inferred)
I’ll wrap the spoilers in collapsible items so that you don’t easily run into them. Otherwise, common rules apply, so don’t run with scissors around. If you find a hint that you did not encounter before, I recommend trying out tthe puzzle before reading on. I quite like few of those.
Also, let’s not forget about the initial idea of screensavers: it should be nice to look at them! (Saving screens is optional as of now.) So don’t forget to sit down comfortably and watch the slow motion for minutes or even hours. I’m no doctor but let’s say it may be good for you mental health!
Note: If you play this game without a Playdate hardware (in a Playdate Simulator application), please check a note related to the level named "The Other One But Roundish" after you reach the Chapter 2.
Hint: You can prevent your Playdate from falling asleep after three minutes. Go into game menu (via the Home button) and check the checkbox next to "no sleep".
After you launch the game for the first time, you can watch screensavers and load new ones. Start loading by cranking the crank. There’s about 20 different animations that will randomly appear in while loading.
Tip: You can let go of the crank or turn it counterclockwise to rewind the animations.
Hint: In the game menu (access it via the Home button) there may be some extra options. Try them out! Sometimes, there are valuable messages hidden in there.
If you want to see who’s behind the message, simply move the message away by pressing a direction on the D-pad.
After discovering everything, the game begins. While loading, you may find that some of the screensavers are interactive. There are few weird outliers such as the LCD Formula 1 game and Desert Bus that are just asking to be played, though in fact, all levels are playable. The puzzle is to find how to control the game and then reach the goal.
At this time, instead of random messages, you can access hints via the game menu. Every screen has one to three different hints. I’d recommend to try them out before reading on, but you do you!
A hint looks like this:
If you’re stuck, you can check the steps for every game:
Productivity: Mash those buttons or the D-pad! You can be a productive person! You can support capitalism with your bare hands and shoulders. After mashing a bit, a tasklist appears! Mash the buttons even more! You’ll soon the weight of you decisions but your inbox will be zero! You’ll score once you clear you inbox.
Hint: Watch the cards after clearing your inbox and feel the weight of the world!
After all this, you need to return back home. (B)ack to the Home Screen.
After all this, a strange notification appears on the High Scores icon. It has a number 6 inside. And yes, after all this, there’s six more levels!
Hint: In the game menu, there’s a new option: a multiplayer! Turn it on and play together with a friend, a loved one, or even with the enemy. The other person can join the game by simply inserting a coin into the coin slot on your device.
Yep, this one can break your game. Do this after you have everything. And then you lose it just to make half of the universe disappear. And then it’s back because of those stupid superheroes. Do it only after all that. (Or in case you play the game in Playdate Simulator.)
I had it all! Just give me the information.
Go to the Home Screen and enter the Konami code.
Proceed to the Maze (it’s empty — there’s a reason why it’s not in the game ;-)), watch the coffee break again, or break everything.
It’s also a good way to reset your score (but why?) or even to set your score to a specific stage of the game. But things won’t be the same after you change your score.
And yes: that’s my debug screen.
There’s a lot of random flourish that you may have missed (or I did!), but after getting through this walkthrough, you should just move on and play something else!
You may still watch the screensavers! Hopefully soon on your own Playdate Dock!
Thank you for playing! I love you!