Astro’s Playroom was a free game that came pre-installed on all PlayStation 5 consoles. It served as a tech demo for the DualSense controller and what new features it was capable of. The game is extremely entertaining and successfully introduces gamers to the variety of capabilities of the DualSense, like its haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. It’s also the perfect celebration of all things PlayStation.

First off, the genre and gameplay of Astro’s Playroom is very similar to what’s seen in some of their most beloved hits. It’s a 3D platformer collect-a-thon in the same vein of Jak and Daxter, Ape Escape, and Spyro the Dragon. The playable protagonist, Astro, can leap, glide, punch, and break objects on his adventure as he collects gold coins, puzzle pieces, and artifacts. It pulls a lot from the likes of Crash Bandicoot and LittleBigPlanet.

Astro’s Playroom is also chock full of references to countless PlayStation games. Throughout the colorful world, robots dressed like iconic characters are seen being filmed as if they are the ones making the games. There’s a robot dressed like Nathan Drake scaling the side of a cliff, a robot dressed like Kratos sailing just off the shore of a beach, a robot of Sir Daniel Fortesque practicing his swordplay, and many, many more.

The collectibles themselves are all references to PlayStation’s rich history as well. As the game progresses, “artifacts” are collected, which are essentially past PlayStation gear. From the PlayStation Vita to the PS VR Aim Controller and even the PS2 memory card, PlayStation’s vast hardware library is found throughout Astro’s Playroom waiting to be collected.

One of the other primary collectibles in the game are puzzle pieces. Each puzzle piece adds to a mosaic of a timeline featuring PlayStation’s history. It’s quite rewarding to complete the puzzle to see how far PlayStation has come.

On top of all that, the entire game takes place within a PlayStation 5 console. The levels are cleverly named after parts of the PS5 that are worth bragging about, like Memory Meadow, Cooling Springs, GPU Jungle, and SSD Speedway. This leads to brilliant level design while also letting the player know about what makes the PS5 such a powerful system.

This isn’t just a sloppily put together introduction game to demo controller functions, either. It’s legitimately an especially fun and well-made video game. Players have an actual reason to play it outside of learning about the DualSense. It’s an actually good game, which proves how great the games made by them are and can be. 

Between the countless references, the glimpses of real pieces of PlayStation history, and gameplay inspired by some of their most beloved classic games, Astro’s Playroom is the perfect celebration of all things PlayStation. It’s a perfect time for those who have stuck around for each console generation.

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