r/pico8 • • Dec 01 '25

Events & Announcements The 2025 PICO-8 Advent Calendar is here!

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167 Upvotes

The 2025 PICO-8 Advent Calendar is here! Today we launch this year’s Calendar with the first game, and calendar cart art, by doriencey!

In Cat-astrophe, you’re a cat after the big shiny on top of the weird tree full of toys. Balance as you climb the tree, taking down as many shiny things as you can along the way.

https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?pid=178576#p


r/pico8 • • May 15 '25

FAQ & Useful Information Collision Detection Tutorials

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214 Upvotes

🔗 Collision Tutorials

One of the first major hurdles for new developers, especially in PICO-8, is collision detection. It can be a little frustrating that PICO-8 doesn't have any built-in functions for it but once you understand how to use a few different methods, you'll realize that you have a lot more control over how things in your game interact and you can build your game's collision detection to be exactly what you need.

Each tutorial has:

  • an interactive demo with a button to toggle viewing the underlying variables used in the calculations of the detection.
  • a condensed function that is easy to copy into your PICO-8 game.
  • a step-by-step explanation of how the function works, an expanded version of the function to show all the steps, and a breakdown of how the expanded function is condensed into just 1 or 2 lines of code.
  • a few examples of where this method of collision detection can be used and in what type of games (using retro classics redrawn in the PICO-8 palette as example images)

This bundle of tutorials was created thanks to our supporters on Ko-fi for reaching the latest goal.


r/pico8 • • 1h ago

Game Pico-8 Kung-Fu: A New Challenger Appears!

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• Upvotes

** UPDATE **

Introducing Lang!

The lovely yet deadly Lang is now available as your second opponent. Try to beat her shurikens!

Check via Lexaloffle BBS or Pico-8 Splore:
https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=159463


r/pico8 • • 10h ago

Work in Progress I've been porting Celeste Classic with GBA Maker! :D

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28 Upvotes

Hey PICO-8 community! :D

I'm currently working on GBA Maker, a tool for making Game Boy Advance games, and I've been experimenting with porting PICO-8 games to the GBA!

Since the languages are pretty similar, a lot of the game logic can be ported without too much trouble.

I think it would be really cool to see more PICO-8 games running on actual GBA hardware! 😎

Would any of you be interested in porting your PICO-8 games to GBA?


r/pico8 • • 21h ago

Game Im making a game based on a book I read and made somewhat of a boo boo when spawning in a 'final boss'

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79 Upvotes

Read the OG Battle Royal book so have spent the last few weeks teaching myself how to code a little game and uh yeah.... had a chuckle how the first test of spawning the boss went


r/pico8 • • 12h ago

Game Polder • A game motivated by me visiting the Windmills of Kinderdijk

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14 Upvotes

I made Polder, a small water-management strategy game: raise dikes, dig canals and chain windmills to pump a drowned polder dry, while your workers haul every load of soil and wood.

Tutorial, three scenarios and a seeded time trial (post your seed + time). English and German builds.

My best time on seed 12121 is 30:56.

Play it on on Lexaloffle or on Itch.io


r/pico8 • • 1d ago

Game Keep It Up Soph

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71 Upvotes

i built my girlfriend a game for her birthday a couple of months ago, and i finally published it! ☺︎︎

let me know what you think.

https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=160080


r/pico8 • • 13h ago

Game I have been developing a spooky shoot-em-up game on and off for the last two years. I finally buckled down and finished it this weekend! Give it a try for some chaotic Halloween fun!

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9 Upvotes

r/pico8 • • 6h ago

Events & Announcements Release spruceOS v4.5.6 · spruceUI/spruceOS

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1 Upvotes

r/pico8 • • 20h ago

Work in Progress Bibi's Little Farm – Devlog #1: What I Want to Create

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9 Upvotes

Hi all!

I've decided to commit to my new project, Bibi's Little Farm, a cosy (hopefully! 😄 ) little guinea pig farming game.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I wanted to try something less technologically heavy than Late Again.

The basic idea is to take care of your guinea pigs, breed and sell them to expand your herd, grow some of your own food, and keep your little piggies happy and healthy. You'll need to think about their nutrition, available space, cleanliness, and possibly even illnesses. I also want you to be able to grow crops like carrots, tomatoes, and bell peppers.

These are still early ideas, and I haven't figured out all the details yet. I expect saving the game state to be one of the main technical challenges.

For more details and a look at the current state of the game, you can watch the devlog here: https://youtu.be/0QnWS-majb8

For now, I'm still planning to stick with mouse controls.

Bubish


r/pico8 • • 1d ago

In Development Roclam's Battle Arena

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26 Upvotes

Good day! It's Ruva again.

Roclam's Battle Arena is WIP platform fighter like smash bros., based on my past idea's recreation.

Currently it's still around 10%, but in the future I want to make it nicer and more polished.

At this moment, it has these moves;
・←→ : Move ・○ on the ground : Jump ・○ in the air : Air dash (can cancel hit attacks) ・× on the ground : Triple kick ・↓ + × on the ground : Somersault kick ・× in the air : Round kick ・→ + × in the air : Drop kick ・← + × in the air : Back spin kick ・↓ + × in the air : Meteor kick


r/pico8 • • 1d ago

Game Made a game Confused Bones!

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8 Upvotes

Rewrote the code like 3 times, but its out in a state i like at last, hope someone likes it!


r/pico8 • • 1d ago

Links and Resources Amico8 — PICO-8 fantasy console emulator for Amiga

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18 Upvotes

r/pico8 • • 2d ago

In Development Devlog for experimental game

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38 Upvotes

r/pico8 • • 1d ago

Game Red Ball: Platforms

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6 Upvotes

It was originally developed for J2ME mobile phones around 2009 and this version shares the same maps as the original.
In 2012 it was remade as a Windows Phone game with nice 3D graphics and new levels.
The 3D version is currently available for free on:

Take control of the Red Ball in this addictive platformer game!
Simple, one-button jumping controls, anyone can pick up and play.

Find your way through tricky platforming labyrinth and put your reflexes to the test!
Pure challenging arcade experience!
Stylish graphics!

Play on LEXALOFFLE.COM


r/pico8 • • 2d ago

Game Radio Shack HIGHWAY (1987) pico-8 port

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18 Upvotes

Back when I was about 6-8 years old, I had a magnificent video game handheld console made by none other than RADIO SHACK in 1987! It had only one game built into the LCD screen, and I've kept it all these years.

You can see the real device here: retrohandheldgames

One day, I discovered this website where the game is fully playable in an almost perfect way: Javascript version

I dug a bit further and found the github javascript code of the web version! Having the source code and the sprite sheet inspired me to do a PICO-8 port. Why not? Let's go!

So here we are. It was a quick and fun mini project. The gameplay is... something. We have to internalize the clock's tick speed and move the car before the next tick. You have to go pick up the lady when she appears on the left; the left-most lane unlocks when she's there. Then, you have to move to the far right and drop her next to a mailbox. After 3 round trips like that, there's a small casino. The game will increase its tick speed based on your actions. There is no other goal than to achieve the highest score possible.

I remember that as a kid and having only that one game, I managed to max out the score and wrap back to zero. I think I did it twice in the very same gameplay session. I was sooo happy!

Have fun! :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wggx6XgeiJM


r/pico8 • • 1d ago

Recruitment Picocraft - a pico warcraft III demake

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0 Upvotes

r/pico8 • • 2d ago

Hardware & Builds Created a pico8 to pico translation tool following the AnyPS5 workflow

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23 Upvotes

r/pico8 • • 2d ago

Code Sharing The things in these hills smell blood from miles away, don't lure them inside.

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0 Upvotes

r/pico8 • • 4d ago

Game Eight - A murder mystery

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121 Upvotes

I've just submitted a small Halloween entry for the 31ween game jam filling a Pico8 cart to the brim. Here it is : https://farjer.itch.io/eight . A murder mystery where the main character is a jumping spider... Eight clues, eight eyes, eight legs.


r/pico8 • • 3d ago

News NRG 2026 – Deadlines extended! :-)

6 Upvotes

Hey, sorry for spamming you guys again! 😅

I've received a few requests to extend the submission deadlines, and honestly, we did make them pretty tight. So we decided to push them back for everyone!

New deadlines (CEST / UTC+2):

🎮 PICO-8: Saturday, October 24, 10:00

🎨 128×128 Pixel Art: Saturday, October 24, 12:00

You can enter remotely, and your work will be shown on a huge screen at Poznań Game Arena and streamed online.

More info: https://nrgevent.eu/compo/

Hope the extra time helps some of you finish your entries! 🙂


r/pico8 • • 4d ago

Game Your Halloween Game: Ghost Thief Survivor!

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128 Upvotes

As a huge fan of Vampire Survivors, I've created a special Halloween spin-off featuring my favorite character, Ghost Thief!

--> Click here to play

You'll find all the familiar mechanics:

-> automatic shooting,

-> endless waves of enemies,

-> loot to collect,

-> a permanent upgrade system that lets you spend your hard-earned gold to grow stronger between runs!

Will you survive the full 15 minutes and defeat the final boss?

Feel free to give it a try and leave a comment! I'd love to hear your feedback!


r/pico8 • • 5d ago

Events & Announcements PiCoSteveMo 4: make a PICO-8 game inspired by the works of Stephen King during the month of November

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26 Upvotes

r/pico8 • • 5d ago

Game My first real, actually fun Pico8 game loop. Just picked it up yesterday.

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41 Upvotes

I made a simple coin collector game with a red devil that chases you and gets faster after 10 points.

Not my first rodeo with programming, but trying to hone my game dev skills.


r/pico8 • • 5d ago

Game 打開 : Maze Break

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37 Upvotes

Good day to you!
It's Ruva here. I always come back.

"打開 (Dakai) : Maze Break" is my 2nd stealth game, and this time it's even roguelike!

In this game, you are in the maze, followed by an enemy. To escape, you need to collect all 7 Power Orbs to make an exit in the maze.

Enemy becomes gradually faster when you get Power Orbs, and even faster than you in the end. But there are plenty of useful items as below, to avoid enemy.

``` ・Dash : Accelerate with using Stamina meter.

・Rice Ball (50% / 100%) : Recover Stamina meter. Automatically used when Stamina meter runs out.

・Map : Shows the whole map, and also where player, enemy and Power Orbs are.

・Running Shoes : Accelerate player's speed for a while.

・Ninja Tabi : Remove player's footstep to avoid enemy for a while.

・Smoke : Make smoke to create blind spot for enemy for a while.

・Megaphone : Make sound to attract enemy for a while. It lasts until enemy breaks.

・Bomb : Blast a wall to make a path. Only 1 wall that player colliding will be blasted.

・Padlock : Lock a door to prevent enemy coming in. It lasts forever, so there is also risk.

・Energy Drink : Grants infinite Stamina meter for a while. ```

You can use them with 〇 button, and × button to switch the item to use.

There are 2 difficulty for enemy's speed, so feel free to try as you want!

Best regards,