This started as an exercise to learn player movement and control, and then as I was trying out new things I just kept adding until it wound up being something kind of fun. I'm new to this and trying to learn, so feedback and criticism are very welcome! Thanks!

A little "interactive experience" to see if I understood particle systems. Press "c" to fire.

My first attempt making a new concept from scratch. Had to learn/trial-and-error circle math to make it work!

function _init()
game_over = false
make_cave()
make_player()
end

function _update()
if (not game_over) then
update_cave()
move_player()
check_hit()
else
if (btnp(5)) _init() -- restart
end
end

function _draw()
cls() -- clear screen
draw_cave()
draw_player()

if (game_over) then
    print("game over!", 44, 44, 7)
    print("your score: " .. player.score, 34, 54, 7)
    print("press ❎ to play again!", 18, 72, 6)
else
    print("score: " .. player.score, 2, 2, 7)
    -- Display health
    print("health: " .. player.health, 2, 12, 7)
end

end

function make_player()
player = {}
player.x = 24 -- position
player.y = 60
player.dy = 0 -- fall speed
player.rise = 1 -- sprites
player.fall = 2
player.dead = 3

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function _init()
game_over = false
make_cave()
make_player()
end

function _update()
if (not game_over) then
update_cave()
move_player()
check_hit()
else
if (btnp(5)) _init() -- restart
end
end

function _draw()
cls() -- clear screen
draw_cave()
draw_player()

if (game_over) then
    print("game over!", 44, 44, 7)
    print("your score: " .. player.score, 34, 54, 7)
    print("press ❎ to play again!", 18, 72, 6)
else
    print("score: " .. player.score, 2, 2, 7)
    -- Display health
    print("health: " .. player.health, 2, 12, 7)
end

end

function make_player()
player = {}
player.x = 24 -- position
player.y = 60
player.dy = 0 -- fall speed
player.rise = 1 -- sprites
player.fall = 2
player.dead = 3

[ Continue Reading.. ]

Here is a raymarcher I made with surprisingly not a lot of code!

3d raymarcher

I made Celeste slightly hard for once! (Features "Badeline" from cool Celeste) Enjoy your suffering!

celeste

I'm proud and honored to have been interviewed in Retro Gamer issue #268 about being a PICO-8 gamedev. Big thanks Andrew Fisher who runs the homebrew section at Retro Gamer for the opportunity to share a little bit of my story. The issue is the one with the Mega Drive on the cover and it just hit shelves here in the US in March (last month in the UK). Barnes & Noble stores carry it but you can also get a subscription online - highly recommended.

Read the full article scan

It's only 4 paragraphs and few screenshots but it's still neat to see yourself a video game magazine...long time reader, first time featured :) I'm not sure if my story or games deserve such a spotlight but I'll take the 15 minutes of nerd fame. And anything to shine some more light on PICO8 is always part of the mission as well...according to the article, I'm an "advocate" lol

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press magazine interview

Goal:

Dig as deep as you can!

Movement:

Press and hold a direction to accumulate charge, and let go of all direction keys to slingshot the ball in the desired direction.

Available charge accumulates over time, and is displayed at the top of the screen.

The faster the ball, the more damage it deals.

Score:

Bricks spawn with varying health. Each time a brick is destroyed, its initial health is added to your score.

Power Ups

2x doubles the amount of points bricks provide.

4x quadruples the amount of points bricks provide.

Maximum Charge keeps available charge at the maximum amount.

Maximum Damage allows the ball to destroy any brick upon contact, regardless of speed.

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Do you have examples of carts that imply that pico8 actually existed? Like with an authentic cart label or a "copyright" disclaimer, or something like a pdf MANUAL included with the game, just like how real game cartridges were distributed back then?
I really like the idea of implementing something like this in my games. Here's what I did for one of my tools:

This only extends to the cart label having a "studio" name, a pico8 logo and a creative commons license logo though.

discussion

--ABOUT--
tennis is just a small, 2-player game, where you must, well, play tennis! Hit the ball back and forth, and if it hits your side of the screen, the other player gains a point, and the first player to reach 7 points wins!
--credits--
11 year old dominic made this game!

tennis 2-player sport 2p 2player fun difficult hard sports

Hi PICO-8 community,

Sharing my first creation. It is still a work in progress.

first demo noob

Retrieve the ruins of Atlantis by growing a garden.

This is a simple adventure game I made for my son, who is 3 years old. He loves the old Zelda games, but obviously he has trouble with the dialog parts and the puzzles. He also loves trucks, dinosaurs, and to write music with me. He even helped write the music for the game!

I resolved to make a game in the same style as those games, but MUCH simpler.

Main features:

• No dialog or reading required.
• Simple, randomly generated terrain features
• Randomly spawned enemies (3 types)
• Randomly located boss (a fire-breathing T-Rex)
• Randomly placed treasures
• Consistent land features (field of tall grass, beach)

The goal is to go around and get the 3 treasures, then return them to the giant toybox in the middle of the map. The treasures are scattered around the map:

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3-and-up adventure zelda toddler

Description

WIP on a mini golf game, pretty bare bones at the moment with only one hole.
Next step is to create an editor so I can make life easier creating more!

Controls

Use O to switch modes (between looking and playing)

Looking

Arrow keys - look around
O - switch to playing

Playing

Left/right - aim
X - start/stop power bar
O - switch to looking

wip golf

My entry for the 7-Day Roguelike Challenge 2025, a short, simple traditional roguelike. As the cleric, explore the dungeon, collect holy orbs, find weapons, and fight demons.

You have 3 divine powers you can use at any time (if you have the piety):

• Enchant: Improve your weapon by 1 level.
• Heal: Fully restore your HP.
• Rage: Gain double damage for a short time.

Heal and Rage become more expensive after each use.

Weapons have a maximum enchantment level, at which they can't be enchanted any more, but do double damage.

Good luck!

roguelike 7drl

Micro Dig Deep is a retro demake of Miner: Dig Deep, an old favorite Xbox Live Arcade indie game.

You are in search of the worlds largest diamond. In this procedurally generated mine, there's ore to discover and sell for upgrades, but don't get stuck and be sure to watch out for falling boulders in the dark! If you do get stuck, there is a "Retreat!" option in the Pico8 menu to get you back to the top.

Upgrades

• 	[8x8]

  Torches increase your lamp light.

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