Popular games built on game engine PICO-8

A hardcore platform game for the PICO-8 fantasy console.

Tutankham is a combination of the maze, action and shoot 'em up genres. Taking on the role of an explorer grave robbing Tutankhamun's tomb, the player is chased by creatures such as asps, vultures, parrots, bats, dragons, and even curses, all that kill the player on contact. The explorer can fight back by firing lasers at the creatures, but he can only cover the left and right directions. The player is also endowed with a single screen-clearing "flash bomb" per level or life. Finally, each level has warp zones that teleport the player around the level, which enemies cannot use. To progress, the player collects keys open locked doors throughout the levels, searching for the large exit door. Optional treasures can be picked-up for bonus points. Each level has a timer; when it reaches zero the explorer can no longer fire lasers, and once a level is cleared the remaining time is converted to bonus points.

In Knight of the Dead, the apocalypse is upon us. To run from the inevitable horde, one must consider their moves wisely, lest time, and the undead, catch up to them.

Pushamo is an arcade push-em-up that challenges you to organize different shapes into squares to clear blocks and earn points! It's no easy task, though - as you push on, shapes will come faster and more frequently until you find yourself as overwhelmed as you are engrossed.

Artemis' Minesweeper is the a hardcore version of minesweeper, a mashup of minesweeper and a bullet hell shoot 'em up. It features Artemis of the Blue Fan-Game by VTuber Numachi Tamanegi.

A port of Another World game engine & assets to PICO-8.

Astra is the smallest star in Constellation Station. Tired of being picked on, she sets off an adventure to build a new constellation of her own! Run, jump, slide, and float across the galaxy while collecting stardust to build your new home in this retro-inspired Pico-8 platformer.

This sci-fi themed platformer is the fourth in the Laser Blast! series. Play as the advanced robot Atom Girl and progress through a platforming level, defeating enemy forces along the way. Destroy the end boss to complete Atom Girl's mission and help save her planet from evil invading forces.

Alpine Ascent is a little chill climbing platformer made for PICO-8. The green bar represents your stamina. When it reaches zero, you cannot climb or jump. You can replenish stamina by landing, or using a green stamina coin. Collecting gold coins will increase your maximum stamina. You will slip down when climbing on ice blocks. You cannot climb on obsidian blocks, and magma blocks will quickly drain your stamina while you climb them. For an extra challenge, try to get to the top of the mountain without letting your stamina reach zero, or collect all the coins!

Remember Alex Kidd in Miracle World for the Sega Master System? Now it's crunched down to 64x64 for the Pico-8 Fantasy Console! This miniaturised version of the game features everything from the original game - recreated in the limitations of Pico-8!

This is a little experiment Bennett Foddy made in Pico-8 a while ago on a flight. It uses a control method they hadn’t seen before, where the movement is damped according to the rate of change in the acceleration (the ‘jerk’) which creates a strange oscillating movement.

This is a short horror game that I developed for Fantasy Console Game Jam #3 using the Pico-8 fantasy console. This game is not suited for children or those who are easily disturbed. The objective of this game is to move around a desolated town and touch certain magic pillars. When you touch the pillars (it's a little finicky, so try to move around them a bit), a streetlight will come on near a lighthouse to signify your progress. You must light all six streetlights, at which point the lighthouse will light up. Touch the light of the lighthouse to complete the game.

Zebulon the cat is lost in a strange place, but he has a lot of courage and curiosity quickly replaces fear as he explores and unravels the world around him. It also helps that smelly green food is everywhere to grab!

A PICO-8 demake of Trigonarium, a top down twin stick shooter with an everchanging map. Fight your way through an arena of 12 enemy types through 4 different gamemodes while the map changes shape around you.

Slide, spin and snap to solve puzzles with your claw.

Survive against hordes of relentless creatures by using your arcane powers to defeat them. Gather their essence and use it to increase your magical prowess! Use the beacons lure them and defeat them, but be warned, the more time passes, the stronger they get. Your mission? Survive until "It" arrives. When "it" arrives, destroy it.

An aquatic action game. Swim sword first into the deep to destroy the evil at the heart of the ocean.

In Cave of Cards, you clear dungeons by making poker hands.

Hit the slopes, turn by turn! Play cards, clear gates, and don't crash!

A PICO-8 demake of Tetris Effect.

Solve puzzles in dimly lit corridors and uncover the story of an ancient king gone mad.

Lock and Release! A PICO-8 caravan shmup. Reach the core. Defend the Earth!

Pixel Rift Adventure is a fast‑paced Pico-8 roguelike dungeon crawler that blends the room‑by‑room exploration of classic Zelda titles with the procedural unpredictability and challenge of Binding of Isaac. Each floor is a freshly generated grid of interconnected rooms, packed with randomized enemies, destructible obstacles, and hidden treasures. Your hero starts modestly equipped—three hearts, basic sword reach, and no special powers—but every playthrough offers new opportunities to power up via treasure chests, vending machines, and a unique letter‑collecting mechanic. The heart of the game lies in its letter system. Scattered throughout the dungeon are consumable letters that spell out SUBPIXEL and MATTA. Completing the former permanently extends your sword’s reach; completing the latter grants a limited‑use ranged projectile attack. Vending machines sprinkled on each level sell letters for coins you’ve hoarded, adding a strategic layer: do you spend now for a chance at a powerful upgrade, or save for health and keys? Boss rooms punctuate your descent, each featuring a thematic “family” of bosses—wiggling slime overlords, spectral ghost generals, and subterranean plant tyrants—that grow tougher as you advance. Defeating a boss opens a portal to the next floor, and reaching level 10 without succumbing to traps or overwhelming odds crowns you the ultimate Pixel Rift champion. Tight controls, i‑frames after damage, and a reactive HUD keep you always in the action—dive in, adapt on the fly, and see how far you can go!