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.
You have been summoned! help the Witch find the ingredients she needs in thiis arcade platformer.
A challenging puzzle game in which the player manipulates gravity in order to reach magical, green portals. Place colored boxes on buttons to open gates, avoid spikes, and more!
You signed up for the biggest martial-arts challenge in history! In a gauntlet beyond example, contestants from all around the world face myriads of artificial monstrosities to find out who can deal with them performing the most stylish and efficient combos. There’s a twist though - you can only move in accordance with the hand of cards you’re holding. Ah, there’s nothing like the beautiful arbitrariness of game rules...
A simple tennis game for PICO-8. Play against AI or with up to 4 players in local multiplayer.
Slime Fantasy: the search for the lost sword is a game made on Pico-8, a retro fantasy console with purposeful limitations and low-resolution to simulate an 8-bit era console. Designed in a minimalist way, this game aims to simplify the gameplay by highlighting harmless solid objects from objects that the player must pay attention to, dangerous things, and platforms that are not safe.
Petal Quest is a short PICO-8 game of discovery with light puzzles.
Bandits are taking over the town and you're the only gunslinger around that can stop them. Battle through 5 bandit camps in this turn based rogue-like western to win the lucrative bounty or die trying. This game is a PICO-8 version of Guncho, a 7DRL gamejam game. The original is made by Arnold Rauers and Terri Vellman.
Train Journey is a 16-cartridge PICO-8 game (the maximum size) about a mysterious train to which the player is seemingly bound. Travel between stops, meet unique characters, and learn their stories. Can you free yourself and return home? Or will you ride the train forever...?
The evil Chiro Empire has captured all of the other Dragon Eggs! It's your job to save them!
Fly your Arwing to victory in this PICO-8 demake of Star Fox. Features 3 levels: Cornerea, Venom and Fortuna.
A mod of the PICO-8 platformer Celeste (now known as Celeste Classic) with new levels and sliding block mechanics.
This is a series of works that came out of a residency carried out in early 2018 in Tokyo, with the Creator Ikusei project, which is supported by the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs. I adopted research techniques from ethnography and history, such as open-ended interviews and participant observation, and developed a method of representing the results of this research in a playful and interactive form that draws heavily from familiar interaction design patterns such as the tamagotchi-style virtual pet and role-playing game multiple-choice dialogue systems.
The 2025 PICO-8 Advent Calendar is here! Busy little devs elves have been hard at work these past couple of months crafting you some holiday cheer. Please enjoy a new game, toy, or demo each day.
You’re a sky-island delivery worker delivering mail to all the nearby islands. Everything runs smoothly until the letters suddenly aren’t being delivered. Find all of the letters and deliver them to their recipients. Maybe they’ll give you something as a thank you.
Take off and explore the mountains and lakes of Picotopia! A flight simulator made for PICO-8. Flight model should be "somewhat realistic" in that it models thrust, lift, drag and weight--Of course all the numbers are made up, and things are grossly simplified.
Explore an archipelago, encounter fellow explorers, and seduce and haggle with them to help you complete your map! There is no time constraint, no danger, there's no gameover. Instead, this game proposes a calming experience of exploration and encounters. You can just stop playing when you feel satisfied. A play session will usually last 15 to 30 minutes.
Drill as deep as you can, but don't get crushed!
Inspired by the release of CorgiSpace and SEBI16, the author wanted to try out PICO-8. Here is the result! His first PICO-8 game, made between January 18th-22nd of 2026.
A retro scrolling beat'em up with a dark fantasy theme.
Light matches and read cards. Choose a card to burn & learn a little about yourself.
The Land of Miskatonia needs a hero to save it from the evil Faxon and its minions. Can you be that hero? Explore Miskatonia and its settlements, talk to its residents, build up your skills, and finally challenge Faxon in its secret lair. Minima is an adventure RPG in the style of the older Ultima games (Ultima I, Ultima II, Ultima III, Ultima IV, & Ultima V) as played on the Commodore 64 and 128 computers. Just like the original Ultima games, it includes a world view, enterable towns, and 3D dungeon displays. It also features graphics, sound effects, and music that should help one recollect those classics. More importantly, it is a fully playable (and winnable) game with its own backstory, plot, setting, and characters.