Popular games built on game engine PICO-8
A hardcore platform game for the PICO-8 fantasy console.
For 2019 I ran two prototyping classes – one in Pico-8 for the undergraduates and a graduate version with no platform constraint (which generally means they work in Unity). So this year I hid the same prompt in two different interpretations of the same idea. I tuned the Pico-8 game for the youthful reflexes of the undergraduate class, but I did not count on the fact that none of them would have ever played a bullet-hell game, and as a result, only one of them was able to reach the end and find out what the assignment was. I instructed that person that they could keep it a secret if they wanted to.
Mess with the Flock, you get the Glock. An Owl-some Roguelike Twin-Stick Shooter.
Get pigment droplets, dodge the deadly razor discs, paint all tiles
A small metroidvania in which you delve deeper into a planet, until you reach it's bottom...
A casual game where it's time to tidy up the solar system. Shove planets into each other to make bigger planets. No stress, take your time. Play strategically to trigger insane combos. Earn missiles to get out of tricky situations. A totally accurate simulation of celestial bodies.
Sokoblox is a hybrid of two classic puzzle games: Sokoban (the push puzzle) and Bloxorz (the rolling block puzzle).
A demake of Terraria, in PICO-8!
This is a pico-8 port of Klax, mainly based on the Atari Lynx version, featuring: -100 levels -5 different backgrounds -warps -full klax combos and scoring system.
An explosive homage to the old-time multiplayer classic made with PICO-8! In this game, your goal is to drop bombs on the battlefield to eliminate all other players in time and be the last manbomber standing. The game can be played with up to 4 players battling each other. While in the 2-player mode, both players can use the same keyboard to control their manbomber, a controller for each player is required for all other modes. Any Controller which can be connected to your device will do!
Brendan Keogh's Putting Challenge is a Pico-8 golf game about the parts of golf that other videogames cut out. Put the ball on the tee yourself. After hitting the ball, manually walk to where the ball went before you hit it again. If the ball goes in the water, put down another ball! Remove your ball from the hole before moving on to the next hole. If you run out of balls, return to the Pro Shop to get more balls. This is a golf game with unprecedented interactivity!!
In 2021, the last time I taught the class, I didn’t want to hide the homework in the games. Instead I used the games as ways of presenting ideas. I made several, but I like this one, a reinterpretation of the fortune-telling minigame from Ultima IV.
Driftmania is an arcade time trial racing game. Your goal is to get the fastest possible time on each of the 15 challenging tracks
Pröng is a mutant game of pong. Also a techno-thriller dating sim.
Dodge, evolve, survive in this survival shmup. Help vampire hunter Liz Belmont to survive until dawn. Except dawn will never come.
Porklike is a classic, turn-based Roguelike with minimalist lo-fi aesthetic. Enter the tower of Wurstlord. Can you make it to the top and steal his legendary Kielbasa? 9 floors of dangerous traps and enemies await you. Only if you move carefully and master your character's abilities will you become the champion of Porklike.
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.
A 5-10 minute long visual novel made in PICO-8 about growing up and moving on.
Steve Johanson has disappeared and his girlfriend Sally Franklin has hired your detective agency to locate him. Even before you get on the scene there are signs that maybe this isn't just a simple missing persons case. Can you crack it? Explore Anteform Valley and its settlements, talk to its residents, search desks and files, and build up your skills as you collect clues to figure out what really happened to Steve and maybe even prevent it from happening again. Anteform is a horror / sci-fi detective story 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 (although thematically it fits in better with the Worlds of Ultima games). Just like the original Ultima games, it includes a world view, enterable towns, and 3D dungeon displays. More importantly, it is a fully playable (and winnable) game with its own backstory, plot, setting, and characters.
These busy birds will eat almost anything that falls into their gullet -- what will you feed them? They have their preferences, but people food beats bird food any day of the week! A difficult, chaotic arcade game with local multiplayer support!
A bite sized dungeon manager game that requires new strategies every time you play! Mine, build, and fight your way to success.
Grab all 30 time pieces in this short platformer, based on the game A Hat in Time!
Get back to your nest and finish your nap in this retro-inspired platformer! Pip is a baby pelican that is startled from its sleep during a storm and must find its way back home. Collect the feathers scattered around the island until you have enough strength to flap back to your nest
This is a tiny adventure based directly on Fez, by Polytron Corporation. It is a fan work, and was not made in collaboration with or endorsed by them. Fuz features a total of 8 distinct areas. Its visuals, mechanics, and puzzles are all based off those in the original.