PICO-8

I recently discovered PICO-8, a fantasy console for making and sharing simple video games. It’s a big dose of nostalgia for the days of typing BASIC code into our Tandy or Chipmunk Basic (except the PICO-8 language is Lua). The “fantasy console” concept is clever: it presents as an emulator for a vintage arcade machine or microcomputer with very limited resources — except no such machine ever existed. It’s a great example of creative constraints which even has me tempted to dabble in making silly little games again.

The full console (complete with editor modes) is a commercial download, but you can play the cartridges online, too.

Posted on Sunday, May 25th, 2025.