Programming is fun. It is all about solving problems inside a defined environment. Video games are fun. They let you dive into other worlds and do what you usually are not able to.

Therefore programming video games is the ultimate fun. But nowadays environments are not as tighly restricted as video game console were in, for example, the eighties. Too much is possible. Boundaries are not very tight. PICO-8 from Lexaloffle is bringing back a fun constraint environment for making small games.

PICO-8 is described as a “fantasy console”. A reimagination what a NES-style console might look like nowadays.

It contains an IDE complete with editors for sound, music and grafic assets as well as with a source code editor to write your game using Lua. Even if programming is not your thing, creating pixel art or chip tunes might be. The completed game can be stored into “Cartridges”, special .PNG files containing the game for easy sharing with others. This recreates the feeling of holding a cartridge very well.

A lot of cartridges are already available, and loading them into PICO-8 makes their source code visible. Studying other’s code can be a great way to learn how to program games.

PICO-8 is available for Windows, Linux, macOS and even Raspberry Pi. Especially the Raspberry Pi option is interesting as the small computer is a great starting point for building a “real” PICO-8 console for your home around it.

For more information about PICO-8 I recommend downloading the PICO-8 ZINE Fanzine. It often comes with code listings and tutorials how to achieve certain things.