PICO-8 GameDev #1: Getting Started

This article is from HERE

What is PICO-8?

For those unfamiliar with PICO-8 - it’s a fantasy console for making, sharing and playing tiny games and other computer programs. You could think of a “fantasy console” as an emulator for a games console that never actually had a physical hardware release.

PICO-8 is basically attempting to be recreate the spirit of an 8-bit games platform - with all its limitations (128x128 resolution, 16-cols, 32k, etc.) - but with a few exceptions that take advantage of newer/modern technology (such as Lua scripting, built-in code/sprite/map/sfx/music editors, powerful exports).

Just like old consoles, PICO-8 uses Cartridges (or Carts, for short) for storing and sharing games and programs. These single files can even be saved as .PNG (image) files, containing ALL the source code and resources! Making them VERY easy to share to other PICO-8 users.