Catch Pikachu!

A small game I built in PICO-8 to practice gameplay programming under hard constraints: 128x128 resolution, 16 colors, and Lua scripting.

Project Snapshot

Engine PICO-8 fantasy console
Focus Physics, collisions, and gameplay loop from scratch

I made this game a few years back while experimenting with game development tools. The constraints were the main appeal: they force clear design choices and quick iteration.

Why I Built It

  1. Learn core game-programming patterns in a compact environment.
  2. Implement physics and collision logic myself.
  3. Use the excellent PICO-8 manual as a guided study path.

What I Learned

The biggest takeaway was separating gameplay state from rendering flow. I also got comfortable with Lua, especially table-driven logic.

If I revisit this project, I would invest more in world-building and structured playtesting. That would improve pacing and make the game feel more complete.

Code

Source code: github.com/dzarrini/pico-8

Game