Cost: Free to play in a web browser, but the creation tools are $14.99 (add $5 to get their voxel-based console Voxatron too)
Software License: Proprietary
Released: 2015
Development Platforms: Linux, Windows, Mac, Raspberry Pi, web (missing some features)
Export Platforms: literally anything that can run a web browser with basic graphics, or the above through the in-console SPLORE app
Overview
It's hard to overstate how much I love PICO-8. It's truly a love letter to the consoles of the past, and honestly, I owe it much credit for inspiring this whole site to begin with.
PICO-8 is a fantasy console. It was never a "real" platform like a Game Boy, but it's made to feel like the development kit for something like it. I can't speak to the authenticity myself, but it seems like it keeps to the fun parts without the hassle of intense memory management.
Strengths
Wide platform support: It's a fantasy console that's unrestrained by hardware and built from the ground up for portability. Develop on any number of systems, then share your games across the web through just an image file.
Passionate community: There's so many wonderful people surrounding this project.
Highly portable: Both sharing and making games across a variety of platforms are remarkably easy. Sending someone a copy of your game is as easy as sharing a PNG. Making one only requires a fraction of the disk space and processing power of even similarly light engines, meaning it's great for someone that'd like to fit their entire toolkit on a thumb drive or work off a Raspberry Pi.
Aesthetic: Look, it's easily the cutest engine on this site, you've gotta give it credit for that. That font? That default color palette? Perfection.
Weaknesses
Extreme constraint: I hesitate to consider this a "weakness" because really it's a selling point, but I want to highlight this here just to emphasize it. You will have to get creative with your optimization.
Proprietary software: I tend to prefer FOSS projects, but am happy to make an exception for high quality proprietary tools. If this is a hard line for you, unfortunately you'll be missing out.
Great use cases
Education: Lexaloffle offers discounted rates for educators looking to set up a classroom set of copies. It's a highly approachable engine as well, great for teaching game development across all skill levels.
Game jams: Because of the reasonable learning curve and tight constraints, this is a great option for individuals and small teams looking to throw something together for a jam.
Beginner devs: It's unlikely you'll get a AAA job off PICO-8 work alone, but you can absolutely learn all the fundamentals and make a killer demo while you're at it. If you want to start making games but have no clue where to begin, this really is an excellent option (massively better than most options on this site, at least).
Burnt-out AAA devs: Dabbling in PICO-8 helped me get back into a creative routine when I was experiencing major burnout following a big project. It's likely the polar opposite of the kind of development toolkit you're working with for your 9-5 (and if you roll your eyes at that time span, you deserve a workplace that doesn't crunch, seriously).
Noteworthy Projects
Celeste - Did you know the extremely popular platformer got its start on PICO-8? You can still play the original and trans your gender in 8-bit!
POOM - In case you were wondering if PICO 8 can run Doom, yes, yes it can.
Seinfeld Simulator - Become Jerry Seinfeld and tell jokes to a divided audience of boomers and zoomers. The various chiptune reimaginings of the theme song is enough to make this a gem.
