Thanks for the encouragement :) I really recommend trying the PICO-8, it's actually really easy to work with because everything is so straightforward (one of the many things I love about it), plus you get everything you need right in one package. So for example you can just draw a sprite right in the editor at index 7 and then render that in the middle of the screen by calling spr(7, 64, 64). It's that simple.
There's lots of great stuff to learn from on the forum; you can look at the code for any game there by just clicking the word 'Code' underneath, or download the game by saving the cartridge (brilliant) and then open it in the editor and poke around the graphics, map, sound effects, music and of course code. There's also a fanzine with introductory tutorials.
I first got the PICO-8 in August 2015 I think, but the first thing I made was for Ludum Dare 34 in December 2015. If you want to buy the PICO-8 it's only $15, though it might be worth buying it's big brother Voxatron for $20 instead as it comes with a free copy of PICO-8. Hope that helps!