itch.io

I'm not familiar with PICO-8, how should I consider its limitations?

    Start here at the PICO-8 FAQ. If you are brand new to programming and PICO-8, you can follow our introductory course videos to get an idea of how it works and get a head start on learning it. You can follow along with the PICO-8 Education Edition which can run in your browser. However, if you are already familiar with programming, then browsing the official manual could help you understand the software limitations.

If I win, how will I receive my license to PICO-8?

    On submission you will be asked to provide your email address. We will send winners a unique PICO-8 key to that email that can be redeemed at lexaloffle.com/redeem.

What if I already own PICO-8?

    You may choose to participate for fun and check the checkbox on your submission to opt-out of the reward.

What if I don't fill in all the sections of the Document?

    That's fine. Not all the sections apply to all types of games. PICO-8 games are often very simple because of the limitations so don't worry if you need to skip some sections. We suggest you write "Does not apply" at least just to show that you considered it and didn't just skip over it.

Does my game idea have to be completely new?

    No. Your submission can be inspired by existing games or concepts, but should include your own creative elements or innovative twists. We will be judging how unique your ideas are but they could also be unique and creative twists on a simple game format. Be sure to acknowledge any direct inspirations in your design document. Remember, this jam is about creating thoughtful, well-documented game designs rather than proving you have a completely unique concept, which is extremely rare anyway.

Should I be worried about someone stealing my game idea?

    Don't worry, our community is very supportive and collaborative, and blatantly stealing ideas is rare.  Game ideas themselves aren't typically protected by copyright or intellectual property laws - it's the specific implementation that's protected.  Remember that execution is what makes a game special - two developers can start with the same concept and create entirely different experiences based on their unique vision and skills. If someone really likes your idea, they should reach out to you for permission to collaborate.

Why a month-long jam?

    We don't expect you to work on the document for an entire month. You could probably get it done in a single weekend, but we wanted to allow participants to find that free time somewhere within the whole month.  So the jam length is just to provide more freedom to participants.

Thanks!

Thanks for the suggestion! Don't know why I didn't think of that already. I have exported the song and converted it to MP3, and it is now available to download! =D

Actually both because I have hit the compression limit. So if I want to add even one sentence, I need to remove something else.

I'm glad you like it so much you want to have it with you on the go! =) 

Unfortunately I don't have any space left in the cart to add instructions. Early on, I decided to focus on graphics, number of levels, and the variety of items and interactions, instead of adding a tutorial in-game. However, the way I set up each level and the progress of the levels are meant to give you an understanding of the mechanics. For example, the first level is purely just to let you understand the style of movement, no items, no enemies.

Then when each item is introduced, the first couple levels are simple with limited choices so that you focus on learning to use the item instead of trying to solve the puzzle.

Since I can't add tips to the game itself, I can at least share a couple here!

Tip #1:
If you are struggling in later levels, go back to earlier levels and try to get 3 diamonds. Those earlier 3-diamond solutions usually require a trick or mechanic that you need to know just to solve later levels. So going for 3 diamonds is actually a way to learn the game faster and make later levels easier.

Tip #2:
Stuck on a level? Try everything! You'll be surprised with creative ways that items interact with the room, objects, enemies, and even other items!

There are 3 others that I know of, but it's possible I don't know about them all. But I won't spoil it haha, I'll let players discover and share them.

You both are a JOY to watch! Very entertaining and fun times. I hope to catch more of your streams in the future.
I'm sorry you got distracted by the glitch where the player passed through the spikes. I have fixed the bug and updated the game now.

Very impressive solutions to all levels, well done!

Pretty cool seeing a playthrough of the first few levels, thanks!

Thank you that's great to hear!

Awesome! I'm sure we'll hear this in a high-action shmup or two.

I didn't realize you were this good at making music in PICO-8! Looking forward to more streams and albums of songs if that is in the plan. If not, it should be!

I love all of these! The volume changes on the notes really create an amazing feeling, I'll have to try that out. This collection definitely makes me want to play a JRPG.

So good! Smart of you to include the 3 channel no percussion version too. That's definitely appreciated.

Nicely done! I really like Junkyard.

Thank you very much!

I'm glad you enjoy the game that much! Thank you for the kind words. Hope the hints are enough to help you narrow down the mission combinations, but if not and you get frustrated then let me know. =D

Thank you! I loved watching your playthrough. Also, thank you for finding the error! Because I could watch exactly what caused it, I was able to fix and update the game. =D

Always glad to help a fellow PICO-8 dev! =D

Experienced the epic rise and tragic fall of my geneticist's entire career in the matter of 16 cards. Extremely well written and the simple gameplay (no dice, no movement, just card revealing) let me focus on the story and spend more time journaling and sketching. This is my second time experiencing a solo journaling game and it has solidified it as one of my favorite genres of games. I'll have to try out some of your others!

Absolutely loved this! Well done! I played it on stream and got to introduce the concept of solo RPG / Journaling / Sketching games to my friends. So glad to have this alongside my own take on the same famicase. They complement each other really well.

The old book illustrations is a perfect aesthetic for this game. Do you have plans on a video perhaps showing how to play and what to expect? Would love to entice some friends into playing a game like this and a video of a playthrough would help.

This is a ton of fun! I love how the cops collide with each other making for great chain reactions.

The animations are smooth as butter and the computer's turn where it wanders around before it places its piece is brilliant! This will definitely be my go-to othello game. I managed to beat Hard! So I'll definitely be returning to get my butt kicked by Expert. XD

(realized this comment thread is separate from your game page thread so I copied most of it over there)

I really enjoyed this! Well done. Brilliant idea for this famicase too. The animations are silly and fun. The layout with the groups is refreshingly untraditional to sudoku but still makes perfect sense. The abilities really throw a wrench into the plans and turns it into more of an action puzzler; feeling like you are constantly putting out fires in a kindergarten class lol! 

Oh, just noticed you made use of the platformer tutorial! =D Appreciate the code credits.

BTW, I was considering choosing this cart too but I didn't feel like I had any good ideas for it. I'm glad to see you brought it to life and you really did it justice. Well done!

I had a great time with how much I was able to play. Looking forward to returning to it after that midnight bug is fixed. I'll be keeping an eye out for any announcement you make when you feel its ready to play again.

I really enjoyed this! Well done. Brilliant idea for this famicase too. The animations are silly and fun. The layout is refreshingly untraditional to sudoku but still makes perfect sense. The abilities really throw a wrench into the plans and turns it into more of an action puzzler feeling like you are constantly putting out fires in a kindergarten class lol! The one thing I feel it needs is an indicator for which peas are locked in from the start, and which can be adjusted; perhaps a slightly different color shadow?

Awesome! You are right, it is purposefully a bit slow and becomes sort of a grind to test out your theories of which virtues will achieve a mission. The biggest challenge is the RNG of the +s and -s, but if you go in with 2 possible missions in mind, one for positive virtues and one for negatives, then you should be able to achieve one of them by being able to adapt to the +s and -s that you get. Thanks for playing! Good luck on your next attempt, and hopefully I'll have found that lingering bug and update it before you try again.

So glad to hear that, thanks for playing!

Thanks so much! That means a lot.
Sorry about that door collision, I spent a while trying to improve it while keeping the collision of the building. I ended up settling on adding that pathway out the door to try to entice players to enter diagonally from below as that is best. If I figure out a better way, then I'll surely improve it and update the game.

Well done! And thanks for reporting the bug. I'm workin on finishing this up beyond the 4 hours, so I'll leave this version as imperfect and buggy as it is haha.

Awesome! The splashes are so perfectly juicy. =D