Changelog

NEW

• New game: Kalikan by LouieChapm.

FIXED

• Tidier multiplayer library. When a multi-cart game pulls its extra carts from the host during a session, those sub-carts no longer show up as separate entries in your library.
• Clearer button focus. The highlighted button in the "new games" popup now shows the proper focus border for controller and handheld players, instead of a grey circle.
• Better cart compatibility. Fixed several engine issues (cart parsing, table handling, and line drawing) so more demanding homebrew carts run correctly, including the fighting game ROBO OH vs UCHU MEGA FIGHT.

NEW

• New game: PICO‑BALL by Munchkin.
• Now in your language. Pixl8 is translated into Italiano, Français, Español, Deutsch, Português (Portugal and Brazil), Nederlands, 日本語, and Chinese (简体 and 繁體). On Android 13 and later you can set the app’s language on its own, without changing your whole phone.
• Help translate Pixl8. A new Improve translations entry in Settings lets you suggest better wording or add your language. (suggest a translation)

FIXED

• Two‑player games badge on their own. Featured and multiplayer carts now show the 2‑player badge without you having to play each one first.
• Clear focus for controllers and handhelds. The highlight showing what’s selected now appears on every device when you navigate with a controller or D‑pad, not just on Android TV.

NEW

• Android TV. Pixl8 now runs on Android TV and TV boxes. Browse your library and featured games on the big screen, navigate entirely with the D‑pad or remote, and launch a cart with a single button. A Play next row on the TV home screen keeps your most recent games, plus a rotating pick of featured carts, one click away.
• Send carts to your TV. Push games from your phone straight to the app on your TV over your local network, no cables or cloud needed. Multi‑cart games are sent whole, so collections and their sub‑games arrive ready to play. (about multi‑carts)

FIXED

• Rotating and square screens. On rotating and 1:1 handhelds like the RG Rotate and RG Cube, leaving a game no longer flashes a sideways layout; the normal view is kept throughout.
• Assorted stability and security fixes.

NEW

• New game: Build a Jetpack by Aymeri.
• Multiplayer — play PICO‑8 together three ways: on the same Wi‑Fi, a direct device‑to‑device link (the two devices set up their own Wi‑Fi, no router or internet), or online over the internet. Long‑press a game to host it, or join from the lobby. Joining is free for everyone; hosting is a Pro feature. (see how‑to)
• Friends & invites — add friends nearby or by a short share code, see when they're online, and invite them to a game.
• Two‑player games are badged in your library, so you can spot what's playable together at a glance.
• NFC cards. Long‑press a game and pick “Write NFC cart” to program a blank NFC tag or sticker. Turn it into your own physical “cartridge” that launches the game with a single tap on your phone. The tag is just a bookmark; it launches a game you already have and stores no game data. A printable card layout is included. (see how‑to)

FIXED

• Smoother playback — heavy games no longer briefly flash a half‑drawn frame.
• Better cart loading — games are recognised by their content, so more files open correctly even with an unexpected name.
• More reliable multiplayer invites.
• Layout fixes on large screens and foldables — the status bar no longer overlaps the top controls.

NEW

• New games: Woodworm and Trichromat by Spratt.
• Haptic feedback for the on-screen controls — a short vibration when you press the d-pad or buttons. Optional; turn it on in Settings.

CHANGED

• Updated for Android 16, with edge-to-edge display and better behaviour on tablets and foldables — the app now follows rotation and resizing freely.

FIXED

• (Watch) Reopening the app after the screen sleeps no longer leaves stacked copies — one swipe now exits cleanly back to the watch face.
• A cart with no metadata file now shows a clean name — a .p8.png cart reads as its plain name instead of keeping a leftover .p8.

NEW

• New games: Boba, Rolly, and seven from Krystman — Porklike, Breakout Hero, Pico Checkmate, Mai-Chan's Sweet Buns, Cattle Crisis, Cherry Bomb and High Stakes.
• Bluetooth controllers on the watch (experimental). Pair a game controller right from the watch, then navigate the launcher and menus with the d-pad and play with real buttons. Whether input works depends on your watch allowing controllers — confirmed on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 7, others may vary.

FIXED

• (Watch) Deleting a game from your library now jumps to a neighbouring game instead of leaving an empty space.
• (Watch) The "Receiving…" animation while games arrive now plays once for the whole batch — and stays up long enough to see — instead of flickering for each file.
• (Watch) Settings now fit the smallest round screens — labels and controls are no longer clipped, and the text scales to stay readable at large system font sizes.
• Fixed a game where the player's sprite could get stuck flashing solid red after taking damage.

NEW

• New games: Spaceman 8 and Worm Nom Nom.
• Pixl8 on your watch. Full Wear OS support — your PICO-8 library on Samsung Galaxy Watch, Pixel Watch and other Wear OS watches.
• Send games to your watch. Pick carts on the phone and send them over Bluetooth — multi-cart games pull their extra parts on demand.
• Browse on your wrist. A coverflow launcher — spin through your games with the rotating bezel or crown and tap the front one to play.
• Tilt or tap to pause, and resize the square game to sit comfortably inside the round screen.
• Quick-launch Tile. Your recently played games, one tap from the watch face.
• Pro on the watch. Unlock right on the watch, or a purchase you already made on the phone carries over automatically.

CHANGED

• Auto-save on exit now also saves when you pick Quit from the pause menu — not only when the app is backgrounded — so quitting keeps your progress (phone and watch).

FIXED

• (Watch) Featured games that load extra level data now start promptly instead of stalling on a black screen.
• (Watch) Lower battery use — a game stops running while the screen is off, and motion sensing is lighter.

NEW

• New games: Cryomancer, Oblivion Eve, No-No, No-No, YES! and Callisto.
• Gift-wrapped games. New games arrive wrapped up in your library. Tap once to unwrap them — ribbon, jingle and all — then play.
• Remap your controller. Put any action on the button you want, including moving the pause menu wherever feels natural.
• Rename games. Give any cart your own title — it shows up and sorts that way everywhere, and you can switch back any time.
• Move & resize the screen. Reposition and zoom the game screen and the on-screen buttons to fit your device, per orientation.
• App sound toggle. Turn the launcher sounds (like the unwrap jingle) on or off. Never affects in-game audio.
• POOM now runs — the PICO-8 first-person shooter, with its keyboard and two-player controls.
• Twin-stick controls. The right stick acts as a second player, for games that use both at once.

CHANGED

• Your library now sorts by the title you actually see, not the hidden file name.

FIXED

• Music no longer restarts when lots of sound effects fire at once (like the explosions in Birds with Guns).
• Sound now follows your output device — plug in a Bluetooth headset or USB adapter mid-game and the audio keeps playing.
• Games with their own pause menu (like POOM) behave correctly: the first press opens the game's menu, the second opens Pixl8's.
• Tidied up a batch of game-specific quirks, including From Rust to Ash, snekburd, void_protocol and Linecraft.

• A native PICO-8 player for Android, tuned to match the real console.
• A library with curated featured games plus your own carts, favourites, recents and search.
• Customizable touch controls and gamepad support, at any screen size.
• Low-latency audio.
• Pro extras: save states, a step-by-step debugger, and an input recorder.
• Back up and restore your saves, screenshots and recordings.
• Open PICO-8 game links from the Lexaloffle community straight into Pixl8.