FAQ
- What is PICO-8?
- PICO-8 is a "fantasy console" — an imaginary 8-bit machine with deliberately tiny limits (a 128×128 screen, 16 colours, four sound channels) that people use to make and share small games. Over a decade in, the community around it has produced thousands of free, polished little titles spanning every genre. Wikipedia has a longer write-up if you'd like more background.
- Where do I get carts?
- The PICO-8 community hosts thousands of free carts on the Lexaloffle BBS. Explore the community, find games you like, and download their cart files into a folder Pixl8 has access to. They'll show up in your library, ready to play. And don't forget to support the authors!
- What's a cart?
-
A "cart" is a single tiny file that holds a whole PICO-8 game — the
code, the art, the sounds, the music, all in one place. The clever
bit is that a cart usually looks like a small PNG image: open it in
any image viewer and you'll see a label screen, but feed it to
Pixl8 and it's a playable game. You'll see them as
.p8.png(image carts with a label) or sometimes plain.p8(text-source version) — both work the same way in the library. - How do I make my own game?
- Lexaloffle hosts a free in-browser editor at pico-8-edu.com — perfect for trying things out without installing anything. Once you're hooked, the proper way to develop locally is to buy a Lexaloffle licence and download the real PICO-8 tools.
- Great places to learn:
- Lazy Devs Academy — long-form tutorial series on YouTube.
- Nerdy Teachers — written guides and classroom-friendly walkthroughs.
- Is the engine official?
- No. Pixl8 ships an independent re-implementation of the PICO-8 runtime designed for compatibility with carts published on the BBS. Lexaloffle and the PICO-8 trademark are owned by their respective holders; Pixl8 is not affiliated with or endorsed by Lexaloffle.
- What does Pro unlock?
- Save states (10 slots per cart), the in-app input script recorder & playback, the source-level debugger pane, and the one-time purchase removes any future feature gating.
- Does it work on retro handhelds?
- Yes. Pixl8 adapts to any screen shape — 4:3, 16:9, 1:1, whatever your device runs.
- What does Pixl8 collect about me?
- See the full privacy policy. Your cart files and save data never leave your device.
- I found a bug. Where do I report it?
- Open an issue on GitHub or email our contact email.