
Cover Art by @Werxzy
This is the 15th issue of Pico-View that covers the latest news, tips and tricks from developers, and looks back on the entire year of 2024 to reveal the best games that came out this year, and more you may have missed!
Read the full issue here: https://nerdyteachers.com/PICO-8/Pico-View/15
Contents:
- Shadowbox Pixel Art
- PICO-8 on Antstream Arcade
- Extended Maps and Palettes of Samurise
- Everyone Draw Interview
- Everyone Draw PICO-8 Mural
- Featured Game Review
- Christmas Past, Present & Future
- Top 10 Games of 2024
- Top Rated Games on Itch.io
- Updated Top 200
- Data Packing for Picodex Dual
- Lookback Pico Playtime
- New Debugging Resource
- Picotron Textmode editor
- December Event Winners!
- Pixel Art Gallery
Hello there! :p
My name is That One Entertainer, also known as T_O_E.
One day I got bored, browsed the internet and found this cool website, so I though why not give it a try?
My goal is to learn about programming and make my own simple games in the process. I started with scratch and even though I'm also currently a studying Java, I want to try something else entirely. That's when I found this website, played other peoples games and got inspired to try and create something of my own. Whether I'll stay or leave I'm not too sure about, but hopefully I'll learn something in the process, so we'll see.
I'm also keen to try and create my own music, pixel art and other things here, as those are also my interests I'd like to get better at.
Thank you for reading this introductory post :p

A simple Christmas themed game with elements of humor. This game was created for the PICO-8 Advent Calendar Jam 2024. Use the ⬅️, ➡️, ⬆️ and ⬇️ arrow keys as quickly as you can to ease the anger of the fellow kids. Unfortunately I had no enough time to work on the sound effects, but I had a very fun time creating the characters' pixel art.
Sleigh Another Day
Santa is training for the big day. Help him navigate his sleigh through the snowy mountains of Lapland and return safely to his workshop in this procedurally-generated one-button game.
How to Play
One button: press X to jump/fly.
In later levels you can collect magic coins which allow you to press X again while airborne to extend your flight.
Credits
Code by I Am Penguin
Particle effects adapted from example by Nerdy Teachers
Notes
This is my first Pico-8 game. Getting the difficulty right in a procedurally generated game has been difficult, so feedback is welcome. You may need to try some of the later levels a few times before you're successful and remember where to press X, but I've tried to make it fairly easy for casual gamers like me.
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To-Do List
1.Player Upgrade Module (Completed)
2.Boss Implementation(Completed)
3.Implement ~10 Different Enemies
Lower priority for now, continue refining the implemented enemies
4.Victory and Results Screen(Ideas are in place, but not yet implemented)
5.Design ~10 Levels with Progressive Difficulty
Initially planned for 10 levels, now planning for 5 levels, with adjustments to the monster ratio and quantity in different levels
6.Create a Cool Boss Death Animation(Completed)
7.Balance Game’s Stats
Properly balance all game stats
Bug Fixes
Known bugs fixed:
1.Player still took damage from bullets during invincibility period (Fixed)
2.Boss did not deal collision damage to the player (Fixed)
3.Game restart didn’t properly initialize some variables
4.Incorrectly awarding experience to the player when clearing monsters at the end of a level (Fixed)
5.Holding the attack button and entering the upgrade screen automatically selected the default option and exited (Fixed)
Pitch
Evil DJ pinguins stole christmas presents for an early party! As a member of the "Get Out And Get Back These Presents" force, your task is to get things in order quick!
note: game has a single daily level, same for everyone!
How To Play
left/right: rotate
up/down: forward/backward
x+left/right: strafe
c: jump
Credits:
To-Do List
1.Player Upgrade Module(Completed)
2.Boss Implementation(Completed)
3.Implement ~10 Different Enemies(5 implemented,Lower priority for now)
4.Victory and Results Screen
5.Design ~10 Levels with Progressive Difficulty
Achieved mainly through adjusting the monster ratio and quantity in different levels
6.Create a Cool Boss Death Animation
7.Implement a cool boss death animation
8.Balance Game’s Stats
9.Bug Fixes
Known bugs to fix:
Boss doesn't deal collision damage to the player
Game restart doesn’t properly initialize some variables
Incorrectly awarding experience to the player when clearing monsters at the end of a level
Holding the attack button and entering the upgrade screen automatically selects the default option and exits
Damage reduction stat is not functioning correctly (consider removing it)
10.Ongoing Improvements
Optimize sound effects and animations
Improve boss bullet pattern generation logic