If you love the PICO-8 fantasy console, retro emulation, and DIY Raspberry Pi hardware projects, here is a custom setup designed to give you the best of both worlds: a ultra-optimized, dedicated system that turns a Raspberry Pi Zero (or Zero W) and a 1.44" SPI LCD HAT (128x128) into a standalone handheld console and a sleek retro desk clock when idle.
💡 Why Build This?
Building handheld consoles with small SPI screens on a Pi Zero often comes with performance bottlenecks—like dropped frames, high CPU usage, or the hassle of needing a USB keyboard just to connect to a new Wi-Fi network when you're away from home.
This project solves those issues from the ground up by combining a native C framebuffer streamer, zero-latency hardware interrupts for input, and a custom Python launcher designed specifically for 128x128 square displays.
✨ Key Features
âš¡ Low-Power Performance (C + mmap): Features a custom framebuffer streamer written in C (lcd_stream_c) that reads directly from /dev/fb0 using mmap and transfers pixels to the SPI display at 12 MHz—using just ~6% CPU.
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Yes, I know we've already run TIC-JAM August...
BUT THAT WAS A "BETA"!
Get ready for TIC-JAM #1. Faster, tinier, computerier, 80-ier.
On August 22nd till August 27th
TIC-JAM is the newest game jam for anyone who wants to make games for a fantasy console! We allow both TIC-80 and PICO-8, so anyone who wants to create games for either, you've found the right place! The theme this month is... Seaside!
Yes, we're announcing it early. No, you cannot start making your game now - unlike the last jam.
If you struggle to click that, here's the raw link:
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#Spiderman: Picoday is a parody game on Spiderman brand new day.
Take control of Spider-Man and face off against the deadly Scorpion in a fast-paced shooting battle! Dodge attacks, fire your webs, and defeat your enemy before he takes you down.
How to Play
- Move with Arrow Keys
- x to shoot webs
- Defeat Scorpion to win!
Can you beat Scorpion and become the ultimate web-slinger? Give it a try and let me know your high score and feedback!
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Hollow Knight's Path of Pain, recreated in Pico 8 over the last 2 years. This game REQUIRES a keyboard.
Controls: (These are forced to be really weird because Pico 8 isn't meant to have this many buttons, and I didn't understand how enabling full keyboard worked when I started)
Arrow keys to move
Left Shift to Jump
Z is Attack
X is Dash
Hold A to Heal (tap to cast spells)
Hold S to Crystal Dash
D is Quick Cast
Credit to Team Cherry for everything and for being amazing! Go play Hollow Knight and Silksong!
I used Gemini to convert a LZSS compression algorithm into Lua, because the map was too big for Pico 8 to store normally. All other code and art was hand crafted. I used Denote by @bikibird to convert the sealed vessel track into Pico 8. (credit to @wasiknighit for the Pico 8 instruments)
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GoPICO is an LSDJ style handheld code/gfx/map editor for PICO-8
To use, please install on your copy of PICO-8 under a new directory, and create two directories "data" and "export" on the same level as gopico.p8.png. This cart will NOT function on the BBS.
Using only the directional keys, Z,X and pause menu, you can navigate to this cart through splore on a handheld device, create, edit, run, and save a completely functional PICO-8 cart without ever using a keyboard.
When saving, code is saved as compressed codeblocks into the ROM of a cart, data/yourgame_code.p8, and the rest of the is stored normally into data/yourgame_rom.p8. When running, it prints out the code to a cartridge, copies over the rom, then loads into it.
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HI MI NAME IS JAFF CAMPOS, IM FROM MEXICO AND I AM A MUSICIAN
I CREATE MUSIC OF VIDEO GAMES, SO I WANT A JOB IN THE VIDEOGAMES WORLD.
IF YOU WANT MORE INFORMATION YOU CAN CONTACT ME IN MI EMAIL ADRESS [email protected] AND MY INSTAGRAM @SOIREDMOON.
THANKS FOR YOURE ATENTION AND GOOD DAY, GOOD EVENING AND GOOD NIGTH AND SEE YOU LATER
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Big/Large Text Renderer + Input
Some functions that allow for rendering text larger than the original size in Pico-8
This renders text upto 12px large, and 8px wide, with a variable width. It also allows for capitals, lowercase, and numbers/symbols
Credits
Font is an edited version of this: https://managore.itch.io/m6x11
Keyboard input (PicoBoard, by afburgess): https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=4076
If you just want the renderer, not the input
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So, the theme voting for TIC-JAM is over.
What is TIC-JAM, you may ask?
TIC-JAM is the game jam for all fantasy console developers! (assuming you use PICO-8, it's for you!)
It runs monthly, has an interesting theme every time, lasts 5 days, and has a secondary
(optional) bonus theme announced on the first day of the jam!
It's perfect for beginners or anyone wanting to join their first game jam!
And what is the theme?
The theme is...
BEYOND THE EYE
Now, that sounds really creative!
Check it out at the link here!
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Day 1:
Nice to meet you all! My name's Ibrahim, (thats EE-bruh-HEEM), I'm 19, and I decided to bite the bullet and make an account and start making a pico 8 game! I'm running on three crackers, a macbook, and a dream, so lets see how this goes!
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