Skip to content

Pico-8

What is Pico-8?

PICO-8 is a virtual machine and game engine created by Lexaloffle Games. It is a fantasy video game console that mimics the limited graphical and sound capabilities of 8-bit systems of the 1980s to encourage creativity and ingenuity in producing games without being overwhelmed with the many possibilities of modern tools and machines. Such limitations also give PICO-8 games a particular look and feel.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PICO-8

Pico-8 Table of Contents

How to Set up Pico-8

Back to the Top

How to Download Pico-8

Back to the Top

In order to use Pico-8, you will need to first purchase it from the website, https://www.lexaloffle.com/pico-8.php. Do note that Pico-8 is not free, it costs $15 USD. However, if you purchased the "Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality" through https://itch.io, Pico-8 was part of this bundle.

Considering the cost of Pico-8, here are a couple of free alternatives:

  • Play Pico-8 games directly in the browser from the https://www.lexaloffle.com/pico-8.php website
  • Use Fake-08, a RetroArch core for Pico-8
    • Do note that some games do not work properly through Fake-08

If you have decided to purchase Pico-8, download the Linux: 64-bit version and follow the below steps to properly install it on your system.

  1. In the /home/deck/Applications folder, create a pico-8 folder
    • This folder name is case sensitive, do not name it PICO-8 or Pico-8
  2. Move the newly downloaded pico-8_*.*.**_amd64.zip file to /home/deck/Applications/pico-8
    • The * refer to the version numbers which may differ depending on when you download Pico-8
  3. Right click pico-8_*.*.**_amd64.zip, click Extract > Extract archive here
  4. If the extraction creates a subfolder, move the contents of the subfolder directly into /home/deck/Applications/pico-8
  5. Pico-8 is now installed

How to Download Pico-8 Games

Back to the Top

If you are using the https://www.lexaloffle.com website:

  1. Open a game page
  2. On the game page, click the "Cart" icon in the bottom left corner
    • How to Download Pico-8 Games
  3. On the newly opened page, right click the image, click Save Image As, give it a descriptive name (typically match the game name)
  4. Save it to Emulation/roms/pico8

If you are using https://itch.io/games/tag-pico-8:

  1. Open a game page
  2. Download the game
  3. If the game is zipped, extract it first
  4. Move the .png or .p8 file to Emulation/roms/pico8

How to Configure ES-DE to Work With Pico-8

Back to the Top

  1. Open ES-DE
  2. Scroll down and select Other Settings
  3. Select Alternative Emulators
  4. Scroll down to PICO-8, and select Pico-8 (Standalone)

How to Configure Steam ROM Manager to Work With Pico-8

Back to the Top

  1. Place your Pico-8 games in Emulation/roms/pico-8
  2. In /home/deck/.config/steam-rom-manager/userData/, open userConfigurations.json in a text editor of your choice
    • ~/.config is a hidden folder by default. In Dolphin (file manager), click the hamburger menu in the top right, click Show Hidden Files to see these folders
  3. Scroll to the very bottom of the text file, you will see a } and a ], add a comma to }
    • Steam ROM Manager Parser

  4. Paste the below block of text between the }, and the ]

      {
      "parserType": "Glob",
      "configTitle": "Pico-8 (Standalone)",
      "steamCategory": "${Pico-8 (Standalone)}",
      "steamDirectory": "${steamdirglobal}",
      "romDirectory": "${romsdirglobal}/pico8",
      "executableArgs": "-run \"'${filePath}'\"",
      "executableModifier": "\"${exePath}\"",
      "startInDirectory": "",
      "titleModifier": "${fuzzyTitle}",
      "imageProviders": [
          "SteamGridDB"
      ],
      "onlineImageQueries": "${${fuzzyTitle}}",
      "imagePool": "${fuzzyTitle}",
      "disabled": false,
      "userAccounts": {
          "specifiedAccounts": ""
      },
      "executable": {
          "path": "/home/deck/Applications/pico-8/pico8",
          "shortcutPassthrough": false,
          "appendArgsToExecutable": false
      },
      "parserInputs": {
          "glob": "**/${title}@(.png|.PNG|.p8|.P8)"
      },
      "titleFromVariable": {
          "limitToGroups": "",
          "caseInsensitiveVariables": false,
          "skipFileIfVariableWasNotFound": false,
          "tryToMatchTitle": false
      },
      "fuzzyMatch": {
          "replaceDiacritics": true,
          "removeCharacters": true,
          "removeBrackets": true
      },
      "imageProviderAPIs": {
          "SteamGridDB": {
              "nsfw": false,
              "humor": false,
              "styles": [],
              "stylesHero": [],
              "stylesLogo": [],
              "stylesIcon": [],
              "imageMotionTypes": [
                  "static"
              ]
          }
      },
      "parserId": "164785207772922786",
      "version": 17,
      "controllers": {
          "ps4": null,
          "ps5": null,
          "xbox360": null,
          "xboxone": null,
          "switch_joycon_left": null,
          "switch_joycon_right": null,
          "switch_pro": null,
          "neptune": null
      },
      "defaultImage": {
          "long": "",
          "tall": "",
          "hero": "",
          "logo": "",
          "icon": ""
      },
      "localImages": {
          "long": "",
          "tall": "",
          "hero": "",
          "logo": "",
          "icon": ""
      },
      "steamInputEnabled": "1",
      "drmProtect": false
  }

  5. Open Steam ROM Manager, toggle the Pico-8 (Standalone) parser and generate an app list to add your games to Steam

    • If you are not on a Steam Deck, update the "path": line accordingly

How to Configure Pegasus to Work With Pico-8

Back to the Top

  1. In the Emulation/roms/pico8 folder, right click the metadata.txt file, click Open with Kate or a text editor of your choice
  2. Edit the launch line to match the below:
    • launch: /home/deck/Applications/pico-8/pico8 -run {file.path}
    • If you are not on a Steam Deck, update this path accordingly
  3. Save and exit out of the metadata.txt file
  4. Pegasus will now launch Pico-8 games using the standalone executable in /home/deck/Applications/pico-8

Pico-8 Tips and Tricks

Back to the Top

How to Set Up Splore

Back to the Top

  1. Open the Emulation/roms/pico8 folder
  2. Right click anywhere, click Create New > Text File
  3. Name it splore.png
  4. To launch Splore, use the newly created splore.png file through Pico-8

Game Resources

Back to the Top