So I had few hours to wander around the internet during this short summer break of mine. I watched a YouTube video called make tiny games, which talks about game development using 8-bit game engines.
For me game development is form of art that I wanted to venture into since a long time, and those tiny game engines might be my gateway to finally embrace this journey.
It is just wonderful what you can build using those web based 8-bit game engines. The simplicity of those games brought back wonderful memories of the old retro games I used to play. The two game engines that grabbed my attention the most were PICO‑8 and Bitsy.
PICO‑8
It’s like a pretend 8‑bit game console on your computer! You get just a 128×128 pixel screen, 16 colors, and a little Lua language to code with. Plus you can draw sprites, design maps, make chip‑tune music, all inside one cute package but it is not free (though they have an education version you can use for free but without saving).
From what I’ve read, the first version of Celeste (one of my favourite games) was built using this engine during a game jam!
Bitsy
This one felt like playing with digital stickers! No coding needed—draw tiny 8×8 tile art, write dialogue, and let your characters wander around. It’s perfect if you want share a quick story. It’s all browser-based, so you can be making a “game” in just a couple of hours
Bitsy grabbed my heart the most; It invites you to build something tiny, creative—and have fun while doing it. I played novena by cecile richard and I was not ready for the feels to say the least.