Game Design in Pico 8

Project

Custom retro-style computer game

Date Created

January 7, 2026

Author

Untitled

Tools & Skills

coding

[CoF] Careers of the Future

Select COF

Launch Lab Connection

Competency

CommunicationProblem Solving

Status

In Progress

Fly Catcher
Material List
Steps
CoF connection
Launch Lab connection
Specific technical skills

In this workshop you will learn how to code in Pico-8 to use logic, functions, and principals of computer science to create a retro-style game. We will walk through a quick tutorial to get you started coding, and then customize our games using the built-in sprite and sound editors.

Fly Catcher

-- for the possible zone,
-- based on a tutorial 
-- by spacecat

function _init()
	x = 63
	y = 90
	score = 0
	resetfly()
end

function _update()
	if (btn(➡️)) x += 2
	if (btn(⬅️)) x -= 2
	fy+=1
	if fy > 128 then
		resetfly()
	elseif abs(x-fx)<6 
		and abs(y-fy)<6 then
		score += 1
		resetfly()
		sfx(0)
	end
end

function _draw()
	cls()
	map()
	print("score: "..score,1,1,10)
	spr(1,x,y)
	spr(2,fx,fy)
end

function resetfly()
	fx = rnd(120)
	fy = -8
end

-- next steps --

-- easy --
	-- change background
	-- change the theme
	-- more sound effects

-- challenging --
	-- add the dragonfly
	-- make the fly move randomly
	-- move in all directions
	-- add more flies

-- expert --
	-- add a win condition
	-- add a lose condition

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Material List

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Steps

CoF connection

Computer Science/Information Technology

Launch Lab connection

Creative CS: Game Design, April 2026 will be using the same software as this workshop.

Specific technical skills

Coding

Supplies	Quantity	URL
Laptops	1/student
Monitor/Projector	1
Pico 8 Education Edition		https://www.pico-8-edu.com/