Adventure Game Tutorial

The content in this subsection comes from the "PICO-8 Top-Down Adventure Game Tutorial by Dylan Bennett.

• Original youtube playlist of the tutorial series
• Official homepage for the tutorial
• Other PICO-8 tutorials from the author.

It is also based on this write-up of Dylan's tutorial by John Lehmann.

Preview

Here is what you will build over the course of this tutorial.

Other Examples

Here are some screenshots of games others have made following this tutorial.

This is a game made by the tutorial's author that is based on the framework built in the tutorial. It adds a few additional features not covered in the tutorial, but is a great example of what can be done with this foundation.

Other Top-Down Games

These are games that make use of a top-down perspective. Perhaps one of these will give you inspiration about what you want to include in your game?

Puzzle Cave is a great example of a game successful enough to lead to sequels. Here's the original. Notice that from a layout design standpoint, this isn't much more complex than the adventure game tutorial.

Sequels usually add more than just additional levels. They often include new item or enemy types as this one does.

The third installment of the game uses a different theme than the other two.

Games are often built around a core mechanic. This is a fun little game that more or less only has the core mechanic. As you play, think about what would be needed to take this from a concept to a finished product.

Some games keep you guessing. This one has several surprises just within its first few moments.

Here's a game that doesn't look much different than the adventure game tutorial, but it adds an inventory, dialog, the ability to inspect items, etc.