Pico-8 review bundle: Battle the wastes or blast through space with Pico-8’s latest and greatest

From nostalgic shooters to gritty mechs, these games have you covered

I’m just going to say it, too many people are sleeping on the Pico-8. Sure, it has a reputation for being a platform for beginners and game jams (a well-earned reputation), but if you take the time to peruse the games on offer, it’s easy to find some real gems that are totally worth your time.

STX-01 Void Enforcer

It’s always a joy when something beautiful shows up on the Pico-8, and there’s no question that STX-01 is a pleasure to look at. There’s nothing here that hasn’t been done before (space-based vertical shmup), but few other games on the Pico-8 do it as well.

STX-01 has everything you want from a shmup: waves of enemies to blast, bullet swarms to dodge, and bosses to destroy. Press X to shoot the enemies, then swoop in for the coins they drop. Once you collect enough coins, you can accrue up to three area-of-effect bombs triggered by pressing Z.

My only criticism is that there isn’t enough contrast in some of the enemy attacks, but this is a minor gripe because the game runs so smoothly, especially given the diversity of sprites on-screen. STX-01 plays the same every run, so if you’re paying attention, you’ll find the patterns to survive the waves.

From Rust to Ash

What a wonderful surprise this game was. From Rust to Ash is a post-apocalyptic mech-based roguelike backpack auto-battler. I know that sounds like a lot, but FRtA pulls it off flawlessly, and I find myself thinking about builds when I’m not playing.

The gameplay loop goes back and forth from scavenging and upgrading your gear to using it to fight the increasingly more difficult mechs you encounter. You can find weapons, shields, health kits, and various buffs, and it’s your job to put together a build that will take on all comers.

The game has some balance issues to iron out (melee builds are the way to win), but it's so much fun to play that these are easy to overlook. And just a heads up, if you're going to play this on a Pico-8 console, it'll take two carts to do it, which can be kind of a pain in the butt; the Pico-8 on my Trimui Smart Pro won't automatically switch to the second cart, although the Pico-8 on my Windows desktop will.

Drawn to Kill

Do you remember doodling in your notebook when you were bored in school? If you were like me (and lots of other people, it turns out), then you probably drew a few space battles. Drawn to Kill is those space battles brought to life with a dash of roguish elements to keep things interesting.

The controls are dead simple: Use the D-pad to move and the X button to shoot. You can’t aim; instead, your “ship” rotates, and it’s your job to fire when it’s pointing towards the baddies. The farther away you are from your target when you shoot it, the more points you get to spend on unlocking buffs for your ship.

Despite how simple its premise, Drawn to Kill is insanely replayable. Once you figure out a few of the unwritten rules of the game, you can start to play more strategically and get bigger scores (my best so far is 222), which feels really good after a few bad rounds. 

Drawn to Kill!

Free on Lexaloffle

Long live the Pico-8

It's good to see that even after a decade of service, the Pico-8 can still surprise me with the originality, creativity, and technical craftsmanship of its games. Just like the last batch of Pico-8 games I covered, you're going to have to use some finesse if you want to clear them (or at least achieve a high score). Drawn to Kill is free from Lexaloffle, and you can pick up STX-01 and From Rust to Ash on Itch.io for just $5 a piece.