The Pico-8 toybox engine is terrible. The screen is limited to 128 x 128 pixels. There’s only 64 KiB of memory. You have a static palette of 16 colors to choose from. It’s really awful. Still, I’ve completed more projects in Pico-8 than in all my other engines combined. There’s something empowering in that limited scope. Whenever I have a free week, I know that’s enough time to explore some silly idea through to completion. How would a mashup of Cookie Clicker and Oregon Trail play out? What about a game where your bullets shoot at you? How hard is it to craft an emotional narrative? I’ve been able to explore all these ideas, and more, thanks to Pico-8.