Post #3179328
2026-06-04 21:53 UTC
Deciding on Pico-8 vs Tic-80 for teaching tweenagers to code. They're very similar systems - either is fine.
I think Pico-8's 128-pixel-wide screen is too small for coding on. Tic-80s is 240 which is nearly twice as wide. Yes, you can use an external text editor for both, but I think that's a distraction for people starting out.
Tic-80 has slightly better graphics - two layers, more colours. But I don't think that matters for the kids learning.
Otherwise very similar - anything I'm missing?
Replies (2)
-
@jkaniarz@mastodon.gamedev.place 2026-06-04 21:55
@TomF@mastodon.gamedev.place Playdate? TIS-100?
-
@didier@malenfant.net 2026-06-04 22:00
@TomF@mastodon.gamedev.place with tic-80 they can join byte jams like @FieldFX@mastodon.online 's once they get confident enough which is a lof of fun in itself but they can also download the code from past jams which is super fun to learn from