ART CARTS

Frequently referred to as tweet carts, these tiny PICO-8 programs are written with just 500 or less characters of code. When these programs are executed in the PICO-8 application, they often create abstract generative art. They might produce random colors and shapes on the screen, moving scenery, or an interactive work of art. Sometimes they even run a super-tiny, playable game!

When an art cart is developed, the creator often posts a clip of it in action along with the code in a tweet on Twitter (280 or less) or a post on Mastodon (500 or less). Select one of my PICO-8 art carts below to view the art and code.

Square

::😐::
for x=1,6000 do
pset(rnd(128),rnd(128),0)
end
x=60+cos(t())*45
y=60+sin(t())*0
rectfill(x,y,x+8,y+8,7)
flip()
rectfill(x,y,x+8,y+8,rnd(16))
goto 😐

Light Tunnel

cls()
::_::
x=60
y=60
sx=68
sy=68
for i=1,12 do
c=rnd({6,7,12,13})
rect(x,y,sx,sy,c)
x-=5
y-=5
sx+=5
sy+=5
flip()
end
goto _

Spider

r=rectfill
f=0
c=7
::_::
cls()
x=60+sin(t()/4)*45
y=60+sin(t())*30
q=y+1
if time()-f>0.5then
q-=2
end
if time()-f>1then
f=time()
c=rnd(6)+6
end
r(x,y,x+6,y+5,c)
for i=0,1 do
r(x-2,y,x-1,y,c)
r(x+7,y,x+8,y,c)
r(x-4,q,x-3,q,c)
r(x+9,q,x+10,q,c)
q+=5y+=5
end
flip()
goto _

Centipede

::_::
print('centipede',40,110,7)
c=14
x=cos(t())*15
y=65
r=55
for i=0,1 do
line(60+x*0.3,23,r+x*0.3,18,7)
r+=10
end
for i=0,3 do
circfill(60+x,y,5,c)
x*=0.75
y+=10
c-=1
end
x=cos(t())*15
y=55
c=9
for i=0,3 do
circfill(60+x,y,5,c)
x*=0.75
y-=10
c+=1
end
flip()
cls()
goto _

Snow Machine

s={}
::_::
cls(1)
l=60 j=120 v=127 q=30
for e=0,2 do
for r=0,q do
line(l+r,v-r,j-r,v-r,3)
end
l+=10 j-=10 v-=15 q-=10
end
if flr(t())%2==0 then
add(s,{x=flr(rnd(128)),y=flr(rnd(8)-10),h=t(),s=flr(rnd(15)+8),i=0,z=0})
end
for f in all(s) do
b=t()-f.h p=f.i+1 m=pget(f.z-1,p) o=pget(f.z+1,p) n=pget(f.z,p)
if n==7 and m==7 and o==7 or f.i>127 or n==3 then
dx=f.z-f.x dy=f.i-f.y
else
dx=sin(b/4)*5 dy=b*f.s f.i=f.y+dy f.z=f.x+dx
end
pset(f.z,f.i,7)
end
flip()
goto _