{"id":13,"date":"2023-07-17T16:10:49","date_gmt":"2023-07-17T16:10:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buunk.org\/?p=13"},"modified":"2025-09-18T11:16:44","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T11:16:44","slug":"lights-out-pico-8-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buunk.org\/?p=13","title":{"rendered":"Lights Out \u2013 PICO-8 Game"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I recreated the classic puzzle game <strong>Lights Out<\/strong> on <strong>PICO-8<\/strong>, a fantasy console for retro-style games. The game features a 5&#215;5 grid of lights; pressing one toggles it and its neighbors. The goal is simple: turn all the lights off, but every move changes the puzzle, requiring careful planning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/buunk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1_hGBv8LWBti2MLRZP6jgf_g-1024x576.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-23\" style=\"aspect-ratio:16\/9;object-fit:contain\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While cleaning out an old drawer, I found an electronic version of this game I\u2019d won as a kid. It brought back memories and inspired me to create my first full PICO-8 project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-794e3cfa wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:100%\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Grid and Gameplay<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The game grid is a 5&#215;5 array of lights. Each light can be on or off, and pressing one toggles it along with its neighbors. I implemented a system to randomly populate the grid at the start, providing a fresh challenge each time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The player interacts with the grid via a selector, highlighting the active cell. The mechanics are simple, but the puzzles can get surprisingly complex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/buunk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1_XQLFmkA2deYxV-6e2lafOA.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-30\" style=\"width:380px\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Title Screen and Customization<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I designed a simple title screen showing the game name and a preview of the grid. Players can also adjust the grid size, which changes the difficulty and extends replayability. This small addition made the game more engaging and flexible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/buunk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1_1Tz-0QFM4E3hWWXhcSsBTA.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-31\" style=\"width:380px\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Why PICO-8<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">PICO-8 is perfect for small, creative projects. It mimics the charm of old 8-bit systems while allowing Lua programming and easy creation of sound, music, and pixel art. Its limitations forced me to think creatively and implement simple, elegant solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/buunk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/0_oPYbI9WUdjd3fKHb.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-32\" style=\"width:450px\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Reflection<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This project rekindled my passion for coding. It\u2019s one of the simpler projects I\u2019ve done, but it demonstrates translating ideas into working games, designing mechanics, and using creative problem-solving within constraints. It also gave me confidence to tackle more complex projects in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-file\"><a id=\"wp-block-file--media-b0c13dc6-7c4d-4049-8c13-d49900bd4a59\" href=\"https:\/\/buunk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/lightsout.p8.png\">lightsout.p8.png<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/buunk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/lightsout.p8.png\" class=\"wp-block-file__button wp-element-button\" download aria-describedby=\"wp-block-file--media-b0c13dc6-7c4d-4049-8c13-d49900bd4a59\">Download<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pico-8-edu.com\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.pico-8-edu.com\/\">Play the project on PICO-8 Web \u2192<\/a> <br><br>(drag the png\/cartridge into the PICO-8 console and enter &#8220;run&#8221; to start)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I recreated the classic puzzle game Lights Out on PICO-8, a fantasy console for retro-style games. The game features a 5&#215;5 grid of lights; pressing one toggles it and its neighbors. The goal is simple: turn all the lights off, but every move changes the puzzle, requiring careful planning. While cleaning out an old drawer, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":102,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-development"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buunk.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buunk.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buunk.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buunk.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buunk.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/buunk.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77,"href":"https:\/\/buunk.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13\/revisions\/77"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buunk.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buunk.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buunk.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buunk.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}