I think you hit the nail on the head about it providing a limited environment but with modern features. It captures the feeling of what it may have been like to make a Game Boy Color game but without the headache of actually trying to get that set up. Similar to how Arduino made programming microcontrollers easy (they were founded because the founders found it annoying to do).
this post was submitted on 17 Jun 2023
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Yeah. I grew up playing the NES and it was very much the spark that caused me to get so interested in technology (and eventually programming).
A few years ago, I discovered the NES homebrew scene and learned so much. After a few weeks, I basically got some basics working, but the environment is not forgiving and I never quite clicked with 6502 assembly.
PICO-8, on the other hand, offers similar asset restriction with a very friendly environment. It's not perfect (and Lua is hardly a favorite language of mine), but it's fun.
I might revisit NES homebrew eventually, but PICO-8 scratches that itch for me right now.
Besides the features others have mentioned, I would say simplicity, how easy it is to get started, and the community/BBS which promotes easy sharing of work. Splore is a great tool and with the web site makes it dead simple to explore and learn about new games.