If I told you that one of the most influential indie games of the past decade started life in a make-believe console with a 128 x 128 resolution and a 16-colour palette, you might raise an eyebrow. But that’s exactly what happened with Celeste, a twitchy little, brutally difficult platformer born inside a 'fantasy console' called PICO-8 but found fame on the best game consoles, like PS4 and Nintendo Switch.
Since then, the minimalist dev tool PICO-8 has become a hidden haven for some of the most inventive, charming, and unexpectedly powerful games you’ve probably never played. I discovered it by accident when searching for new retro games, and I'm glad I did. It's the kind of platform that makes me rethink what retro games are – nothing here is 'old' – but each one embodies the spirit of the age of Atari, ZX Spectrum, and NES. (For actual golden oldies, read my guide to the best retro game consoles.)
