The Pico-8 Jam #1 challenged game developers to make a cartridge using the Pico-8 engine - which has a 128x128 pixel display with 16 colours and basic sound. The theme of this jam was rain. There were many games, music peices, and art screens entered in this jam, I recorded all of them in my video compilation series. Below are some of my favorites, in a random order.

Irrigator is a challenging garden game that has you trying to grow tomato plants! Your want to grow a little tomato garden inside a white picket fenced area. It is raining outside which is good for watering the plants. You do not have much water, so you need to set up buckets to catch the rain or hope the drops fall onto the garden plots. Once the rain is caught, you can put it in your watering can and water your plants. You have a limited amount of energy and money, so you need to make sure you do not use them up too fast. Grow plants, harvest seeds, and keep your garden well watered!

Rainy Valley has you using your water powered jetpack to collect mice! Your water powered jetpack must be recharged by the rain from clouds. You must travel around the level, collecting mice and bringing them back to the starting platform. Each time you land on top of a mouse, a string will attach to them - linking them to your jetpack. If you fly too far from this attached mouse, your string will break and it will fall. The mouse can also walk wherever it wants, so you might even lose it in a new area. If you run out of water, your jetpack will take damage if you try to use it. If you take too much damage, your game will be over.

Rain Culture is a challenging puzzle-like game where you have to guide water to plants. There are patches of seeds in the dirt that need watering. Once water hits them, vines grow out of them. If land near these vines is also wet, then the vines may travel to those areas. Your goal is to get a specific percentage of vines covering the area to move onto the next level. You can also move into different equipment to make the water flow to where you want. Turrets shoot water while pieces of metal can angle water to go a different way. Its super fun to watch these crazy vines squiggle and squirm to new land.

Rainmaker is a game about making clouds rain onto a flower patch. You are walking along the top of clouds. As you stomp on them, the cloud dissipates and their rain falls to a garden of flowers on the bottom of the screen. The more water drops that fall onto the garden, the faster the flowers grow. Once the garden is grown, you can pick up a pair of scissors to cut the flowers. This game has several goals you need to reach, but you can choose three out of four to complete. These goals include cutting 20 flowers, collecting three stars which are dotted around the level, collect three lightning bolts, and completing 2 duties in 99 seconds. Dangerous sparks glide around on top of the clouds. You can isolate the sparks in order to destroy them, leaving a lightning bolt in their place. This game is quite fun to play and there is plenty to escover.

Tea is a cute little game about a pair of frogs. On this rainy day, the frogs are sitting in their home enjoying the warmth of their cozy fire. The only thing that would make this evening even better would be a couple of cups of tea. You decide to wander outside and see if you can find some! Once you go outside, you will see that there are two huge puddles of water. If you go into these puddles, you will find a whole world down there. If you go deep enough, you might even find the tea you are looking for. Once you find and bring back a cup of tea, why not go back out and find one for your frog friend? Feel free to sit down and enjoy the relaxing atmosphere in this game.

TODO is an interesting day about running errands in the rain. It is pouring outside. With your umbrella, you must perform the task written at the top of the screen. Errands like “meet Jan for coffee”, “Buy lamb meat”, and “Find your pet monkey” have you finding the right building in the town to achieve the quest. Each player, however, only has one errand to complete. Once it is done, you must pass the umbrella off to a new character. To do this, you must hold the umbrella over a figure until they regain their color. Then you can just pass the umbrella and explore the new person’s task. This game is pretty relaxing as well, though the buildings change places each time you refresh. Have a go at helping people with their needs, or just walking around a rainy town!

Bumbershoot! has you running an umbrella rental service. You have a set amount of time to bring as many people to their destinations as you can. You must look for customers and bring them wherever they want to go. Customers will be using your only extra umbrella, so do not stray too far as you guide them to the right area. If you do, the customer will get lost. You will have to track them back down or risk losing the only bit of income you have. At the top of the screen, you will see where the customer wants to go. It will also tell you the direction you must go in until you get your bearings. Once you make it to that building, you can drop them off in the green area and pick up a new person who has a flashing green circle around them. Keep your customers dry and make the most money possible!

#p8jam1 #Irrigator #RainyValley #RainCulture #Rainmaker #Tea #TODO #Blumbershoot