Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

TIC-80 VS Pyxel

Compare TIC-80 VS Pyxel and see what are their differences

TIC-80 logo TIC-80

TIC-80 is a fantasy computer where you can make, play and share tiny games.

Pyxel logo Pyxel

Retro game engine for Python inspired by fantasy consoles.
  • TIC-80 Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-20
  • Pyxel Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-17

TIC-80 features and specs

  • Portability
    TIC-80 can run on multiple platforms, including Windows, macOS, Linux, and even web browsers. This allows for a wide range of accessibility and convenience.
  • Integrated Development Environment
    TIC-80 offers an all-in-one IDE with code editor, sprite editor, map editor, sound and music editors. This integrated environment simplifies the development process by keeping all the necessary tools in one place.
  • Retro Aesthetic
    It provides a nostalgic development experience with its retro-style visual and audio capabilities, appealing to fans of old-school gaming.
  • Free Version Availability
    A free version is available with most features accessible, making it easy for beginners and hobbyists to get started without any initial cost.
  • Community and Resources
    TIC-80 has an active community and a growing number of tutorials and resources, which can be very helpful for new developers to get support and learn new tricks.

Possible disadvantages of TIC-80

  • Limited Resources
    Due to its retro hardware constraints, TIC-80 has limitations on resources such as memory and performance, which can be a restricting factor for more complex or resource-intensive projects.
  • Learning Curve
    While it is beginner-friendly in many aspects, the environment and API have unique characteristics that may require some time and effort to get used to, especially for those unfamiliar with retro-style development.
  • Feature Restrictions in Free Version
    Although a free version exists, it comes with some feature limitations compared to the Pro version, which might be necessary for more advanced projects.
  • Niche Audience
    The focus on retro-style game development may not appeal to everyone, particularly those looking for modern development tools or more powerful engines.
  • Limited Market Share
    Compared to more established game development platforms, TIC-80 has a smaller user base and market share, which might limit exposure and collaboration opportunities.

Pyxel features and specs

  • Simple API
    Pyxel offers an uncomplicated and straightforward API, which makes it easy for beginners to start creating games without getting bogged down by complex configurations and setups.
  • Cross-Platform
    Pyxel is designed to be cross-platform, functioning seamlessly on Windows, macOS, and Linux, allowing developers to create and distribute games across multiple platforms with ease.
  • Lightweight
    With a focus on minimalism, Pyxel is lightweight which ensures that it runs efficiently on most hardware, making it suitable for projects where resource consumption is a concern.
  • Pixel Art Focus
    The library is tailored for creating pixel art games, offering features and tools that specifically cater to the needs of pixel art creation and manipulation.
  • No Installation Required
    As a self-contained application, Pyxel doesn't require installation, allowing developers to quickly run it directly after download and start working on their game projects without additional setup steps.

Possible disadvantages of Pyxel

  • Limited Advanced Features
    Pyxel's simplicity can be a downside for experienced developers looking for advanced game development features or functionalities, as it lacks the depth found in more complex game engines.
  • 2D Only
    As a library focused on 2D pixel art games, Pyxel does not support 3D game development, limiting developers who are interested in creating anything beyond the 2D space.
  • Performance Limitations
    Because of its lightweight nature and simplicity, Pyxel might struggle with performance when developing resource-intensive games compared to more robust game engines.
  • Limited Community and Resources
    Pyxel has a smaller user base and community compared to larger game engines, which results in fewer resources, tutorials, and third-party tools available for learning and problem-solving.

TIC-80 videos

RetroArch TIC-80 Core | Let's Play

More videos:

Pyxel videos

Aseprite vs Pyxel Edit - Pixel Art Animation & Tile Tool Comparison

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to TIC-80 and Pyxel)
Game Engine
71 71%
29% 29
Game Development
72 72%
28% 28
Graph Databases
59 59%
41% 41
3D Game Engine
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare TIC-80 and Pyxel

TIC-80 Reviews

16 Scratch Alternatives
TIC-80 is an online marketplace based on an open source network through which users can quickly get help regarding building, sharing, and playing numerous games. This platform lets its users get the complete development tools, such as code, maps, sprites, sound editors, command lines, and much more. It can even permit clients to have the cartridge file at the end to easily...

Pyxel Reviews

We have no reviews of Pyxel yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, TIC-80 should be more popular than Pyxel. It has been mentiond 71 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

TIC-80 mentions (71)

  • Antirez/load81: SDL based Lua programming environment for kids similar to Codea
    And TIC-80 (https://tic80.com/). It can be used with "lua, ruby, js, moon, fennel, scheme, squirrel, wren, wasm, janet or python". - Source: Hacker News / 6 months ago
  • X11-Basic (1991-2020)
    Like this maybe? https://tic80.com/. - Source: Hacker News / 7 months ago
  • The Fennel Programming Language
    You'll always need to deal with a bit of Lua afaik. If you like fantasy consoles, you can use TIC-80[1] to not have to deal with any Lua. [1] https://tic80.com/. - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago
  • Ask HN: What's the most fun you've had developing for an older gaming system?
    Not 100% retro but I've had a lot of fun doing Tiny Code Christmas[1] the last couple of years on TIC-80 [2] For actual retro system. 68000 assembler on the Atari ST is fun or for a slightly different challenge the Amiga [1] https://tcc.lovebyte.party/ [2] https://tic80.com/. - Source: Hacker News / 9 months ago
  • What do I think about Lua after shipping a project with 60k lines of code?
    There are also "fantasy consoles". Most of them use Lua+their own api for dealing with the virtual console internals. - PICO-8 (paid, 8$) https://www.lexaloffle.com/pico-8.php - TIC80 (opensource, supports more langs like python, scheme, so on) https://tic80.com/ Have fun! - Source: Hacker News / 11 months ago
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Pyxel mentions (28)

  • A (not so) small library for terminal based game development
    If pygamelib interests you, you might also be interested in Pyxel: https://github.com/kitao/pyxel. - Source: Hacker News / 9 months ago
  • This Week In Python
    Pyxel – A retro game engine for Python – by @kitao. - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
  • Show HN: Driftmania – an open source PICO-8 racing game
    Nice work, gives me very Micro Machines vibes for the NES. The only thing I don't like about PICO-8 is that its completely closed source. An open source alternative that seems very promising is Pyxel. It has similar retro / pixel art limitations, a built-in sprite editor, music tracker, etc. https://github.com/kitao/pyxel. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • is python good for making games?
    There's also game engines which are fun to use in python, like pyxel. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Web App Generation Feature Added to Pyxel, a Retro Game Engine for Python
    A function to automatically generate an application launch URL has been added to Pyxel, a retro game engine for Python (https://github.com/kitao/pyxel please add your star to this repository!). Source: about 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing TIC-80 and Pyxel, you can also consider the following products

PICO-8 - Lua-based fantasy console for making and playing tiny, computer games and programs.

Godot Engine - Feature-packed 2D and 3D open source game engine.

Bitsy - Bitsy is a small, fast, embeddable, durable in-memory graph database that implements the Blueprints API.

LOVE 2D - Hi there! LÖVE is an *awesome* framework you can use to make 2D games in Lua.

LIKO-12 - Fantasy console built with the Love 2D game engine.

LÖVR - Virtual Reality for Lua