Picokaiju (ピコ怪獣)

You are one big monster with an appetite for destruction. This turn-based rogue-like PICO-8 game is all about that stomping, smashing, grabbing, and chomping your way through a procedurally generated hapless city and its tiny citizens.

How to Play

This PICO-8 game uses a gamepad that is also controllable via the keyboard.

Function	Keyboard	Gamepad (PICO / PS)
Walk	Arrow keys	D-pad
ROAR (skip a turn and heal), Cancel menu	Z, N, C	O / X
Open abilities menu, Confirm	X, M, V	X / Square
Pause, Pico-8 Menu	Enter	Start

Mobs

Mobs have a chance to spawn every other turn they are:

Civilians Spawn every turn. Scared and immobile protein shakes.
Cop Car Deals 1 DMG. Range 1 tile in all 8 directions. Protein shake in a can.
Copter Same as Cop Car but flies over buildings except for tall ones.
Tank Deals 2 DMG. Range 5 tiles in cardinal directions (Up, Left, Down, Right).
Mad Scientist (UFO) Same as Copter but also adds 1 Poison DMG per turn. There is no antidote.

Pro-Tips

To regain energy, first select GRAB in the abilities menu and select a mob to grab, then select CHOMP in the abilities menu to eat the mob.
To regain health, use the ROAR button. You start out with 1 hp regen per roar.
Points are multiplied by a combo meter. Combo increases if you do several destructions in a row and resets on no destruction.
Do hold on to an enemy you've grabbed for a later snack. CHOMP will also increase the combo meter.
All mobs may be grabbed and walked on. Even the helicopters and the mysterious mad scientist.

Credits

Game design, SFX, GFX and Programming by @spoike. Music is tracked in PICO-8 with following compositions in mind:

Opening: A Night on Bald Mountain - Mussorgsky
In Game: Alterna (from Shin Godzilla) - Shirō Sagisu
Ending: Funeral March - Chopin

Testers: @extarscube, @dlehman, @galactical1100, Gouspourd, FReDs72, Yolwoocle, netpork, Groove,M.D., sourencho, Thombis Falafel, John-Victor Dahl

Noteworthy inspirations for this title are Kaiju/Movie Monster genres and other Gojiralike games such as 7DRL game Chomp! from 2017 and Crush, Crumble and Chomp! from 1981.

Game is also available on PICO-8 BBS.

Videos

More information

Status	In development
Platforms	HTML5
Rating	Rated 4.7 out of 5 stars (54 total ratings)
Author	spoike
Genre	Action
Made with	PICO-8
Tags	kaiju, Monsters, PICO-8, Retro, Roguelike, Roguelite, Strategy RPG, Turn-based Strategy
Average session	A few seconds
Languages	English
Links	Picokaiju on PICO-8 BBS

Development log

1.1 Update
Jan 20, 2022
Updated UI and throw works like a boomerang
Jan 07, 2022
Scoring fixed and updated start screen
Dec 31, 2021
Improved AI pathing and other fixes
Dec 31, 2021
Fixed energy leak
Dec 29, 2021
New label + bug fixes
Dec 29, 2021
Updated throw ability and combos
Dec 29, 2021

Comments

GameMinerZX1 day ago

Hi Spoike,

Hope you’re good — I wanted to connect regarding Picokaiju, which I’ve always loved for its creativity and chaotic gameplay.

We’ve developed a blockchain game called Bitrex the Game, which is heavily inspired by Picokaiju. In it, players stomp cities, destroy buildings, eat fudders, throw potatoes, zap helicopters, and gobble mad Bitcoin maxis — pure fun, built in the spirit of your creation.

A bit of context:

Bitrex is our official brand, which includes both the 2D game and a collection of 3D animated, toggleable voxel characters

These avatars are fully on-chain and interactive, with blockchain-based toggles for different animations and traits

We’ve already inscribed Bitrex the Game on the Fractal Bitcoin blockchain as part of preserving gaming culture

Now, we’re planning to inscribe a Bitrex Inspired by Picokaiju collection on the Bitcoin Mainnet, alongside other retro-inspired blockchain games

Before we proceed:

I want to be upfront and get your blessing to officially index this as part of the growing Bitcoin gaming ecosystem

You’ll be credited as the original inspiration for Bitrex the Game

We’re happy to include any links, acknowledgments, or conditions you’d like

Our goal is to preserve, evolve, and celebrate indie game culture by taking these creations on-chain — all while giving full respect to the developers behind the originals.

Would love to hear your thoughts and work together on this.

igmkjp221 days ago

668 turns/191625 points

Rex4d5335 days ago

any chance on making the game being donwloadable? Id love to have this running on my powkiddy

spoike318 days ago

It is available on SPLORE of you’re using the native PICO-8 client on the Powkiddy. Alternatively download the cart PNG from the PICO-8 BBS site.

GameMinerZX1 day ago

Hi Spoike,

Hope you’re good — I wanted to connect regarding Picokaiju, which I’ve always loved for its creativity and chaotic gameplay.

A bit of context:

Bitrex is our official brand, which includes both the 2D game and a collection of 3D animated, toggleable voxel characters

These avatars are fully on-chain and interactive, with blockchain-based toggles for different animations and traits

We’ve already inscribed Bitrex the Game on the Fractal Bitcoin blockchain as part of preserving gaming culture

Now, we’re planning to inscribe a Bitrex Inspired by Picokaiju collection on the Bitcoin Mainnet, alongside other retro-inspired blockchain games

Before we proceed:

I want to be upfront and get your blessing to officially index this as part of the growing Bitcoin gaming ecosystem

You’ll be credited as the original inspiration for Bitrex the Game

We’re happy to include any links, acknowledgments, or conditions you’d like

Our goal is to preserve, evolve, and celebrate indie game culture by taking these creations on-chain — all while giving full respect to the developers behind the originals.

Would love to hear your thoughts and work together on this.

Gojira!

Adorable!

Picokaiju Gameplay

this game is so goofy, I love it.

Singa1Lee1 year ago