Introduction to Bitsy

Make short and intense games:
think haiku, not epic.
Think poetry, not prose.
— Auriea Harvey & Michaël Samyn: Realtime Art Manifesto

Let’s read the Small Games Manifesto by Ebeth:

1.

  • Most people don’t have time to make or play long games- The solution to this is Small Games.
  • Small Games should be 10 minutes or less and it’s best if they’re playable in a web browser.
  • Scope it down.

2.

  • There’s no requirements for being a Small Games dev.
  • Don’t worry about “quality”.
  • Be sincere and personal in your work.
  • Games should let you experience something you can’t in real life.
  • Make games you want everyone to play.
  • Make games you want only one person to play.
  • Make mini masterpieces.
  • Make absolute garbage.

3.

  • Make your games and tools accessible.
  • Support your fellow game makers & tool creators.
  • Bring new people into the development scene.
  • Lift up other voices.
  • Be respectful- There’s no room for bigots in the Small Games Movement

Introduction to the Bitsy Game Editor

Bitsy is a little editor for little games or worlds developed by Adam Le Deux.
Bitsy games typically involve some kind of avatar moving through different rooms.
Each room is made by repeatable tiles and can contain interactive objects and exits to other rooms.
“Pushing against” interactive objects can make them disappear (collectables) or display text (dialogues, monologues, descriptions, narration).

We will learn how to make games with Bitsy.

The following slides are by Adam LeDoux, the creator of Bitsy:

Bitsy is a little editor for little games or worlds. It includes a map editor, sprite editor, palette tool, dialog tool, and easy export for the web. It is highly constrained (colors, resolution, frames), but doesn’t require programming.

People make all sorts of things with Bitsy, including interactive games, animations, and stories. Adam was inspired to make Bitsy by toys like Polly Pocket, and other microworlds like dioramas, sketchbooks, Lego, and more. Adam was also inspired by older creativity software like KidPix (try it!), and newer software like Pico-8. Bitsy is ideal for making personal games. Bitsy is also a community with values (welcoming, inclusive, anti-bigotry, anti-capitalist, collaborative, supportive).

Case Study

Playtime

Here’s a list of recommended Bitsy games from professor Paolo Pedercini, who teaches indie game design in the CMU School of Art:

Bitsy Development: Important Points