8 Bitty Games

8 Bitty Games is a series of small games developed by Patrick Rodriguez for the original Game Boy system. The series is still in development, with 7 games currently released. The rest of the games will be added to this page as they are finished.

1 - Yarn Ball

In Yarn Ball, you play as a ball of yarn traversing a series of mazes and caverns. You only have a limited amount of yarn to roll around with, so you must find rewind points along the way to wind back up and keep going. You can also find extra bits of yarn that can extend your reach! You never know what awaits you!

CONTROLS

Arrow keys: Move
Select: Restart a level

You can roll back up by touching a ball winder or by backtracking your steps. You cannot roll over previously laid yarn (i.e. cross your own path).

Goals and winders are only activated if touched using your last piece of yarn. You can see how much yarn you have left on the bottom of the screen.

The number on the bottom right of the screen is the level number. There are 23 levels total. Can you solve them all?

2 - Orb Catcher

Orb Catcher is a minimalist action game where you play as a bouncy ball collecting orbs for points. You must reach 500 points before the timer runs out. There are, however, powerups (and powerdowns) which can help or hinder your progress. Try to get the best time!

CONTROLS

Arrow keys: Move

You'll have to discover what the powerups do on your own, but they're pretty straightforward. :)

3 - Tiny Dancer

Tiny Dancer is a rhythm/memory game where you are a student at a dance studio learning a dance routine. You must follow the teacher's instructions as they get faster and more complex!

CONTROLS

D-Pad, A, B: Dance

4 - Dodgeball

Dodgeball is a sports game where you must throw balls at your opponent while dodging theirs. First to 10 points wins! Dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge your way to victory!

CONTROLS

D-Pad: Move
A: Grab Ball
A + D-Pad: Aim
B (while aiming): Throw Ball
B + D-Pad: Dodge

5 - Blarble 1290

Blarble 1290 is a sci-fi interactive fiction story about humanity's relation to machines. It uses the Game Boy Printer to print out parts of the story. Check the 8 Bitty Games website for details on how to emulate the GB Printer. Try to find all the endings!

CONTROLS

D-Pad, A: Choose dialogue options

6 - Beep Boop Boom Box

Beep Boop Boom Box is a "tone matrix"-style music toy where activating squares on the board makes music play. There are two customizable channels to use, as well as a percussion channel on the bottom of the screen. You can change certain aspects of the sounds by opening the settings menu and playing around!

CONTROLS

D-Pad: Move cursor, change settings
A: Lay notes on Track 1, Percussion Track
B: Lay notes on Track 2
Start: Pause/resume playback
Select: Open/close settings menu

7 - The Ritual

The Ritual is a retro-sim game created for Global Game Jam 2016 (with the theme "Ritual"). It simulates the ancient ritual of getting an NES to work by jiggling the cartridge, blowing on the contacts and cleaning them with rubbing alcohol. See if you can get the game to work!

CONTROLS

Left/Right: Jiggle cartridge
A+Left/Right: Blow into cartridge
B+Left/Right: Clean cartridge with rubbing alcohol

8 Bitty Games is made using the Game Boy Development Kit and the Game Boy Tile/Map Designer, and can be played on any Game Boy emulator or flashed onto a Game Boy cartridge.