thomasgauthier/unlicense-pico8

Pico-8 Unlicense Games Collection

Dataset Summary

A curated collection of all the games with code under Unlicense tagged PICO-8 from itch.io (29 games as of 2026-04-14). This dataset provides direct access to both the raw cartridge data and Lua source code for each game (extracted from the web player).

Note: The assets are sometimes licensed under non-commercial terms - not everything's free for commercial use. Check the asset_license column for game-specific details.

Dataset Details

Dataset Description

29 PICO-8 games from itch.io, with their code license listed as Unlicense. (while many games have public domain (CC0) assets, some have Non-Commercial (NC) licenses or other Creative Commons variants, see below or asset_license column)

Curated by: Thomas Gauthier-Caron

Language(s): PICO-8 (Lua-based game format)

Dataset Sources

• —Repository: https://huggingface.co/datasets/thomasgauthier/unlicense-pico8
• —Original Source: https://itch.io/games/code-unlicense/tag-pico-8

Uses

Direct Use

This dataset is ideal for:

• —Learning PICO-8 development - Study real game code from various creators
• —Modding and remixing - Create derivatives of existing games
• —Game jam inspiration - Use mechanics or aesthetics as starting points
• —Educational purposes - Teach game development with real-world examples
• —Non-commercial learning - Study real game code (note: 8 games have NC licenses)

Out-of-Scope Use

This dataset should not be used to:

• —Claim original authorship of games you didn't create
• —Use in ways that violate the original creators' non-licensed works
• —Apply to games not included in this specific collection

Dataset Structure

Features

Data Collection and Processing

1. 1.Collection: Games were identified from itch.io's "Unlicense" code tag filtered to PICO-8 games
2. 2.Extraction: Each game's .p8 file and .lua source were extracted
3. 3.Processing: Lua code was extracted from cartridge files and stored as plain text
4. 4.Metadata: Title, author, and URL information was preserved

Source Data Producers

The source data creators include:

• —A-TOM
• —Blake
• —Calle Englund
• —Claus
• —Efraitor_
• —Harmony Monroe
• —Heartful Rune
• —Ironchest Games
• —Kieron Scott
• —ManofPixels
• —Mighty Pirate
• —molly-cactus
• —Pico-8 Community Games (icegoat9, Peteksi, lassehonnens, 2DArray, Yolwoocle, luchak)
• —pixienop
• —rainwarrior
• —rotbrain
• —SLOMOBO
• —Slumma
• —TLAlice
• —thykka
• —UpperC
• —zep

Games

License Breakdown

Note: This refers to asset licenses (art, music, etc.), not the game code.

The code license for all games is: Unlicense (public domain, free for any use including commercial).

Always check the `asset_license` column for each game's specific asset license before commercial use. The code is Unlicense (free), but assets may have restrictions.

Bias, Risks, and Limitations

Technical Limitations

• —File size: Games range from ~500 chars (tweet_frogger.p8) to ~49,600 chars (earthapple.p8)
• —Code complexity: Some games have minimal code (1-2KB), others are more complex (20KB+)
• —Format: Only PICO-8 cartridge format (.p8 files, .lua source also included)

Recommendations

Users should:

• —Credit creators when possible (though not required)

Citation

This dataset can be cited as:

@dataset{thomasgauthier_unlicense_pico8,
  author = {Thomas Gauthier-Caron},
  title = {Pico-8 Unlicense Games Collection},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://huggingface.co/datasets/thomasgauthier/unlicense-pico8}
}

Load Instructions

from datasets import load_dataset

# Load the dataset
ds = load_dataset("thomasgauthier/unlicense-pico8")

# Access individual games
print(ds['train'][0])  # First game
print(ds['train'][0]['lua_code'])  # Lua source code

More Information

• —Original itch.io collection: https://itch.io/games/code-unlicense/tag-pico-8
• —PICO-8 official site: http://www.pico-8.com
• —Unlicense: https://unlicense.org/

Dataset Card Contact

For questions or issues: @thomasgauthier on Hugging Face

Dataset Card Authors

Thomas Gauthier-Caron (thomasgauthier)