PICO-8 Palette

The modern fantasy-console palette that became a default.

#000000
#1d2b53
#7e2553
#008751
#ab5236
#5f574f
#c2c3c7
#fff1e8
#ff004d
#ffa300
#ffec27
#00e436
#29adff
#83769c
#ff77a8
#ffccaa

Era and hardware

Era: 2014 · Hardware: Lexaloffle PICO-8 (virtual)

Key facts

  • 16 colors, hand-picked by creator Joseph White
  • Designed to be balanced across hue and value at small sizes
  • Used by thousands of indie pixel-art games released in the last decade

How to use this palette for cursor design

Pick four PICO-8 colors per cursor for tight, modern, contrast-rich pixel art.

Open your pixel editor of choice (Aseprite, Piskel, or LibreSprite), import the palette, and follow the five-pass cursor design tutorial: silhouette, outline, fill, highlight, accent. The palette will impose its own discipline — that is the entire point. For deeper background on retro palettes in general, see the retro palette guide.

Cursor packs already in this palette

If you would rather download than design, browse the collections page — collections are organized by palette family and several map directly to the historic palettes documented here.