Bitsy

Bitsy & Me

Bitsy is a small game engine created by Adam Le Doux back in 2017. It's gained a decent amount of popularity since because it's straightforward and easy to make games in.

My first ever game, novena, was made in Bitsy. I made a bunch of games in Bitsy after that, too. The tool being easy to use and fairly restrictive at the time meant it really allowed me to get confident with my skills as a writer and artist in a very comfortable space. It made my odd transition from comics to games fun and natural.

I don't think I would be the artist I am now without Bitsy... It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it changed my life for the better.

I don't make games in Bitsy anymore (although sometimes I daydream about making something in it again...) but I still think it's a nice introduction to game making.

Resources

I don't really keep up with what's going on with Bitsy lately but I think these are the main things:

• make.bitsy.org/docs / The official Bitsy documentation. A good starting point if you're a complete beginner?
• Bitsy Forum on itch.io / This is where you can socialise with fellow Bitsy makers, I think.
• Bitsy Hacks / Sean's repo for Bitsy hacks. I've used hacks a lot in my games. Some of them don't play nicely with each other, but figuring that out is part of the fun... maybe.
• Bitsy Savior / Runs the Bitsy editor as a desktop app. Ideal if you're using hacks as you only need to add them to your HTML file once (Bitsy Savior automatically updates your game data). You can even load forks of Bitsy in here (like Bitsy 3D, etc).

Things that may be covered in the official documentation but sometimes having a different explanation is more helpful:

• Bitsy FAQ / An evergreen document made by andimlenny. Contains a lot of cool tips like "how to add an extra colour to your Bitsy game" or "how to make theg ame read out items and variables (and drawings) as part of the dialogue". Great stuff.
• Time for some Rambling about Dialog / A little guide about the different things you can do in dialogue with Bitsy, by cephalopodunk.
• Bitsy Variables: A Tutorial / A thorough guide on variables by ayolland. As a non-programmer, variables were a little difficult to wrap my head around at first but seeing it be explained was hugely helpful for me.

Bitsy clones and forks that I think are cool:

• bitsy3d.xyz / A website about Bitsy 3D, a version of Bitsy... in 3D. I wish the tutorial in this website existed when I made i am still here because it is extremely good and helpful.
• bipsi / A Bitsy clone by candle. It's a stripped back version of Bitsy, closer to its older, simpler versions.

And resources I made ages ago. Most of it is likely outdated, but afaik some of it is still used for reference? Maybe? I'm leaving it all up for archival purposes:

• My collection of Bitsy and Bitsy-adjacent tools / What it says on the link. It has everything from pixel art and music-making tools to Bitsy forks to Bitsy tools, hacks and tutorials.
• My old tutorial document I used when I hosted workshops. / This was made for Bitsy v7.2. I'm sure most of it translates to Bitsy v8 and beyond... but I wouldn't recommend this over Bitsy's official documentation and more recent tutorials.