Thoughts after replaying a couple of the SimCity games, and how a single, straightforward decision can change the entire feel of a game

Sewer Jam 3 is starting! you have three weeks to make a sewer-themed Quake level... I'm gonna fill mine with piss?? thread: www.slipseer.com/index.php?th... but hangout in the discord jam channel for more fun (pictured: Sewer Jam 2 from 2022)

I'm open for work again! I'm looking for interesting opportunities; want to work with me? My experience includes web archiving and digital preservation, devops, and internal developer tooling. I'd love to put that experience to work for you and your team.

throwaway 3D render of a rectangular box

the reason you don't, and won't, see my $15 or $20 games at $2.99 or $1.99 on sale is because the instant i do that those games are only ever worth 1 or 2 dollars to anyone and i will never, ever, not in any known universe or timeline, make up for that in bulk when my main hindrance is visibility

Firewatch is 10 years old today! Its writer & designer Jake Rodkin told me his feelings on the game's ending, why we never see Delilah, & changes they made to the 3rd act. It looks like In The Valley of the Gods is still on haitus though! Full chat: youtu.be/FuAjl8N95PY @rodkin.online

What if there was a website that regularly covered indie computer games outside of Steam, including experimental works and interactive fiction virtualmoose.org/2026/02/01/i...

The PicoIDE Crowd Supply campaign is now live! Back the project to be among the first to get yours! PicoIDE is an open IDE/ATAPI drive emulator for retro systems. www.crowdsupply.com/polpotronics...

GOG now using AI generated images on their store #GOG #AI #AIGen

My latest co-authored article with Megan Condis was just published in Games: Research and Practice. And it's open access! Check out "Rad Dudes, Rude ‘Tude, and the Family, Too: How Nintendo and Sega Advertisements Shaped the Image of Gaming in the 1990s."

BREAKING: The monkey bit someone.

This weekend, @defeatinggames.bsky.social is raising money for VGHF. So for the next two hours, they're letting me loose to play MYST twitch.tv/obscuritory

I've been commissioned to write a piece about games based on real places that changed peoples' perception of that place or had some kind of local impact - are you a dev who made a game like this? Or are you a player who has a story about a game that inspired you to visit somewhere? Let me know!

new Quake map: One Need Not Be A House, a large non-linear concrete bunker island / brick brutalism map that I made for Quake Brutalism Jam 3 (single player mega mod with 77 modernist levels)... download link + full design notes here: www.blog.radiator.debacle.us/2026/01/one-...

The very silly muzak soundtrack for Mallicious (made with Microsoft Music Producer 1996) is out now!

i just started playing through this year's quake brutalist jam and i am, of course, agonizing over graphics settings. some folks probably made their contributions with 8 bit off, but i've always played vanilla and i'd miss the chromatic play along ramps...

Now that 2026 is underway, it's a good time to post an updated collage of my DOS games. Since I have nine out now, that fits into a nice neat rectangle. So here are all 9 #msdos games I released from 2020 to 2025. All #cga, all running on an #ibmpc, all available from cyningstan.itch.io

FANTASY/PLANETVI.GIF

please help me report these Steam reviews (that ridicule my SA) made to my games. steam moderators cleared them as acceptable (so i can’t flag them) but i don’t think calling me a slur & bringing up my r*pist is acceptable. steamcommunity.com/profiles/765... steamcommunity.com/id/Luceres/r...

This year I did 44 roundups of indie games I thought looked neat on my blog, not counting any posts on individual games as I completed them. Many not on Steam virtualmoose.org/category/ind... And I did 30 roundups of various blog posts I enjoyed reading this year virtualmoose.org/category/blo...

Last-minute gig idea! A knock-off VHS that looks a bit like a classic Disney cartoon:

Besides exploring the frontiers of authentic NES gfx, I develop NEXXT: an essential gfx / layout tool for modern NES dev To help maintain it, i'm issuing a 50% off 1st month holiday voucher on my patreon. Code: 6502 www.patreon.com/frankengraph... Help me raise new supporters by sharing. Thanks!

Even though I understand why it occurs, it pains me that people just don't see why AI music is bad if it "sounds really good". You just can't easily explain the idea of soul and the desire to create something to a person who is not generally into art or similar pursuits.

Sorry folks but Duke Nukem is old news. The shareware platforming himbo that Gen Z can't get enough of is Snake Logan from BioMenace (BioMenace Remastered is really good)

To celebrate #DOSember myself and @chrisjfemo.bsky.social made a deduction mini-game in EGA for your 286 PC (but you can also play in the browser!) mausimus.itch.io/quid-pro-quo Huge thanks to @emmfoolery.bsky.social for organizing the DOSember Game Jam and a fist bump to everyone who participated!

My "No Graphics API" blog post is live! Please repost :) www.sebastianaaltonen.com/blog/no-grap... I spend 1.5 years doing this. Full rewrite last summer and another partial rewrite last month. As Hemingway said: "First draft of everything is always shit".

OUT NOW: Dungeon Puzzle Sweeper! The perfect game to play at the airport or under the dinner table this holiday season 🎄 It auto-saves, has online leaderboards, and it's optimized for mobile! Free on itch! britown.itch.io/sweeper Please repost and tell your friends! #gamedev #indiegame #itch

Having a digital simulation of the CGA card can be very educational. Here's a screenshot from the game ZZT, which is obviously in text mode: #retrocomputing

posted about my Apple ID woes, please share widely? hey.paris/posts/appleid/

10. Maura & Ash Nice, short queer point-and-click adventure set in space and runs in DOS moralrecordings.itch.io/mauraash

my comedy game Landlord Quest is out on Itch and Steam, and it’s only $2! In this economy?!?! It’s got hilarious dialog, multiple endings, even a minigame, so check it out today! And remember: 🎵 they don’t go to heaven when they die 🎵 For more info visit landlord.quest

www.teepublic.com/socks/845511... available in socks and t-shirts, a good xmas gift, and supports an artist in return. It's a message worth spreading.

I love a clear day when the sun makes Nature’s colors glow with inner light. On days like this I feel as though I live in Middle Earth. And that is also good. #myneighborhood #landscapephotography

I am pleased to announce that #PicoIDE is the only IDE/ATAPI drive emulator that can play Bad Apple

EGA beach 😎

Simple ambient music using only 2op and sine/variations [YMF262/OPL3] #chiptune #vgm

🚨 Creator Day is LIVE! 🚨 For the next 24 hours we are waiving our platform fee! Creators will get the most they can from each transaction. Support your favorite developers and check out over 15,000 projects participating in our Black Friday sale itch.io

i've made a handful of video games over the past few years - some "on my own", some w pals. one of the most creatively nourishing parts of my life is getting to share em online & participating in the community of freaks & weirdos whose art i admire IF YOURE SO INCLINED: ottomaddox.itch.io <3

I’ve also added my playthrough The Zen of Kayaking by @pixelturkey.com and @gamedevjeff.pixelturkey.com: robotspacer.tv/archive/zen-... It’s a fun little text adventure game from 2024. I played it on a Mac in System 6, but you can also play in DOS, on a Commodore 64, or in your browser.

The Crimson Diamond is on sale for AdventureX! The event was one of the first times I showed TCD publicly and made me feel like a real game dev. It motivated me to continue onward. It brought me to London for the first time. What an adventure! ✨ store.steampowered.com/app/1098770/... #AdvX2025

#WishlistWednesday is for people who get excited about accidental immolation Wishlist Chronicles IV on Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/3919080/... #gamedev #indiedev #indiegames #roguelike #ultima #steam

technology that makes people more productive is inherently used to perpetuate capitalism, that’s why I make videogames, technology that makes people less productive

If your game has voice acting, then working with the voice actors is half of your writing process. It's not complete until you've heard it interpreted and reimagined by a voice actor. And they always reimagine it in ways that elevate the writing, in ways you never would have imagined yourself.

My tiny Over the Garden Wall fan game is now available for FREE! 🎉 juliaminamata.itch.io/otgw Thanks so much @patrickmchale.bsky.social, @forkfrenzy.bsky.social, @blastingcompany.bsky.social, Elijah Wood, @clickpulp.com, @grundislav.games. Thanks @requiemcafe.bsky.social & @mossmouth.bsky.social.

Why am I taking a selfie in front of a random office building? This is a former Maxtor office and where several versions of the ATA/ATAPI spec were written. While working on #PicoIDE I noticed that the work address of the editor was literally right next door to where I work so I made a pilgrimage!

A Pentium In Your Hand

I made a new MSDOS utility, the MIDI Sniffer: * takes in MIDI in * reroutes to: MIDI out, PC Speaker, or OPL2 * supports polyphony 1/2

Calling for help from the #retrocomputing community! Help us verify extraction of the Intel 8087 Microcode ROM! 8087.martypc.net

I've been digging into an obscure Japanese computer game from 1986 published by the appropriately eldritch-sounding Bothtec. This here will be a lil thread of my experience so far, but first, let's have a look at the manual cover here and its unsettling cover image. 🧵