iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Adam Millard @architectofgames.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

If there's one thing the mainstream games industry loves more than anything else, it's doing things that it has already done - but what are some great games from videogaming's present in September 2026 that aren't getting enough attention? youtu.be/TC5rzNiHFfE

youtu.be

5 September 2026 Games You Should Have Played

YouTube video by Adam Millard - The Architect of Games

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Adam Millard @architectofgames.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Thanks Katie - it's a rough day for everyone so hopefully we can at least all stick together on this one

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Adam Millard @architectofgames.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Debated whether to post about the Jacob Geller situation given I'm a smallfry and our biggest interaction is me shouting him out ages ago, but this fucking sucks. Trust victims and treat no-one as sacred- lots of awful people hide behind positive vibes, everyone ESPECIALLY dudes need to be vigilant.

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MinnMax @minnmax.com · 01/10/2026

Jacob Geller is no longer a part of MinnMax. He won't be on content moving forward and we won't be publicly airing this week's episode of The MinnMax Show. We're in shock and deeply hurt. Thank you for your patience during this sensitive time.

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Reposted by Adam Millard

Dominic Tarason @dominictarason.com · 14/09/2026

It's TIME! TO! GET! HYPE! Today, I get to proudly unveil Steam Hype, the project I've been working on with the help of @hookshot.media for the past two and a half months. A new PC gaming site which aims to demystify PC gaming, cut through the 100+ daily releases and spotlight indies as much as AAA

steamhype.com

Steam Hype

Steam Hype is your go-to destination for discovering the latest, greatest, and most talked-about games on Steam.

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Adam Millard @architectofgames.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXnM... August has been a surprising month for smaller games defying my expectations and succeeding against the odds, but which of this month's indie game underdogs are REALLY worth your time and money?!

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5 August 2026 Games You Should Have Played

YouTube video by Adam Millard - The Architect of Games

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Adam Millard @architectofgames.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Nothing feels better in a game than the sense that we have control of our own destiny... so why do so many games love to lie about how much control we really have? youtu.be/zwOGo2JoFs8

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Adam Millard @architectofgames.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

The summer months always feature a massive gaming drought and that's something only made worse by GTA 6 on the horizon - but luckily for us, a whole bunch of indie games have used this chance to get into the spotlight! Which ones are most deserving of your attention? www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKPv...

youtube.com

EARLY ACCESS - 5 July 2026 Games You Should Have Played

YouTube video by Adam Millard - The Architect of Games

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Adam Millard @architectofgames.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

June 2026 has been a pretty, uh, depressing month for videogames - but in spite of the doom and gloom in the industry at large, smaller studios are still managing to put out great games that deserve your support - but which games of this month Should You Have Played? youtu.be/SgiTDE89g5I

youtu.be

5 June 2026 Games You Should Have Played

YouTube video by Adam Millard - The Architect of Games

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Adam Millard @architectofgames.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Oh I LOVE Kei and Midi as terms for the smaller end of the scale and the rest was a pretty good read too, thanks! - though sorting games by install size which is going to gradually inflate over time and fluctuates wildly based on genre is, to put it bluntly, insane.

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Adam Millard @architectofgames.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

That's some great context that I actually didn't know until now - I assumed (probably somewhat naively) that devs usually got preferential ownership of their IP but looks like I was wrong! I'll be sure to keep that in mind in future, thanks!

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Adam Millard @architectofgames.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

For a year now, a battle has been raging across the world of videogames: Did Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 deserve to win all those awards? And is it an indie game? One question has an easy answer - the other? Well, let's just say it's a bit more complicated... www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_zV...

youtube.com

The Award Clair Obscur Didn’t Deserve To Win

YouTube video by Adam Millard - The Architect of Games

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Casey S. Pumpkins 🎃 @caseyexplosion.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Hey folks, my new video is live now! And if you were watching live, is secretly a TOP 13 video! I cheated. It's by far my biggest one yet, and I'm really proud of this one, so please do share it around and leave a comment on the vid if you don't mind, it really helps and I love to read 'em! 💜

youtube.com

Casey Explosion's Top 12 Games of 2025

YouTube video by Casey Explosion

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Adam Millard @architectofgames.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

youtu.be/MN0b3hZmx6o May 2026 has been a month full of matched sets of games, from unconventional deckbuilders to genre-bending survival games to way too many games about megastructures - but which ones should you have played? Find out here!

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5 May 2026 Games You Should Have Played

YouTube video by Adam Millard - The Architect of Games

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Adam Millard @architectofgames.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

IMO people rated it strongly due to the admittedly great premise but in reality it's basically just 3 below-average games mushed together. The jokes are lame, it's a barely ok noir story, it's a shallow shooter and the rubberhose style is fairly sloppy/cheap. Voice acting is pretty good though!

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Adam Millard @architectofgames.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

youtu.be/8mafwFHu6xc It's time for five more games that You Should Have Played, including minimalist de-makes of a classic genre, a boring hobby for the elderly turned into a great videogame, and a game so weird I can barely even describe how the hell you're supposed to play it!

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5 April 2026 Games You Should Have Played

YouTube video by Adam Millard - The Architect of Games

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Adam Millard @architectofgames.bsky.social · 16/04/2026

youtu.be/Fuf_SpKCYVY There are some games out there which contain incredibly interesting ideas that just can't quite seem make them work - like one of Magic The Gathering's most infamous design failures and Mewgenics' Mage, but what causes this disconnect between potential and practicality?

youtu.be

Games That Are Too Cool For Their Own Good

YouTube video by Adam Millard - The Architect of Games

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Adam Millard @architectofgames.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

Shit you found me!!! Don't tell youtube I'm here!

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Adam Millard @architectofgames.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

youtu.be/I9wI1A0yw3A March 2026 was not a great one for the games industry, but we still got a bunch of great games out of it - here are some of the best games you should have played!

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5 March 2026 Games You Should Have Played

YouTube video by Adam Millard - The Architect of Games

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Adam Millard @architectofgames.bsky.social · 02/03/2026

youtu.be/wUXuoijjY-Q February 2026 was full of great games, so here's a list of five of them you should have played... but that you probably didn't!

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5 Feburary 2026 Games You Should Have Played

YouTube video by Adam Millard - The Architect of Games

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Adam Millard @architectofgames.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

youtu.be/K5dnF1V3BlM Videogame demos used to be a major feature of the gaming landscape, but after several decades spent in cultural irrelevance, they're finally coming back - but why? What's caused the modern indie resurgence of a very retro format?

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Demos Are Taking Over Games (Again)

YouTube video by Adam Millard - The Architect of Games

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Adam Millard @architectofgames.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

January 2026 was so packed with games I just had to start a new monthly series to capture them all! youtu.be/7kBkAZz5bYA

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5 January 2026 Games You Should Have Played

YouTube video by Adam Millard - The Architect of Games

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Adam Millard @architectofgames.bsky.social · 01/01/2026

youtu.be/mKCIgzLvEXU 2025 was a very surprising year for videogames - so many great games came out that it can be hard to keep up! That's why I've made it my mission to showcase 20 games that you should have played from this year... that you probably didn't!

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20(25) Games You Should Have Played

YouTube video by Adam Millard - The Architect of Games

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Writing on Games @writingongames.bsky.social · 29/12/2025

Sounds daft to say but I'm talking to a lot of people for whom YouTube is proving v difficult right now. If there's someone whose videos you like, boost them. Share their work around if you enjoy it. Support them on Patreon if you can. All helps a tremendous amount when the platform feels so hostile

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Adam Millard @architectofgames.bsky.social · 26/12/2025

Darkfry you son of a bitch yours is going to be better and make me look bad!

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Adam Millard @architectofgames.bsky.social · 26/12/2025

Chance is a weird thing in games - there's a perception that as things get more random, games become less skillful and fun, but some of the most random games ever made are also some of the most beloved and memorable, what's the deal with that? youtu.be/_G6CCLW_OLk

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Are Games Getting Too Random?

YouTube video by Adam Millard - The Architect of Games

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Adam Millard @architectofgames.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

Crazy that only four games got released this year

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Adam Millard @architectofgames.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

ARC Raiders is a game built around being as inconvenient and annoying as possible, but it wasn't always this way. Once upon a time, ARC Raiders was smoother, faster and a whole lot less fun - what changed? And how did Friction save ARC Raiders from itself? youtu.be/9iPGbbUhP40

youtu.be

What Saved ARC Raiders From Itself?

YouTube video by Adam Millard - The Architect of Games

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Adam Millard @architectofgames.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

youtu.be/WBHAZz79Ilg Silksong is one of the biggest and best games of the year, as everyone predicted it would be - but within it's perfect shell lie some hidden flaws that most people never noticed, and point to a fundamental issue with the way games are designed that most of us never notice...

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You Didn't Notice Silksong's Biggest Flaw

YouTube video by Adam Millard - The Architect of Games

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Jacob Geller @jacobgeller.com · 29/09/2025

Got married!

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Adam Millard @architectofgames.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

People love to say that certain gaming genres are dying all the time - but what happens to cause a genre to slip into the annals of history, and where do new genres come from to replace them? Also, why the hell do some dead genres come back to life!? youtu.be/2S9OPB5MN2o

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What Happens After A Game Dies?

YouTube video by Adam Millard - The Architect of Games

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Adam Millard @architectofgames.bsky.social · 03/08/2025

There sure are a lot of games about climbing coming out right now, aren't there? But why are so many difficult, punishing games getting released all at the same time, and what does this say about where game design is headed? www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdh7...

youtube.com

Climbing Games Are Fun Because They're Not Fun

YouTube video by Adam Millard - The Architect of Games

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Adam Millard @architectofgames.bsky.social · 19/06/2025

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVJU... As it turns out, we've been getting difficulty wrong for years, and it took a weird sequel with bad minigames to reveal that difficulty isn't just one simple thing - it's actually six different equally complicated things all at once!

youtube.com

We're All Completely Wrong About Difficulty

YouTube video by Adam Millard - The Architect of Games

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Adam Millard @architectofgames.bsky.social · 07/06/2025

the absolute gall of a this douche wearing an fps maga hat announcing he made a battle royale 7 years too late is truly the stuff of legends

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remy siu | 1000xRESIST @remysiu.com · 02/06/2025

Our Peabody speech for 1000xRESIST. “This art form is barely unearthed. It’s too early to define it. Fund the indescribable.”

On behalf of sunset visitor, Nhi and I want to thank the Peabody board for this huge honor.

We put so much into this game, what we wanted to see ourselves.

We yearned for stories of the Asian diaspora to be allowed imagination. For diversity to include diversity of form. For our stories to contain risk and experimentation. As people of colour and artists, we wanted to see our whole selves represented – and for this not to be sanitized or erased to appease soft power or timid tastes.

We didn’t know if we’d have another chance. For people like us, sometimes we only get one chance.

I want to say to the game industry, resource those on the margins and seek difference. Take chances again and again. This art form is barely unearthed. It’s too early to define it. Fund the indescribable.

Always be moving, transforming. Be water.

Thank you and hekki grace.

Remy and Nhi backstage at the Peabody Awards. Behind them, a sign says “quiet please.”

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Adam Millard @architectofgames.bsky.social · 22/05/2025

The grifters really are out in force lately holy shit

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Adam Millard @architectofgames.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

I for one was totally fooled - you famously love the stories in games and hate emoting at all when you speak it's a perfect replica. (srsly though this is galling - do us all a favor and smash this guy's channel)

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Adam Millard @architectofgames.bsky.social · 17/05/2025

Seriously who's idea was it to add those 2000s-ass minigames into doom dark ages? I audibly groan every time it makes me do a stupid mech fight or a dumb dragon bit and FORGET about the turret segments. The core combat rules but I don't know what they were thinking with this other gimmicky bullshit

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Adam Millard @architectofgames.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

No puzzle solutions but I do show off some midgame rooms/concepts that you might not have unlocked yet - I think you'll be fine!

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Adam Millard @architectofgames.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

youtu.be/gZvfPpYD1Vg Blue Prince is a videogame filled to bursting with puzzles and riddles that are as challenging as they are satisfying to solve... or are they? What if Blue Prince was actually helping you more than it let on, and that it's this secret support that makes the game so compelling?

youtube.com

Blue Prince Is Pretending To Be Difficult

YouTube video by Adam Millard - The Architect of Games

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Adam Millard @architectofgames.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

youtu.be/V4anoUua_Mo Progression Systems are everywhere in games, ESPECIALLY over the last few years! But, it seems like the more of them that are in a given title, the less good it feels to progress - what's up with that? And why is monster hunter, with it's awesome progression somehow immune?

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How Monster Hunter Mastered Progression

YouTube video by Adam Millard - The Architect of Games

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Adam Millard @architectofgames.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

youtu.be/3eCd3wGL4eE The phrase "It really makes you feel like" is one of the most overused and irritating things in videogame discourse and has been for years, but what if I told you that within the stupid memes and bland observations there was a grain of truth, and an entirely new kind of game?

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Skyehoppers @skyehoppers.bsky.social · 03/01/2025

Announcement! I'm doing a marathon charity livestream on Jan. 28 to benefit Trans Lifeline! The entertainment will be me trying to beat every mainline Mario in one go, adding on more as donation incentives. Now is the time to support our trans friends :) youtu.be/mdcwtgiMhbg

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Special Event This Month!

YouTube video by Skyehoppers

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Adam Millard @architectofgames.bsky.social · 01/01/2025

youtu.be/9Rsdhb0wdPc 2024 has been one hell of a year for games, but with all the massive titles releasing this year, even more have gone criminally underplayed! Luckily for you I'm here to tell you all about 20(24) games you should have played from this year!

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20(24) Games You Should Have Played

YouTube video by Adam Millard - The Architect of Games

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Adam Millard @architectofgames.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

Had to look at twitter for the first time in weeks to post the latest vid and wow it's a fucking ghost town over there (at least relative to the people I follow) - it's just the meme aggregator accounts and the menswear guy left fighting in the bombed out ruins of my timeline

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Adam Millard @architectofgames.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

This is your font!? It came in really handy! I'll post a link crediting you in the description of the video (really should've done that to begin with) - do you have anywhere in particular you'd like me to direct people to?

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