iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Took my first ADHD tablet a few hours ago Not sure if it's doing anything? Maybe I need to eat five

Reposted by Ben Hickling // MNKY

Geoffrey Bunting @geoffreybunting.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

NEW: What's this, actual journalism from Geoffrey? Last year, I spoke to developers who were stepping in to fill the gap in arcade flight shooters left wide open by Nintendo's tardiness in making a new Star Fox. There's challenges, nostalgia, and a whole lot of anthropomorphised animals in cockpits.

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Kyuu's first cameo! (unless you count her ship model in Star Fox EX) Thanks for including her! You really... knocked it out the park 😎

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

Still one more day for this give away! ...and then I'll stop being annoying, I promise 😗

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

The orb is deciding what you will have for dinner Made in mnkytech.itch.io/blastfx

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

I'm giving away 5 keys for BlastFX 2.0! To enter, just repost this and on Friday I'll pick the winners mnkytech.itch.io/blastfx store.steampowered.com/app/940920/B...

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

BlastFX 2.0 is now on Steam and Itchio, and currently 25% off I've used this tool myself for several effects in Ex-Zodiac, so you can trust its useful 😎 mnkytech.itch.io/blastfx store.steampowered.com/app/940920/B... (if you buy it on itchio you get a steam key + 30% wont go to gabe for his boat)

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

BlastFX 2.0 is out! It's currently 25% off and there's a demo too. Comes with a steam key (steam version is still 1.x, I'll update it later today) mnkytech.itch.io/blastfx

mnkytech.itch.io

BlastFX by MNKY

2D VFX Rendering Tool

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

Brand new version of BlastFX, coming very soon

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

I've been asked to add a somersault manoeuvre to EZ for a while now, mainly for the all-range stages I didn't think it'd be too complicated (and it isn't technically), however, the movement system I made is built on twigs and spit, so I'll probably have to re-write the whole player controller..

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

Unfortunately Bsky doesn't have polls yet, but- I'm considering the idea of giving Kyuu teammates in Ex-Zodiac... Woo! Monkey friends! or No! Only monkey solitude. ?

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

I already have to use a vpn for a bunch of stuff in the UK, and there's things I can no longer see as discord has marked them as sensitive and I refuse to upload my ID. You really don't want this, trust me

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Reposted by Ben Hickling // MNKY

Retro Blast 💫 @retroblastpod.com · 21/01/2026

HEY! LISTEN!! 🧚 Did y'all know there's a "Tree" style comment thread option on Bluesky? I've been using it for a month and it makes the overall threads of comments and replies MUCH cleaner and more organized! It's something I haven't mentioned yet, but I just wanted to spread the word! ✌️

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Reposted by Ben Hickling // MNKY

Lili @elizzylilith.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

Here's the first of five yet to come, setting the standard. It's Kyuu from Ex Zodiac, as suggested by @mardymuntjak.bsky.social! I wasn't sure what her bottom half looked like, so I made something up to fit with her jumpsuit. She's very fun to draw, and I like her ship too!

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Reposted by Ben Hickling // MNKY

Jey ✨ @jeyrolami.bsky.social · 28/12/2025

@rittzler.bsky.social (creator of Pseudoregalia), has had their Discord and email hacked and is linking to a virus in disguise. If you see anything linking to a game called "Furfall", DO NOT engage with it. It's not made by Rittz and isn't a real game (it's a Remote Access Trojan) DO NOT CLICK IT.

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

Finally got an ADHD assessment this Saturday, will be interesting to see how that goes

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Reposted by Ben Hickling // MNKY

+TEK @plustek.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

New stage, new themes! Aethereal soundcloud.com/plrusek-chan... (and the boss theme, Glyphbreaker: soundcloud.com/plrusek-chan...)

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

There were far more delays than I would have liked, but the latest level Ethuna is finally playable in the latest update to #exzodiac! The game is also currently 60% off in the Steam Winter sale - store.steampowered.com/app/1249480/...

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 25/11/2025

I might moan about Godot from time to time, but what we have now is infinitely better than what I first tried using back in 2014 😂

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 23/11/2025

I dream of the day when Godot's bezier animation editor is functional

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

This is how the 15fps mode works in Ex-Zodiac

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 02/11/2025

My favourite thing about game development is getting part way through developing a boss, deciding it's shite, and then starting a new one. Then doing that multiple times

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

Sorry for the lack of updates, I'm still chipping away at the latest level for Ex-Zodiac. I've been caught up with other life stuff like looking for a new job after my previous position came to an end. Anyhoo, I should have something to show soon, hopefully!

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

The issue with the mac build was due to the custom build I was using. The only reason I was using a custom build was because the devs removed the rotation_degrees property and all of my animations used it, so I had to create a custom build where that property was still available

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

Good news, she fixed the MacOS build, so now all 2.3% of you can finally enjoy the latest stage update! 🐒 store.steampowered.com/app/1249480/...

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Reposted by Ben Hickling // MNKY

+TEK @plustek.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

the new stage's theme: Steam Stampede Boss track also available on SoundCloud (and Steam OST release)

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

It's that time again, and Kyuu's found herself back on the bike chasing a runaway armoured train in the latest stage - Mirage! Now is a great time to grab the game, as it's currently on sale at it's lowest discount yet (55%!) store.steampowered.com/app/1249480/... (MacOS version soon, hopefully)

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

My favourite thing about doing an update for Ex-Zodiac is finding out the mac build doesn't work and having no idea why. I completely understand why other games don't bother 😬

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 10/04/2025

It's getting harder and harder to come up with interesting & fun bosses for my game. It's like I've exhausted the possibilities, which I obviously haven't, but it often feels like it. Also a lot of times an idea seems great in my head, but just doesn't work out in reality. That always sucks.

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

I'm pretty sure I have ADHD. This graph represents my productivity as I approach a deadline. I've tried and tried again, but no matter what I cannot seem to shake the way I work

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

Releasing a demo will not hurt your game's sales, maybe a bad demo, but that's a different story

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

Well, it didn't break my game, but using the editor kept crashing randomly, so back to 4.3 for now

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

Compiling Godot 4.4 Beta 1, let's see if this breaks my game..!

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Reposted by Ben Hickling // MNKY

+TEK @plustek.bsky.social · 07/12/2024

preview of "Wings of Magma (Stage 8)" the new stage theme for this update's lava stage Full version on Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/plrusek-chan... Boss track too!: soundcloud.com/plrusek-chan...

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 27/11/2024

Does anyone smell burning..? Oh, never mind, it's just Kyuu's tail 🙈🔥 But more importantly, a new level update just dropped - Caldera! The game is also currently available for 50% off in the Steam Autumn Sale (in case you don't have it 🙇‍♂️) store.steampowered.com/app/1249480/... (potato quality)

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

I don't know if this is a galaxy brain move or not

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 08/11/2024

Things are really starting to heat up!™ #ex-zodiac

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 03/11/2024

finally deactivated my Facebook account, man that place is so useless these days

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 29/10/2024

Injecting deadlines into my veins to cure the adhd

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Ben Hickling // MNKY @benhickling.bsky.social · 24/10/2024

I'm enjoying bluesky like I enjoyed discord after Skype went to crap. Unfortunately discord eventually went poop, and I'm sure this will too eventually, but until then I'll make the most of it

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