iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

🌿 Stinging Nettle A Bronze Age grave in Denmark held a cloth woven from nettle, and it was about 2,800 years old! People have been spinning this weed into thread for a very long time. In Under the Elm, find it in the Oak Forest - bring gloves! 🧤 #indiedev #cozygames #foraging #herbalism #pixelart

0113

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Under the Elm is a cozy foraging game about a grandmother you never met. Forage real mushrooms and plants, brew her remedies, and tend a village that's slowly forgetting her. store.steampowered.com/app/4700290/... #indiedev #cozygames #pixelart #gamedev

1164

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

🧚‍♂️The Fair Folk, Part 1 of 4 is out! Something has been finding its way out of the woods, and the village is starting to forget her. Full Devlog Here: crookedstonestudios.itch.io/under-the-el... #indiedev #cozygames #pixelart #gamedev #roadmap #faeries

A pixel-art roadmap under a night sky and full moon, titled "The Fair Folk - a story update in four parts." A glowing trail winds past five stops: Part 1, The First Signs (out now); Part 2, Old Protections (coming soon); Part 3, What the Roots Remember (before launch); Part 4, The Gate (Nov 4, launch); and 1.0, The Other Side (after launch).

1167

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

🍂 14 days until #SteamNextFest! The oaks are keeping count. Under the Elm will be at Steam Next Fest, October 19-26 - and the free demo is already out on Steam. #indiedev #cozygames #pixelart #gamedev

0215

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

🍄 #MushroomMonday: Shaggy Mane Within hours of picking, its cap dissolves into black ink: it's the mushroom digesting itself to release its spores! People still write and draw with it! In Under the Elm, find it in the Clearing✒️ #indiedev #cozygames #foraging #mycology #pixelart

0114

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Under the Elm 0.5.10 is out 🍄 Your upgraded axe, pickaxe and knife now show in your hands, the alchemy bench has Make Another, and Rowan's shop is easier to browse. Full Devlog: crookedstonestudios.itch.io/under-the-el... #cozygames #indiedev #pixelart

Rowan's Workshop shop panel in Under the Elm: furnishing sections listed down the left side, a grid of colorful pixel-art curtains, one selected, and a green Buy - 60c button.

1124

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

🏡 #VillagerFriday: Maren Your grandmother sat with her through the worst winter of her life, and years later, when Gram got sick, Maren kept the kettle on for her. Meet her in the village in Under the Elm ☕ #indiedev #cozygames #pixelart #gamedev

0175

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

🐿️ Squirrels fake-bury nuts when they know you're watching! They dig a hole, pretend to drop the nut in, cover it up - and keep the nut! In Under the Elm, find them in the Oak Forest and the Deep Woods 🍂 #indiedev #cozygames #pixelart #wildlife #gamedev

0193

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

🌿 #BotanicalWednesday: Rosehip When the war cut Britain off from citrus, schoolchildren were paid to pick wild rosehips, and the hips were boiled into vitamin C syrup for children! In Under the Elm, find them in the Clearing 🍂 #indiedev #cozygames #foraging #herbalism #pixelart

2146

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

0.5.9 is up! The Oak Forest is in flower again - most of its plants had stopped growing - plus a garden quest for every season and a pretty full round of bug fixes! 🌿 Full Devlog Here: crookedstonestudios.itch.io/under-the-el... #indiedev #cozygames #pixelart #foraging

1154

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

21 days until #SteamNextFest! The meadow is keeping count. Under the Elm will be at Steam Next Fest, October 19-26 - and the free demo is already out on Steam! Hop on over to check it out 🐇🍄 #indiedev #cozygames #pixelart #gamedev

0245

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

🍄 #MushroomMonday: Earthstar Rain makes this mushroom puff like a tiny chimney! Its skin splits into a star, and every raindrop that hits the sac squeezes out a little cloud of spores. In Under the Elm, find it in the Cave ⭐ #indiedev #cozygames #foraging #mycology #pixelart

0133

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Under the Elm 0.5.8 is out 🌳 Villagers now give you something of their own to wear once you're friends, there's a new map, and midnight is gentler: no penalty, just a walk home to bed with Gabriel. Full devlog: crookedstonestudios.itch.io/under-the-el... #indiedev #cozygames #pixelart #gamedev

2175

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

"She left you everything: her cabin, her cat, and the woods." The new trailer shows the full loop: forage real species, learn what you've found, brew her recipes, and help the village she left behind. 🍄 Free demo on Steam 🌿 #cozygames #indiegame #wholesomegames #pixelart #mushroomforaging

094

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Your grandmother left you her recipes, but not what she knew. The demo for Under the Elm is out on Steam! Forage real mushrooms and plants, and learn what they do from the friend who taught her.🍄 store.steampowered.com/app/4700290/Under_the_Elm/ #indiedev #cozygames #foraging #mycology #pixelart

1125

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

200 WISHLISTS?!? 🍂 Wow... I genuinely did not expect to be writing this! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to every single one of you - I had to have Gabriel draw it out in mushrooms and plants just to make it feel real 🧡 #indiedev #cozygames #pixelart #gamedev #foraging

1215

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

🍄 #MushroomMonday: Birch Polypore This one grows on birch in smooth white shelves, and it's tough as cork. Ötzi the Iceman carried two pieces 5,300 years ago, and barbers once finished razors on it! In Under the Elm, find it in the Clearing 🌿 #indiedev #cozygames #foraging #mycology #pixelart

0164

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

0.5.4 of Under the Elm is up! The village comes to meet you now, Fern teaches you to name and check what you forage, and lookalikes hide among plants too... 🤫 Full devlog here: crookedstonestudios.itch.io/under-the-el... #indiedev #cozygames #pixelart #foraging #gamedev

A page from the in-game Field Guide for Wild Garlic, with a red warning mark beside the name. At the foot of the left page, a note reads that the species has a dangerous lookalike.

3186

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Under the Elm 0.5.3 is out, and the story finally has an ending! It's the part of this game I'm proudest of, and it wrecks me every time I play it. Also new: formatted credits, smoother movement, and easier-to-read hints. Happy foraging! #indiedev #cozygames #pixelart #gamedev #indiegames

2223

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

🌿 #BotanicalWednesday: Monkshood Also called wolfsbane. Hooded purple flowers, and so poisonous you shouldn't even touch it bare-handed. Greek myth says it first grew where Cerberus drooled! In Under the Elm, find it in the Deep Woods 🌲 #indiedev #cozygames #foraging #herbalism #pixelart

0100

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

The village used to be quiet... too quiet. Now Wren tends her garden, Aldric works his field, Rowan chops wood, and Maren and Bram run errands! The Lively Village update is out! As always, full devlog here: crookedstonestudios.itch.io/under-the-el... #cozygames #pixelart #indiedev #gamedev

1172

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

🍄 #MushroomMonday: Maitake It grows in frilly gray fans at the foot of an old oak, and comes back at the same tree every fall! Foragers call it hen of the woods and check their spots each October. In Under the Elm, find it in the Oak Forest 🍂 #indiedev #cozygames #foraging #mycology #pixelart

092

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

The alchemy bench used to be a menu and every recipe was a set of ingredients. Now recipes are built from components, and Wren reads your plants to tell you what each one carries. Full devlog here: crookedstonestudios.itch.io/under-the-el... #cozygames #pixelart #herbalism #indiegame #indiedev

1133

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

You inherit a book, a house, and two women who taught at different tables. Grandma's, where her handwriting waits whether you're ready or not. Wren's, where there's always tea. And yours, where nobody helps and the page comes out in your hand. #indiegame #gamedev #cozygames #foraging #pixelart

Grandmother's desk, top-down pixel art. A dark green blotter on a wooden table, held at the corners by leather straps. At the top left, her closed field guide - brown leather, a cream label on the cover, four colored tabs along the edge, a ribbon slipping out the bottom. Gold wire spectacles sit folded to the right. A blank sheet of aged paper waits at the right edge with a teal and gold fountain pen laid across its corner. Bottom left, a pair of worn canvas gloves and a curved foraging knife with a wooden handle.

Wren's bench, top-down pixel art. A soft teal mat on a wooden table with yellow corner straps. Top left, her green cloth-bound book, closed, with a pair of pale round spectacles resting on the cover. Below it, a cup of tea on a saucer - cream china, gold rims, the tea dark and still full. At the right, a blank sheet of aged paper with a sprig of small purple flowers laid across the top corner and a brown feather quill resting at the bottom.

Your own bench, top-down pixel art. A dusty rose mat on a wooden table with leather corner straps. Top left, the same brown leather field guide from grandmother's desk, carried here. In the middle, a wide stone mortar, empty. A wooden spoon above it. Bottom left, two empty glass bottles and two glass vials on their sides, with small dried seeds scattered loose across the mat. At the right, a blank sheet of paper with nothing written on it yet.

1182

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

🌿 #BotanicalWednesday: Swamp Root Marshmallows are named after this plant! The old sweet was made from the mucilage in marsh mallow root, which is the same slippery stuff that coats a raw throat. In Under the Elm, find it in the Marshlands 🌾 #indiedev #cozygames #foraging #herbalism #pixelart

0120

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Now that the Identification desk is done - can you guess what surface(s) I'm re-working next? 👇👀 #indiedev #cozygames #pixelart #gamedev #cozygaming

Pixel art top-down view of a green desk: a closed green book with reading glasses resting on it, a cup of tea on a saucer, a sprig of lavender, a blank sheet of paper, and a quill pen.

0183

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

After (way too long) testing, I think I can finally say: TA-DA! Meet the new & improved identification gameloop! What used to be a button, is now laying it on grandmother's desk, looking at it properly then going to find the page that matches 👓 #indiedev #cozygames #pixelart #gamedev #mushrooms

0123

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

🍄 #MushroomMonday: Shaggy Mane The forage that waits for no one. A tall white column with shaggy scales, it turns inky black by evening because it digests itself. Artists still draw with its "ink"! In Under the Elm, find it in the Clearing 🌿 #indiedev #cozygames #foraging #mycology #pixelart

0151

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

This is the piece of the game I've wanted to build since the beginning but kept losing the nerve to draw. An identification game that's an actual puzzle. Her desk, her guide, and you doing the looking. Still very much in progress, but I'm so happy with it! #indiedev #gamedev #pixelart #cozygames

Pixel art of a wooden desk from above - green felt surface, a leather-bound book with colored ribbon tabs in one corner, and a blank sheet of parchment with a teal and gold quill lying on it.

0225

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Two new things: Under the Elm officially has a Discord AND a press kit! The Discord is small and quiet on purpose, but it's a little too quiet now: I promise it will grow in the coming days! 🍄 discord.gg/mcyUrKfNQK 📰 under-the-elm-presskit.netlify.app #cozygames #indiedev #pixelart #gamedev

discord.gg

Join the Crooked Stone Studios Discord Server!

Crooked Stone Studios makes small, quiet nature games. First up: Under the Elm - a cozy foraging sim about your grandmother's cabin, real mushrooms and botanicals, and slowly making a home in the wood...

0141

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

🏘️ #VillagerFriday: Fern "If you pick a mushroom, leave the base. Rip the mycelium and you're a thief, not a forager." She's the youngest of the village and the best forager in it. She'd rather teach you than compliment you. Find her at her stand 🍄 #indiedev #cozygames #cozygame #pixelart #devlog

Pixel art: a light-haired forager stands beside a small wooden stand in a clearing of rust and olive autumn trees. To her right, a cottage with a thatched roof, stone-trimmed walls and teal windows, woodsmoke curling from the chimney

072

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

0.3.5 went out last night! 10 new botanicals and two new mushrooms and while the mushies may look the same, one is supper, and the other is a very bad night. 👀 Everything else that's grown since May in the devlog on itch! Link below: #indiedev #cozygames #foraging #mycology #pixelart

181

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

🌿 #BotanicalWednesday: Mullein A torch of yellow flowers on a woolly stalk, and each piece is used: Flowers steeped for a dry cough, leaves for a wet one. Strain both through cloth or the hairs scratch worse than the cough! New in the Clearing 🌱 #indiedev #cozygames #foraging #herbalism #pixelart

A pixel-art screenshot from the cozy game Under the Elm. A tall spike of yellow mullein flowers stands in a sunlit forest clearing.

1132

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

🍄 #MushroomMonday: Indigo Milky Cap Almost unnaturally blue, it even bleeds a blue milk that gets on everything: Your knife, your hands, your basket... Once cooked, though, it dulls to a silver grey! In Under the Elm, find it in the Deep Woods 🌲 #indiedev #cozygames #foraging #mycology #pixelart

A pixelated, bright blue mushroom sitting on the grass surrounded by gold ferns, fir trees and stones blanketed by pine straw.

0122

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

Nothing sings in the Deep Woods. Moths, a grouse, a deer somewhere off the path: the forest is full of movement, it just doesn't make any noise about it. Even the rain takes a full hour to reach the ground. 🤫 #screenshotsaturday #cozygames #indiedev #pixelart

0123

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

🌿 #BotanicalWednesday: Goblin's Gold The secret to its glow is protonema, specialized lens-like cells that catch even small bits of sun, so it shimmers bright gold-green in dim light. In Elm, find it in the Cave ✨ #indiedev #cozygames #foraging #pixelart

A small clump of bright yellow-green moss glowing softly on the floor of a dark cave, lit from within.

081

Reposted by Crooked Stone Studios

mimikurai.bsky.social @mimikurai.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

finally uploaded a playthrough of Under the Elm by @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social! it’s an incredibly cozy demo where you inherit your grandmother’s cabin, learn foraging, brew for the locals, and slowly make the woods feel like home also... there's an orange cat who knows things 🐈

121

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Phew, this was a big one, but update v0.3.1 is now live! The cabin was grandma's - now you can make it yours: expand it, decorate it, and change your own look at the dresser. Get close to a villager and you may find their outfits in Petra's store, too! 🏡 #cozygames #indiedev #pixelart #gamedev

2153

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

🍄 (belated) #MushroomMonday: Poplar Fieldcap Fat tan clusters on willows, the same stump year after year. One of the few marsh mushrooms a beginner can trust, and it goes into everything come supper. In Under the Elm, find it in the Marshlands #indiedev #cozygames #foraging #mycology #pixelart

Pixel-art poplar fieldcap - a cluster of tan-capped mushrooms on a willow stump at the marsh edge in Under the Elm's Marshlands.

0181

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

🌿 #BotanicalWednesday: Lavender Cut just as the buds take color, before they fully open - that's when the oil is strongest. A bundle under the pillow is the most reliable thing there is for a restless mind. In Elm, find it in the Clearing 💜 #indiedev #cozygames #foraging #herbalism #pixelart

162

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

You inherit grandma's cabin in Under the Elm - and soon, you'll get to upgrade it & make it yours. Upgrades and decor are still on the workbench, but here's a sneak peek at the curtains I've been prepping. 🪟👀 #cozygames #cozygaming #indiedev #pixelart

1101

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

🌿 #BotanicalWednesday: Meadowsweet Aspirin is named after it, from Spiraea, meadowsweet's old name. It carries the same salicylates, for pain and fever. Barely tastes of anything, so children take it. Find it in the Marshlands 🌾 #indiedev #cozygames #foraging #herbalism #pixelart

Pixel-art screenshot from Under the Elm. A cluster of meadowsweet - tall stems topped with frothy, creamy-white flower heads - grows at the marsh's edge among green reeds and still water.

191

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

🍄 #MushroomMonday: Beefsteak Fungus It looks like a wound in the tree. Grows low on oak, red and raw-looking, and bleeds red juice when pressed. Harmless, but most hesitate the first time they see it. In Under the Elm, find it in the Oak Forest 🌳 #indiedev #cozygames #foraging #mycology #pixelart

A rounded, deep-red fungus glinting in a grassy forest clearing, ringed by trees and bushes - the Beefsteak Fungus in the pixel-art game Under the Elm.

0102

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

YOU GUYS... I woke up this morning to 100 wishlists on Under the Elm. 💛 It's blowing my mind that 100 real, live people want to spend time in this little world I made. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. You don't know how much this means to me. #indiedev #cozygames #wholesomegames

431

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Filling a neighbour's request in Under the Elm used to flash "gift left, +45 coins" - like a vending machine. So I redid it: they leave a note, you leave a bottle on the mantel, they collect it while you're out and leave a little something in return. #indiedev #cozygames #pixelart #wholesomegames

071

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

🏘️ #VillagerFriday: Thorne Ten years in the valley and the mayor is still the newcomer: that's how long memories run here. Polite, careful, a little formal, and quietly aware the village let him in when it didn't have to. Find him in the town hall 🏫 #indiedev #cozygames #cozygame #pixelart #devlog

Pixel art interior of a village town hall. Arched windows and wall sconces line the pale walls, with a shelf of color coded document boxes above an info desk. On the right, the mayor in a navy coat stands at a desk holding an open book, a monitor and a potted plant, with two armchairs nearby.

0141

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

🌿 #BotanicalWednesday - Yarrow The old soldiers called it woundwort. Packed into a cut, it stops the bleeding and keeps the rot out. Hemostatic, fever-breaking. A field-edge weed doing battlefield work. Find it in the Clearing 🌿 #indiedev #cozygames #foraging #herbalism #pixelart

Pixel-art yarrow - clusters of tiny white flowers on feathery green stems - growing at the edge of a sunny summer clearing in the cozy game Under the Elm.

1132

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Update 0.2.9 is live for Under the Elm 🍄 Playtesters kept getting lost finding villagers, so the map got a full redesign: a biome atlas that quietly points the way. And the whole UI now scales to any screen. #indiedev #cozygames #pixelart #cottagecore #wholesomegames #mushroomforaging

An open in-game map in Under the Elm, drawn as a parchment atlas in a wooden frame. It shows a cozy top-down pixel-art village - cobblestone paths winding between little shops and cottages, a central plaza, garden plots, scattered trees, and a blue pond in the corner. Down the left edge are biome tabs (Clearing, Village, and several still-locked ones marked ???); down the right is a column of greyed-out villager silhouettes labeled ??? - the neighbors you haven't met yet.

2114

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

🍄 #MushroomMonday: Porcini The find that makes a late-summer walk worth it. They have a fat stem, a brown bun of a cap, and they're spongy underneath with no gills. Italians call them little pigs! In Under the Elm, find them in the Oak Forest 🌳 #indiedev #cozygames #foraging #mycology #pixelart

Pixel art from a cozy foraging game. A single plump porcini mushroom - pale tan with a rounded cap and thick stem - sits on grassy ground in a sunny forest, ringed by leafy green trees, with small golden sparkles scattered across the grass around it.

0101

Crooked Stone Studios @crookedstonestudio.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

The marsh at midday - all mist and slow water. This is the kind of corner I most like getting lost in while I'm building it. Somewhere quiet to wade through and see what's grown since last time. #ScreenshotSaturday #cozygames #pixelart #indiedev #wholesomegames #cottagecore

Top-down pixel-art scene of a green summer wetland. Pale blue waterways and small ponds wind between grassy islands dotted with reeds, willow trees, and lily pads. Bands of soft white mist drift across the marsh. A small character with red hair stands near the center. A wooden HUD in the top-left shows the time (12:47 pm), the date (Thursday 18), 300 coins, and an energy bar.

0112