iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 09/09/2026

In prep for our Imbroglio episode on TSLOG, I spent a while re-reading all of @smestorp.bsky.social's old blog posts. Legit some of the best, most useful writing ever done about making videogames. Check out this nugget from May 2016, sooo good mightyvision.blogspot.com/2016/05/imbr...

"tools:
- steal ideas from another game and try to fix them
- always make the grid smaller
- save up weird ideas until they naturally fit somewhere
- write down all different ideas and then fit them all into a consistent structure
- simplify the design to avoid work you don't want to do
- abandon your original idea, it was just scaffolding"

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 04/09/2026

From this classic 2014 talk by @molleindustria.org, the most provocative insight I've ever read about Serious Games (and thinking through a theory of how games or art affect the world): www.molleindustria.org/blog/making-...

slide that reads in large all-caps text: "If your game or technology really "works" it freaks me out"

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 24/05/2026

Despite the shit grey weather we still have rainbow lorikeets going to town on this blooming eucalyptus, like this makes winter so much more tolerable

Zoomed in photo of rainbow lorikeet in a tree looking at red eucalyptus blooms

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 06/05/2026

Giving this talk on Friday at an internal School symposium (maybe with some uni execs in attendance, lol) I'm really swinging for the fences on this one, plz pray for me

Talk slide. Photo of poster on the left, "Boycott AI @ RMIT Art School" with the picture of a beheaded robot. On the right, title "No, 'AI' is not 'inevitable'", Douglas Wilson, May 8, 2006

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 28/04/2026

Kentucky Route Zero, Act III (2014)

Screenshot from Michael Brough's Corrypt, 2D puzzle game, in the Cursed Village. Message from Miner reads: "Ach, broke my leg in the mines and I'm in debt."

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 30/03/2026

Melbourne International Comedy Festival has begun and we're staging MEL McGLENSEY IS NORMAL all month: thru April 19 6:30pm (5:30pm on Sun) Chinese Museum I run the tech live. Audio by David Kanaga. Most cooked clown show you've ever seen (complimentary). www.comedyfestival.com.au/browse-shows...

Poster for Mel McGlensey is Normal. Award laurels at top, logistical info at bottom. Main image is a very close up image of Mel's face making a strange wide eyed toothy grin. "Stop the clown from being weird" is the tagline. Chinese Museum - Jade Room, March 26 - April 19, @melmcglensey.

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 29/03/2026

This is my life now, just sleeping in a pile of animals, used as a human bed

Photo of man sleeping under big plaid blanket, light brown dog on his side, black and white cat resting on his legs

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 15/03/2026

Our cat and dog have lived together for 5.5 years now, in an uneasy truce. Last night for the first time ever they decided to cuddle (or at least touch butts) 😻

Photo of black and white cat (left) sitting next to and touching (butt to back) light brown dog (right) on big blue couch, in front of deck windows.

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 01/03/2026

Up before dawn today, flying back home from Adelaide Fringe to teach my first classes of the 2026 school year this evening. 11th year teaching my intro class! Today’s opening lecture: 9 ways to radically rethink Rock Paper Scissors / Playing *with* Games

Selfie of Doug at airport wearing black face mask, Adelaide Fringe digital ad in background

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 22/02/2026

Hello from Kaurna Country / Adelaide! Here at the Fringe teching ‘Mel McGlensey is NORMAL’ thru March 1, come see some completely cooked clown (complimentary) 🎭 adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/me...

Selfie of Doug smiling at camera, next to banner for ‘Mel McGlensey is Normal’, Feb 20 - Mar 1, 8:00pm. Banner features a photo of a woman’s face with a weird toothy smile.

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 29/01/2026

Hello from Boorloo Perth! Lunch break at Cottlesloe 🌞 Some dipshit almost pipebombed us on Monday but we still out here living our best life

Selfie of Doug and Melissa clad in sunglasses and hat, beach water and beach building in background with blue sky

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 25/12/2025

Merry Xmas from the AEDT timezone! 🌏

Photo of a black cat in a Christmas neck tie. TV and Christmas stockings blurry in the background.

Photo of brown dog in a red dress on a couch, looking at the camera.

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 25/12/2025

It's that one day of the year where we break out this record of old fashioned Australian Xmas Carols: www.discogs.com/master/79825... Best record cover of all time!

Record cover, "15 Australian Christmas Carols". Lots of small circular colorful illustrations of Australian images, such as Southern Cross, koala, flowers, etc.

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 21/12/2025

Put this record on tonight, what a joy 💚

Photo of someone holding up a record cover: "Music from the game MUTAZIONE. Composed and performed by Alessandro Coronas". The record cover is black and contains illustrations from the game Mutazione.

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 02/12/2025

Hello from Cape Town! Here early at the Homecoming Centre for setup. Already the energy is great. It feels so good to be back at an arts-focused videogames festival.

Selfie of Doug in black KY0 t shirt. Background is a dark hall with hanging PS Move controllers in background, lit up rainbow colors. They reflect on the shiny wood floor.

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 18/11/2025

5.) More Dead Crow arbitrage! This is a Tier 1 curse, not even a Blessing, but any item mix can yield incredible gifts. Note the incredible synergy here between the Mana Potion with Decree. This is worth the Dead Crow imo. (I eventually abandon my bottom hero, load them up with Bottom Poison, etc)

Slice & Dice screenshot. Level 1 curse offer:

11 Mana Potion - "Replace the top side with '+20 mana potion'"
-7 Dead Crow - "Must be equipped. Start of turn 1: I die"
3 Unholy Strength - "Immune to shields. Immune healing. +1 pip to the middle row."
5 Decree - "Add dogma to all sides. dogma: Only pips change when the side is replaced"

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 18/11/2025

4.) omfg this is effectively an Angel Feather for *all heroes* but without even needing to use up an item slot?! Incredibly, my very next Blessing was a permanent Boarhide Bracers (!!) Unreal synergy.... then I immediately flubbed the run :-(

Slice & Dice screenshot. Level 3 Blessing. "topbot.rescue":

"All heroes: add rescue to the top and bottom sides"
"rescue: can be reused if it saves a hero"

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 18/11/2025

3.) Demon Heart is *so so good*. (inflictinflictdeath is such a powerful keyword) The trick is you equip it on, say, your Grey hero to apply it to their shield sides, then you shield your attackers to give them inflictdeath. Instantly kill enemies. I'm real mad at myself for flubbing this run.

Slice & Dice screenshot. Level 3 Blessing offer with the following items:

0 Learn Betray "Betray: two mana, Kill an ally"
13 Demon Heart (inflictinflictdeath symbol to middle and top/bot sides)
-1 Barrel Hoops
6 Leaden Handle
-2 Slimed

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 18/11/2025

2.) Unbelievably serendipitous synergy here. The Pentagram cancels out the Dead Crow if I want... but more likely I'll equip it elsewhere. Deep into a Cursed Hyper run, I've already given up on magic and consigned my bottom hero as useless.

Slice & Dice screenshot. Level 3 blessing that includes an offer of:

16 Pentagram "First 5 turns: Cannot die")
11 Economancy "Add squared to the middle column"
-7 Dead Crow "Must be equipped. Start of turn 1: I die"
5 Magic Staff "Set all mana/managain sides to 2"
0 Name Tag "Keep old name when leveling up"

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 18/11/2025

1.) Best blessing I've ever received. Using a Cataclysm strategy, this item powered me to my v 3.1 PB high score of 120 (initially #3, now #9 on the global leaderboards) My main fear here was the Left Sticky curse, but actually what got me in the end was too many cursed items filling up slots.

Slice & Dice screenshot. 3 i.ritem.74c21 - "Replace the five right sides with 'Dodge all damage and enemy effects this turn'" / "(permanent item)"

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 05/11/2025

Super excited to share that I will be attending @playtopia.bsky.social in Cape Town in December! I've heard such good things about the festival. I'll be there giving a talk (playtopiafestival.co.za/program-satu...) and exhibiting a new iteration of Canopy Co-op (doougle.itch.io/canopy-coop)

Photo of hanging PS Move controllers in a garage. The controllers are hanging by strings, glowing different colors (pink, yellow, green, white). A painted wall with test is blurry in the background. Photo by Nick Robertson.

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 31/10/2025

Y'all talking about egg games this week and I have yet to see one of you chuckleheads recognize the GOAT (De Mol Belgie S11, Ep 3, 2023)

Screenshot from reality tv show De Mol Belgie. A group of people in pink jumpsuits sit laughing in the back of a truck. Their jumpsuits are covered in little pockets, many of which are filled with an egg.

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 29/10/2025

A couple people guessed it, I used a level 0 item, Shovel Bite, then leveled up the Spade. (Sadly, the Green hero reverted back to Red on the next loop. But I did get a lot of use out of Robot for a couple levels) Level 0 items can be fun and situationally useful, don’t fully ignore them!

Screenshot of Slice & Dice, inventory menu. The item selected reads “0 Shovel Bite: Levels up into Spade”.

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 29/10/2025

btw here’s a fun quiz for any fellow Slice & Dice sickos out there: How did I get a Statue into Cursed Hyper in a Basic party layout? (I was very amused by the trick that allowed this)

Screenshot from Slice & Dice videogame on iOS. A party consisting of Trapper, Fighter, Squire, Statue, and Jester face four enemies entering Fight 26.

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 28/10/2025

November is almost here which means, the Bottlebrushes are popping off

Close up photo looking up at a bottlebrush with bright red blossoms

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 25/10/2025

Naarm/Melb! We're still trying to adopt out these (bonded pair) beautiful, incredibly sweet (indoor only) cats. Finally got a formal listing via Maneki Neko Cat Rescue, get in touch if you know anyone interested and reliable. www.petrescue.com.au/listings/114...

Two long haired grey cats lying on a bed, looking at the camera. The one closer to the camera is lying on a towel, the one at the back of the bed is lying in a blue cat bed. The bed is strewn with other cat beds and carriers, and a cat brush.

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 18/09/2025

Naarm/Melbourne! We are re-fostering these beautiful two cats (indoor only) and looking to adopt them (as a pair). They are so so so sweet and we would have adopted them ourselves if we didn’t already have our own. Get in touch!

Two grey and white fluffy cats on a carpet, the left one is on his back and had his eyes wide open, looking at the camera

Two white and grey fluffy cats. The left one is on the ground, the right one is on a towel on a bed. Both looking upwards towards the ceiling.

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 10/09/2025

Here's a nice photo of me and Melissa from Edinburgh Fringe, pre-show at Pleasance in our dressing room (Photo by Jennifer Forward-Hayter)

Photo of Melissa and Doug in a dressing room, smiling at the camera, chairs scattered in the background. Melissa is on a stool in a white tennis dress, Doug is wearing a backpack and holding a laptop.

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 06/09/2025

Layover in Ho Chi Minh City

Photo of urban walkway with motor scooters parked on sides and Vietnamese flags hanging on building sides, skyscraper in background

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 18/08/2025

Melissa representing Team Australia here in the Meadows at the 2025 Clown Olympics (lol)

Group photo of six colorfully dressed clowns, in the park, smiling at the camera.

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 14/08/2025

Hello from Edinburgh Fringe! If you're in town, come see our new clown show! Until Aug 24: www.pleasance.co.uk/event/mel-mc... Gameshow/videogame logic meets contemporary clown, with custom audio by David Kanaga.

Photo of Doug standing on the sidewalk, in sunglasses, next to a large show poster for "Mel McGlensey is NORMAL", featuring a picture of a huge zoomed in face and show text.

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 05/06/2025

"Come along for a one-of-a-kind collaborative clown experience plumbing the depths of normaldom, as decided by you. Let's have a normal one, folks!" www.pleasance.co.uk/event/mel-mc...

Show poster, titled: "Mel McGlensey is NORMAL". Four award laurels at top. Photo is a zoomed-out full body photo of a woman in a white tennis dress, standing awkwardly and grinning at the camera. The background is entirely white and empty. Middle of the poster reads: "Stop the clown from being weird". Bottom of the poster reads: "Pleasance Courtyard Below, 23:05, 12th - 24th August, Presented by BRIGHTSIDE, Directed by Sharnema Nougar, Co-created by Douglas Wilson"

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 05/06/2025

🎭 ANNOUNCING 🎭 Mel McGlensey is NORMAL "Stop the clown from being weird" a brand new @melmcglensey.bsky.social clown show, co-created by me and w/ live tech by me Edinburgh Fringe Pleasance Courtyard August 12-24 Tickets here: www.pleasance.co.uk/event/mel-mc...

Show poster, titled: "Mel McGlensey is NORMAL". Four award laurels at top. Photo is a zoomed-in face, eyes wide open and weird grin. Bottom of the poster reads: "Pleasance Courtyard Below, 23:05, 12th - 24th August, Presented by BRIGHTSIDE, Directed by Sharnema Nougar, Co-created by Douglas Wilson"

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 03/05/2025

First time voting as an Australian citizen! (Frantically web searching Senate micro parties) Greens, Socialists, let’s do this! Flip Wills, kick out the ALP ✌🏻

Photo of Doug, in sunglasses and Always Was jacket, thumbs up, schoolyard sun shade and sun in the background

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 13/04/2025

Damn, I blew it at the end! The early loop is always the scariest part. Still, proud to reclaim a spot in the Top 10 (imo Cursed Hyper is the best mode in Slice & Dice)

Screenshot excerpt from videogame Slice & Dice show high score list in white and magenta pixelated font. Cursed-Hyper, entry is for “doougles” at #6 at level 103.

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 12/04/2025

One last gasp of warm weather this weekend, final boogie boarding session of the season at Torquay

Photo of Torquay Surf Beach, ocean and waves in distance, pine tree and beach goers on grassy hill in foreground

Selfie of man in black wetsuit, ocean and surfers in immediate background, cliffs in distant background

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 01/03/2025

Beach by day, alt comedy by night, that’s Adelaide Fringe babyyy

Selfie of Doug in sunglasses and hat, one person on each side also jn the selfie, with beach and turquoise water in the background below

Photo of Melissa and Ben on stage, audience in the foreground, blue mood lighting behind them. Melissa is pointing at an audience member.

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 15/02/2025

Melissa got me this bouquet of Australian flowers for Valentines Day (from Bush, same place that did our wedding flowers)

Photo of bouquet of Australian native flowers, various bright colors, in a vase on a table. Wall decoration and bookshelf in background.

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 27/01/2025

Yooo Boorloo what’s up, visiting town briefly for Perth Fringe 🎭😎

Photo of Melissa and Doug in sunglasses, hill and Boorloo Perth skyscraper skyline in background and blue sky

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 20/01/2025

4th Round evening action at The Tennis! 🎾

Photo looking down at lit tennis court at Rod Laver Arena, crowd on all sides. Sunset sky, skyscrapers slightly visible behind the court

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 11/01/2025

Boogied too hard, wave snapped my board in half 😲

Photo of Doug in a wetsuit, on a broad beach, holding up a blue boogie board with a big white foam crack through the middle

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 01/01/2025

Blessed by this beautiful kookaburra on my first walk of the year

Photo of a light brown kookaburra, sitting on a branch, other trees in background

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 24/11/2024

This certainly won't last long, 70 isn't a particularly good score, but I had to take the #1 spot in Cursed-Hyper in the new Slice & Dice re-balance, even if just briefly. (Previous score submitting bugs just got fixed in a new 3.1.20 patch)

Screen shot Slice & Dice, leaderboard for Cursed-Hyper mode. "doougle" is in #1 position with level 70, submitted today on platform desktop. The next highest entry, from JexxMixx, is level 35, 4 days ago, on desktop.

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 30/10/2024

Fun news: Sabby gallery is exhibiting our Game-a-Week undergrads' work on Saturday, Nov 23, 7pm-11pm in Collingwood Lots of excellent games this semester, this is going to be a fun evening!

Poster image, with an anthropomorphic television using a yellow game controller. Poster reads:

Student Game-a-Week Showcase
7pm - 11pm Sat Nov 23
Hangout and play local games made in only a week!
141 Victoria Pde Collingwood (not Fitzroy)

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 26/10/2024

"Craft is a machine built to produce and reproduce ethical failures; it is a counterrevolutionary machine." Fargo Tbakhi - "Notes on Craft: Writing in the Hour of Genocide" proteanmag.com/2023/12/08/n... Especially worth reading in light of all the ongoing USA newspaper crises.

Quote from the article:
"Above all, Craft is the result of market forces; it is therefore the result of imperial forces, as the two are so inextricably bound up together as to be one and the same. The Craft which is taught in Western institutions, taken up and reproduced by Western publishers, literary institutions, and awards bodies, is a set of regulatory ideas which curtail forms of speech that might enact real danger to the constellation of economic and social values which are, as I write this, facilitating genocide in Palestine and elsewhere across the globe. If, as Audre Lorde taught us, the master’s tools cannot dismantle the master’s house, then Craft is the process by which our own real liberatory tools are dulled, confiscated, and replaced. We believe our words sharper than they turn out to be. We play with toy hammers and think we can break down concrete. We think a spoon is a saw."

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 05/06/2024

Great classic tweet making the rounds again, couldn't resist talking about it here. I really strongly believe that the dream of “distribute to as many strangers as possible” has seriously poisoned our conception of game “design” at such a deep level.

Screenshot of a tweet from colinbroadmoor.bsky.social /
@saikohistory. It reads:

"The concept of the "mass audience" has had a largely deleterious influence on art. Create art for at most 30 sickos at a time."

The date is 5:22 AM · Jan 22, 2022

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 25/04/2024

After A MAZE, me and Melissa head to Antwerp to attend the live finale of the 2024 season of Flemish De Mol, and hopefully do some interviews for @eggplantshow.bsky.social. Meanwhile, don't miss our weekly De Mol recaps: www.patreon.com/posts/eggpla...

Photo of a television screen in front of a dark background. On the screen is a close up of Gilles de Coster. At the bottom center of the image are subtitles in both Flemish and English: "Best friends. - Oh my God." / "Beste vrienden. - Oh my God."

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Douglas Wilson @doougle.net · 25/04/2024

While I'm at A MAZE, me and @zerofiftyone.bsky.social are doing a public let's play of Spoils, the in-world card game of (2024 Nominee) Saltsea Chronicles. More informal public chat than formal talk. Wilsons Play Spoils Friday May 10 2024.amaze-berlin.de/schedule/

Illustration of playing cards from the videogame Saltsea Chronicles. Different suited cards, such as the Q of Stars, Ace of Anchors, 3 of Fish, etc, lie face up against a purple background, next to a small deck of facedown cards with solid green backs.

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