iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Tim Graham Games @timgames.bsky.social · 37m

T minus 23 minutes until Roguefort gets that release button clicked for the first and last time Time for some calming Brie Excitement levels high to extreme store.steampowered.com/app/4274730/... #roguelikedev #indiedev #indiegames

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Vederant @vederant.bsky.social · 17/10/2024

Well, time to make the switch. Hello Bluesky !! 🌟 I'm Greg, a Game Character and VFX Artist based in the UK. 🪷 I love everything stylised! 🪷

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Ezra Szanton @ezra-szanton.itch.io · 08/10/2026

Sometimes steam players get a bad rap for being toxic, but I've found most of the players in the Mr Magpie forums to be really lovely so far! Case in point: a discussion about how "random" the game is (a complicated and somewhat fraught topic)

First post asks if the game is just random or not. Second post says there are ways to mitigate the randomness. Third post dives deeper into it and explains the interplay between the hints and the push your luck aspects.

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Ezra Szanton @ezra-szanton.itch.io · 08/10/2026

Another one (Side note, it is actually kinda crazy how similar Mr Magpie is to Voltorb flip. Something I learned about when somebody told me halfway into development!)

At some point we're just going to reinvent voltorb flip

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Ezra Szanton @ezra-szanton.itch.io · 07/10/2026

Thanks! I think this is the power of playing a LOT of games and drawing on inspiration from all of them :D

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Ezra Szanton @ezra-szanton.itch.io · 07/10/2026

Making a game that combines a lot of stuff is funny because it kind of breaks peoples brains to talk about.

Person 1: Game devs be like "BALATRO MEETS MINESWEEPER"
Person 2: *Inscryption + minesweeper
Person 3: gameplay wise, it's balatro minesweeper. its more buckshot roulette than inscryption in vibe
Person 4: "Mean Muppet Minesweepr" is what I've been calling it.
Person 5: I think you mean Dark Souls

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itch.io @itch.io · 06/10/2026

🫢 Oh and one more thing today! Spoiler text and collapsible details are now available for editing within the text editor

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itch.io @itch.io · 22/09/2026

We've rolled out a spam detector update that should be much better with detecting hacked accounts that post fake "game updates" in comments, among other things. We also did a pass on collection spammers Spam is a never ending battle, but hopefully this update should noticeably improve the situation

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Feather’s Edge by Clockwork Acorn @clockworkacorn.com · 02/10/2026

The demo for Feather’s Edge has officially left the nest! We’re excited to announce that it is available to play on Steam - happy dashing and slashing! Play the demo today: store.steampowered.com/app/5094710/Feathers_Edge_Demo/ #indiegames Please share and enjoy our demo!

store.steampowered.com

Feather's Edge Demo on Steam

Dash and slash through an innovative kinetic metroidvania. The Tower of Time awaits – a rich, handcrafted world fractured by the collapse of time. Slice through foes in tough-as-talons bite-sized batt...

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Andrew | BUY INDIEPOCALYPSE ➡️ PRGE @pizzapranks.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Another variation of the Indiepocalypse booth is all set up at BostonFIG! (minus all the missing tape market games I forgot to reprint and am doing so now)

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Kitfox Games 🦊 @kitfoxgames.com · 30/09/2026

Caves of Qud is coming to Switch 2 as a free upgrade for Switch 1 owners + a limited physical edition from @lostincult.co.uk 🍄 Pre-order now: www.lostincult.co.uk/shop/p/caves...

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Ezra Szanton @ezra-szanton.itch.io · 27/09/2026

Petting a cat is a study in quitting while you're ahead

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Ezra Szanton @ezra-szanton.itch.io · 22/09/2026

You're the best! Thank you, Leaf.

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Ezra Szanton @ezra-szanton.itch.io · 21/09/2026

holy shit new nolen game just dropped

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Ezra Szanton @ezra-szanton.itch.io · 21/09/2026

Also realized I forgot to post the link to the blog post. Here it is! kadenramstack.neocities.org/Blog_Posts/I...

kadenramstack.neocities.org

The web site of kadenramstack

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Ezra Szanton @ezra-szanton.itch.io · 21/09/2026

Reread your thread and I now realize you meant specifically problems with setting up games. Sorry this was off topic. I hope it's a useful perspective anyway!

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Ezra Szanton @ezra-szanton.itch.io · 21/09/2026

Here's the blog post where @kadenramstack.bsky.social figured this out. I think it probably comes from a good place of wanting to factor YT videos into the popularity of a game, but I believe that itch would do a better job surfacing the best games for players without it.

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Ezra Szanton @ezra-szanton.itch.io · 21/09/2026

Relatedly, there seems to be a loophole in the popularity algorithm that greatly weights youtube links. I believe some creators are taking advantage of this by creating alt accounts that post comments with many YT links. For instance, this account boosting twilight observer itch.io/profile/blue...

itch.io

Spikezzz

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Ezra Szanton @ezra-szanton.itch.io · 21/09/2026

This is a great thread! I appreciate how much care you put into the site. The main one of these that got me excited was handling spam. There have been months where I report spam in the comments of my games daily (it's been better recently not sure if that's circumstance or a change on the backend)

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Jake Birkett - Veteran Indie @greyalien.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

DLC ANNOUNCEMENT! Just when you thought the card-flipping horrors were over... new secrets are unearthed. Introducing a brand new story-driven DLC, Forbidden Solitaire: The Discarded! Please wishlist and share: store.steampowered.com/app/5238350/... New levels, enemies, jokers, sigils + more!

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Draknek & Friends @draknek.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

So, “Order of the Sinking Star” by Thekla was just announced, which takes several small free games (two of which are mine) and gives them a major graphical upgrade and mashes up their rulesets. I haven’t been very involved but it’s a great concept and looks cool.

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Jon Perry @perryjon.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

🎉 Party House: The Deckbuilding Game is available for preorder now! 🚶‍♀️Follow the link below to learn more and back the Kickstarter. www.kickstarter.com/projects/bit... ✨ While you're there, you also have the option to preorder a board game adaptation of fantastic videogame Baba is You!

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Dan Marshall @danthat.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Are you a Unity whizz kid who understands SHADERGRAPHS and 2D TILEMAPS? I need to overlay a repeating texture on top of a tilemap, buuuut tilemap UVs are a fucking nightmare, so I don't really know how to handle it. Paid gig! Probably quite quick if you know what you're doing: dan@sizefivegames.com

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Cara Ellison @caraellison.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Sthng that maybe I could get better at is teaching folks new to game design that making detailed plans or game design docs at the beginning of the process, or really anything that is more than a page is really just a waste of time. Broad strokes are fine bc no one reads and early changes are fast

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Freezebeam @freezebeam.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Look! A new season of Tiny Mass Games: tinymassgames.itch.io Prey Drive - @bajathefrog.social T1DRIS - @onetruelorn.bsky.social Bobgar's 3D Game QBasic Edition - @bobgar.bsky.social Doki Doki Dairy Panic - @superflounder.bsky.social Back To Basics - @taselist.bsky.social Congrats! #indiegames

tinymassgames.itch.io

Tiny Mass Games

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Tom Francis @pentadact.com · 07/09/2026

If anyone else had a similarly love hate relationship with The Bazaar - or is curious about "fight other players builds" games - I like Sokpop's new game Grail! store.steampowered.com/app/3597200/... Seems like a much kinder take on it so far.

store.steampowered.com

Save 20% on Grail on Steam

In this deckbuilder your deck plays automatically. Upgrade, enchant and stickerize your cards to create clever cascading effects that defeat monsters and other players. Can you reach the Grail?

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davemakes🔶 @mixolumia.com · 07/09/2026

I feel like the main struggle developers have when trying to write marketing copy is that they are describing the game they made instead of the player's experience of it

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Joe Baxter-Webb @indiegameclinic.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

A thing I’ve been noticing a lot recently - a design pattern I’ve seen and liked in a few games - is when a relatively abstract and gamey contrivance makes the game feel more thematic because of the behaviour it produces.

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Crux Games - Combolands @cruxgames.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Our game COMBOLANDS is out NOW on Steam :) and Polygon called it ‘The coolest new roguelike in years’! - Mini citybuilding roguelike - Described as “Balatro x Cities Skylines” - Deep strategy in short bursts - Chain huge combos + break the game

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Josh Galecki @jgalecki.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Ball, Fall, Dungeon Crawl has been released! The drop-merge dungeon crawler with a deep deckbuilding system. Fight your way to the bottom, get past board-shifting bosses, and combo your way to gold and glory. Check it out at store.steampowered.com/app/4529430/...

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Draknek & Friends @draknek.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

We're excited to announce that applications are open for the Draknek New Voices Puzzle Grant 2026 🎉 The grant will award $15,000 to five thinky puzzle game developers from all over the world, and a year's mentorship with genre veterans. Deadline: September 27th More info 👇

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Ichiro Lambe @ichiro.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Today's fun: the Steam Revenue Report: weloveit.io/developers/s... This is a snapshot of estimated earnings for games on Steam (using the Boxleiter Method), alongside different ways to slice the data. How concentrated are sales/reviews? What does a typical game earn at a given percentile? Etc.!

weloveit.io

The Steam Revenue Report — We Love It

Estimated earnings for every game on Steam. Constantly updated, free, and every number is clickable.

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Ezra Szanton @ezra-szanton.itch.io · 06/08/2026

Just wanted to toss my perspective into the mix so folks can see that *sometimes* it can work out well.

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Ezra Szanton @ezra-szanton.itch.io · 06/08/2026

I'm not saying the state of publishing is perfect, and I wish more weird games would get signed earlier in development. I'm also aware that we got lucky and there are plenty of publishers that are not as good as Behaviour and Gambit.

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Ezra Szanton @ezra-szanton.itch.io · 06/08/2026

For Behaviour specifically, they also have access to a large amount of horror fans through Dead by Daylight so that is another way that we can make the game go bigger with them than we could have on our own.

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Ezra Szanton @ezra-szanton.itch.io · 06/08/2026

For it to be worth it for both parties to enter a publishing agreement, there has to be some additional value created from the partnership, not just splitting the pie in more directions. Publishers have weight they can throw around for things like deals and showcase events that we can't on our own.

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Ezra Szanton @ezra-szanton.itch.io · 06/08/2026

There are factors that made Mr Magpie a good fit for publishing: * It has clear comparison games that have done well (buckshot roulette, balatro, etc) * We had a good demo that already had traction with players and streamers * We were halfway through development * We have a small team

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Ezra Szanton @ezra-szanton.itch.io · 06/08/2026

They're also working with Gambit Digital as a publishing partner, who have been fantastic. They're a great combination of practical (on top of the schedule, coordinating marketing beats) and creative (we have some VERY cool things in the pipeline that we get to show off soon!)

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Ezra Szanton @ezra-szanton.itch.io · 06/08/2026

They've also given us enough milestone payments that we can finish the game with minimal stress. I can't say too much about the recoup / % split, but I'm pretty happy with those too. They do get a significant amount but I consider it well worth it for what they've provided.

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Ezra Szanton @ezra-szanton.itch.io · 06/08/2026

I'm very happy with our decision to sign with them. They really "get" the game. We have final say on creative matters but they've given us good feedback that we've taken multiple times.

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Ezra Szanton @ezra-szanton.itch.io · 06/08/2026

So for context, our game Mr Magpie is being published by Behaviour Interactive. We worked on the game for about a year before signing and we've now worked on it for coming up on a year after signing as well.

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Ezra Szanton @ezra-szanton.itch.io · 06/08/2026

NOT trying to dunk at all, as I mostly agree with everything said in these threads, but I figured it might be helpful to share an alternate perspective from someone who recently did decide to go the publisher route.

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