iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 02/08/2026

I've had a bit of a break from game/web dev but I'd like to say I'm easing back in now with some simple bits. I moved my Potion Puzzle Shop leaderboard to an AWS Lambda (boring, but cheaper) and I updated the Godot splash screen for my pet doggy (slightly less boring). #gamedev #webdev #indiedev

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 18/05/2026

The predictive text on my new game is now working! Now I need to whip up some characters, and yes, I need to make a quick game of Snake xx #gamdev #indiedev #godot

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 03/05/2026

Yes!!! And swappable cases!! And maybe swappable buttons?!!

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 02/05/2026

Haha I had so many ideas and I think Notkia might be my fave

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 02/05/2026

Haha! I’ve heard rumours that it’s bulletproof

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 02/05/2026

First look at the retro phone for my next game! The buttons all have pressed versions!! I am not an artist and this took me *ages* and now I’m really happy to get back into Godot lol 💜 #gamedev #indiedev #godot

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 26/04/2026

Ok have I gone mad with this game idea or am I onto something??? #gamedev #indiedev #godot

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 12/04/2026

My new page redesign is up!! I am so proud of this, 12 year old me would die if she saw this page. It is the 2000s again, I just decided. 💜👾 #webdev #gamedev #retroweb ginacities.com

ginacities.com

GinaCities

Ginacities is the home of Gina Giannetti, Junior Software Engineer @ BBC News. Trying to make cosy, perhaps mystical games in my spare time.

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 09/04/2026

The leaderboard on my game was inspired by the early internet, and getting some cloud experience is probably useful right?? 💜👾 #gamedev #indiedev #webdev

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 03/04/2026

I've given my potion puzzle game an online leaderboard! Adding a full cloud architecture to my free game is probably overkill but I have been meaning to learn some backend development 😶‍🌫️ please have a go at knocking me off the top spot 🧙‍♀️ ginacities.itch.io/potion-puzzl... #gamedev #indiedev #godot

ginacities.itch.io

Potion Puzzle Shop by ginacities

A potion puzzle game where you learn magical shapes to clear potions

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 29/03/2026

Why do we crave the 2000s internet so much? Is it just pure nostalgia or something more? I discuss this in my latest long form video 💜👾 featuring @neocities.org @neopets.bsky.social and even @godotengine.org www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCfO... #indieweb #indiegames #webdev

youtube.com

Why do we crave the 2000s internet so much? Let's talk about the indie web

YouTube video by GinaCities

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 23/03/2026

Did you check the How to Play section? Because you’re the first person with that feedback, one person said it took them a while but nobody said it wasn’t obvious so I’m interested if you read that part because I did try to make it clear there and I didn’t use pop ups for re-playability.

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 20/03/2026

What do I talk about when I’m not sure what to post about and it’s been a little while? Well tutorial messages of course 😂🙏🏼💜👾 #gamedev #indiedev

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 15/03/2026

Creativity is so strange nowadays. I built a whole (free) game, then had to go on social media to promote it, so then I made a long-form YouTube video about it, and had to go on social media to promote *that* like, sometimes it feels... endless? Luckily I'm enjoying it but still, oof. #gamedev

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 15/03/2026

My first YouTube video is up! The full process of making my Potion Puzzle game. Grab a tea and get comfy, this one was really fun to make. 💜👾 #gamedev #indiedev youtu.be/QYRHYpf8C5Q

youtu.be

Making a Puzzle Game in Godot | Full Game Dev Journey | Cozy Comfort Vlog

YouTube video by GinaCities

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 12/03/2026

On bluesky I have one TENTH of the followers I have on TikTok and yet Itch says more people from Bluesky have played my free potion puzzle game than from TikTok. Soooo thank you, wow, you guys are the best and I should spend more time here. 🥹💜👾 #gamedev #indiedev

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 11/03/2026

yes I've got exactly the same! I made this post after a couple of reddit comments saying it was a bit unclear what to do in my game, nobody else has said that so I don't want to reinvent anything but *wanting* to be hand guided through a game is baffling to me! Nobody guided you through tetris! 😂

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 11/03/2026

Tutorials are such a hilarious hot topic in the game dev world and i do find people's takes so interesting! I generally dislike being forced to go through a lot of tutorial pop ups and like to just discover games for myself, but some people feel utterly lost without them. #gamedev #indiedev

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 10/03/2026

Devlog covering how I built my Potion Puzzle Shop game, it’s come a long way in 2 months! 💜👾 #gamedev #indiedev #godot

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 08/03/2026

Had a twitch streamer call my game “Candy crush if it was a smart game” and that kinda made my day 😂😂 #gamedev #indiedev #godot

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 07/03/2026

Playthrough of my game, it gets hard lol 🧙🏽‍♀️💜 #gamedev #indiedev #godot #cozygaming

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 06/03/2026

Thanks so much. I sent it out to a few people to test a few days before launch and the feedback was all good but I had to do a lot of tweaking to the difficulty before launch and ended up quickly adding in levels just to allow for different play styles.

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 06/03/2026

I love the idea of having a cute little portfolio of free games that I built in my spare time that I can be proud of. Each one slightly more complicated than the last one. I see so many incredibly impressive games but you have to start somewhere 💜 #gamedev #indiedev

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 06/03/2026

thanks so much! haha I have a few ideas and I am struggling to decide on one but I think I do want to keep it small because I do like having a little portfolio to build up. It is tempting to do a bigger steam release but even this game took a lot of energy!

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 05/03/2026

I miss when the internet was a simpler time. So let’s go back and play some puzzle games. 💜👾 #retrogaming #cozygaming #gamedev #indiedev

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 02/03/2026

Ah you nearly did it! There are 12 levels! Thanks so much 💜

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 02/03/2026

My new free game Potion Puzzle Shop is creeping up New and Popular for Web on @itch.io! ginacities.itch.io/potion-puzzl... Give it a play and let me know what you think 💜 #gamedev #indiedev #godot

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 02/03/2026

yayy thanks so much! 💜

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 02/03/2026

Wow thank you so so much! Second try is great!

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 02/03/2026

Thanks so much! You get progress from completing the cards and when the progress bar fills up you get a coin :) so many people say they don't like spending money on poisons haha! I think at later levels you may need the higher poisons 💜

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 02/03/2026

Thanks for letting me know, I've just made a change please let me know if it's better.

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 02/03/2026

Thanks so much, it was set in Itch to be mobile friendly and to make it fullscreen but I've also just added to force portrait, please let me know if that's better. I tried to find android users to test the game but I struggled!

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 02/03/2026

What phone are you using? All devices I’ve tested on have loaded correctly. The Itch settings are correct 🙂

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 02/03/2026

My new game Potion Puzzle Shop is now live and free to play in browser on @itch.io ! Let me know what you think! 💜👾 ginacities.itch.io/potion-puzzl... #gamedev #indiedev #godot

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 28/02/2026

My free potion puzzle game is launching tomorrow. So here are my 3 extra tips for launching a game. P.S follow me on Itch to be notified when it’s out ginacities.itch.io 💜👾 #gamedev #indiedev #godot

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 26/02/2026

My game Potion Puzzle Shop is launching on Sunday. Please follow me on Itch to be the first to play it. ginacities.itch.io #gamedev #indiedev #godot

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 25/02/2026

I have the rest of the week off to finish my game! Weeeeee so much fun 💜👾 #gamedev #indiedev

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 22/02/2026

Ok I buckled up and drew some poisons today ☠️💜👾 #gamedev #indiedev #procreate

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 22/02/2026

I need to do artwork today and instead I am scrolling. Ugh. Here’s a picture of my dog.

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 20/02/2026

This spell book animation has just taken the LONGEST time, I *think* I’ve finally nailed it?? But also this is the good think about a deadline, I have to let this go now 💜👾 #gamedev #indiedev #godot

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 18/02/2026

Some of my favourite tips and resources for getting started in Godot 💜👾 (featuring @qaqelol.bsky.social and @brackeys.com) #gamedev #indiedev #godot

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 16/02/2026

Little devlog: adding a contents page to my spellbook in Godot 💜👾 #gamedev #indiedev #godot

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 15/02/2026

Ok so I’ve realised my game that is launching in 2 weeks doesn’t actually have a name lol??? Pls help 💜👾 #gamedev #indiedev #godot

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Gina Giannetti @ginacities.com · 14/02/2026

Spent longer than I care to admit adding a working contents page to a spell book today. I would show it but it’s literally a contents page. It is a list of words. 😭 #gamedev #indiedev #godot

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