iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Grogpod Roguelike Podcast @grogpod.mastodon.gamedev.place.ap.brid.gy · 25/08/2026

That feeling when you come across an abandoned 35 year old PC in an aircraft hangar and you think to yourself “I could probably get netBSD and some roguelikes running on that thing…” #retrogaming #netbsd #roguelikes #retrocomputing #linux #foss #pcgaming

An old IBM PC 300GL QS1 found in the back of an airplane hangar

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Grogpod Roguelike Podcast @grogpod.mastodon.gamedev.place.ap.brid.gy · 14/08/2026

Save energy by playing Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup! The main game menu for the Steam Deck uses about 6.5W. Running DCSS takes 4.5W, a 30% energy savings! Your local MiFi demands it! #dcss #roguelike #steamdeck #gaming #retrogaming #dungeoncrawl

Load screen art from the game Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup featuring a war axe wielding Minotaur fighter dragging a wimpy armored knight by their cloak

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Grogpod Roguelike Podcast @grogpod.mastodon.gamedev.place.ap.brid.gy · 16/07/2026

The choice for Nolan to cast a washed up rock band to lure Odysseus was a bold choice but the lady has pipes and she’s gonna use em

Scylla the Siren from Greek mythology as depicted in the roguelite game Hades 2

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Grogpod Roguelike Podcast @grogpod.mastodon.gamedev.place.ap.brid.gy · 16/07/2026

Very excited see how thick the Jersey accent is on my boy Polyphemus in Christopher Nolan’s new movie #Odyssey #Hades #gaming #nolan #roguelite #mobboss

The giant cyclops Polyphemus as depicted from the hit 2005 roguelite game Hades 2

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Grogpod Roguelike Podcast @grogpod.mastodon.gamedev.place.ap.brid.gy · 03/06/2026

Courtesy of Donnie Russell II's efforts, a 2008 GBA port of the 1996 C port of the 1978 BASIC rewrite of the 1972 BASIC version of Star Trek by Mike Mayfield Running on a Steam Deck in 2026 lol Donnie has a ton of other classic game ports on his site […] [Original post on mastodon.gamedev.place]

An image of the 1970s classic game Star Trek by Mike Mayfield running on a steam deck via a Gameboy Advance port made by Donnie Russell. A cat's tail is also visible in the image.

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Grogpod Roguelike Podcast @grogpod.mastodon.gamedev.place.ap.brid.gy · 07/05/2026

UFO 50 offers some of the toughest and most brutal roguelike games out there. Oh and a Walrus golfing game for good measure. I had about a 6 month head start over my cohosts for our upcoming recording on it, and even then JUST got my first victory in […] [Original post on mastodon.gamedev.place]

Screenshot from the game UFO 50 featuring a selection of titles and all of them being beaten as indicated by the gold or cherry outline for a floppy disk shape that is normally blue.

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Grogpod Roguelike Podcast @grogpod.mastodon.gamedev.place.ap.brid.gy · 24/04/2026

How I feel briefing my podcast cohosts this weekend on our next episode: UFO 50 Surely two weeks is enough time to play through the likes of Bug Hunter, Velgress, Planet Zoldath, Waldorf's Journey, Party House, Overbold, and Campanella 2...right? […] [Original post on mastodon.gamedev.place]

Briefing room from the UFO 50 game Cyber Owls where one owl is instructing the other secret agent owls on their mission: playing a number of games from the UFO 50 collection

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Grogpod Roguelike Podcast @grogpod.mastodon.gamedev.place.ap.brid.gy · 17/02/2026

Big screen, 2-player Bug Hunter from UFO 50 A super interesting puzzle roguelike game, somewhat similar to Into the Breach or 868-Hack. And that's just 1 out of 7 other fascinating rogue games in the enormous, incredible collection! #UFO50 #roguelike […] [Original post on mastodon.gamedev.place]

A projected image of the UFO 50 game Bug Hunter on a large wall. Colorful bugs and energy cubes litter the screen, where a green and blue player character contemplate on the correct order of operations for victory

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Grogpod Roguelike Podcast @grogpod.mastodon.gamedev.place.ap.brid.gy · 17/02/2026

Celebrating the Switch release of Caves of Qud at Silver Lake Park in Washington State! I know it's a Steam Deck, but folks with a Switch looking for a sci-fi epic of untold proportions are in for a treat from our 2025 GOTY! #QudintheWild #CavesOfQud […] [Original post on mastodon.gamedev.place]

Picture of a Steam Deck playing the game Caves of Qud with an appropriately epic outdoor nature scene of snow-dusted mountains in the distance.

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Grogpod Roguelike Podcast @grogpod.mastodon.gamedev.place.ap.brid.gy · 19/12/2025

Now obviously when you run a podcast on roguelike games, you tend to see the concept everywhere. First episode of Severance and I get jumpscared by the main player character from Cogmind! (A thematic story parallel too???) #cogmind #severance […] [Original post on mastodon.gamedev.place]

On the top: an overhead view of an office building welcome desk shaped like a C.

Bottom: the titular player character from the indie roguelike game Cogmind also shaped like a C.

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Grogpod Roguelike Podcast @grogpod.mastodon.gamedev.place.ap.brid.gy · 26/11/2025

We all know the Steam Awards are just "games with the highest active users released this year", but here are my picks #steamawards #cavesofqud #nightreign #ufo50 #roboquest #steam #steamdeck #gaming #pcgaming

Categories and nominees of mine for the steam awards: Caves of Qud for basically all of them, UFO 50 for Labor of Love, Elden Ring Nightreign for Better With Friends, and Roboquest VR for VR GOTY.

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Grogpod Roguelike Podcast @grogpod.mastodon.gamedev.place.ap.brid.gy · 02/11/2025

Some quests you get in Caves of Qud sounds awfully suspicious but the NPCs always mean well. #cavesofqud

A quest giver in the game Caves of Qud instructing the player to find and enter a “holy hydraulic press” with only the best intentions, surely

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Grogpod Roguelike Podcast @grogpod.mastodon.gamedev.place.ap.brid.gy · 31/10/2025

Further provoking Psychic Sauron has even more haunting dialogue boxes that pop up... 👁️ #cavesofqud

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Grogpod Roguelike Podcast @grogpod.mastodon.gamedev.place.ap.brid.gy · 31/10/2025

Caves of Qud wishing you a happy Halloween when you use too many psychic abilities 👻 The ominous text box that pops up with darkened font hammers home the grandness of a plane of reality that you're tempting fate with. #cavesofqud #spooky

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Grogpod Roguelike Podcast @grogpod.mastodon.gamedev.place.ap.brid.gy · 31/10/2025

I knew you were worried so I checked: yes Caves of Qud does have a bubble rave machine. #cavesofqud

Description of a piece of furniture in the game Caves of Qud for a hydraulic brass foaminator: “during the enterprise of invention, you sometimes imagine the use of a shapeless gray foam. Or, at the very least, you might require it one day, and so some tinker prudently got ahead of the problem and invented the brass foaminator. Inscribed on the base: ‘All the foam, none of the sadness at maybe one day needing foam and not having it.’ “

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Grogpod Roguelike Podcast @grogpod.mastodon.gamedev.place.ap.brid.gy · 29/10/2025

Among many other fun and silly abilities you can pick from in Caves of Qud, one is a straight up quicksave ability. Very handy for a game where death lurks around every chrome steeple! #cavesofqud

A description of the mental mutation ability in Caves of Qud detailing Precognition. “You may activate this power and then later revert to the point in time when you activated it.”

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Grogpod Roguelike Podcast @grogpod.mastodon.gamedev.place.ap.brid.gy · 27/10/2025

Or maybe writing like THIS is the real reason Caves of Qud won a Hugo... #CavesOfQud #writing #comedy

A screenshot from the game Caves of Qud featuring an NPC named "Ca-CA-ca-CAAAAAW" who greets you with the eloquent statement of: "*HONK* The *HOOOOOOOOOOONK* number of molecules *HOOOOOOOOONK* in *HOONK* the rot-black box, nine Daughters ago. *HONK*"

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Grogpod Roguelike Podcast @grogpod.mastodon.gamedev.place.ap.brid.gy · 26/10/2025

How Caves of Qud describes even the most common object is something that Keats or Byron would be proud of. #CavesOfQud #writing #poetry

A screenshot from the game Caves of Qud with a description of a baby’s crib: “Wood slats are megaliths to a child. Feather pillows are cold meadows. Here are the boundaries of their dusk-world.”

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Grogpod Roguelike Podcast @grogpod.mastodon.gamedev.place.ap.brid.gy · 25/10/2025

After enough gameplay hours in Caves of Qud, everything in this image makes perfect sense #CavesOfQud

A silly and poorly photoshopped picture describing a normal scene from Caves of Qud: a three-eyed cat with a unicorn horn wears a Dragon Ball-style eye scouter and sports a wing, a poison stinger, and an arm wielding a ray gun. In the background, on a salt-flat desert scene, a white-hooded raider peeks in on a giant sand worm and a tall, stilted platform structure. In the far distance, a long, spindly blue tower rises up to infinity. The text "you sense a sinister presence nearby" looms ominously overhead.

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Grogpod Roguelike Podcast @grogpod.mastodon.gamedev.place.ap.brid.gy · 23/10/2025

2 weeks to go before our much-requested podcast episode on Caves of Qud and it’s a two parter! The first will focus on the soundtrack and story. Not shocker the game won a Hugo when you have the most sanguine descriptions of firearms #cavesofqud […] [Original post on mastodon.gamedev.place]

A description from the ham Caves of Qud detailing a pump action shotgun: “a nutwood forestock hangs underneath the chrome rib and, when pumped, erupts into ecstatic clicking”

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Grogpod Roguelike Podcast @grogpod.mastodon.gamedev.place.ap.brid.gy · 07/10/2025

Goated prize from the UFO 50 cherry rush charity stream! Over $16k raised for Partners In Health, 3x their original goal. UFO 50 is an amazing game (with some amazing roguelikes to stay tuned for in the podcast) and the cherry rush stream last month […] [Original post on mastodon.gamedev.place]

A manilla envelope with a sticker from the UFO 50 game Magic Garden and a magnet featuring a cat flying the titular UFO, as well as a hastily scribbled thank you note on a pink notecard

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Grogpod Roguelike Podcast @grogpod.mastodon.gamedev.place.ap.brid.gy · 30/08/2025

Amazing day at PAX West this year. Lots of great interviews, lots of great games played. Every time I always leave wanting more. Someone even recognized my #RoguelikeCelebration shirt! Shout out to the devs of Arcane Eats 🍳🧙‍♂️🧙‍♀️ #Paxwest #Gaming #Seattle #convention

Photo of people on the show floor at PAX West 2025

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Grogpod Roguelike Podcast @grogpod.mastodon.gamedev.place.ap.brid.gy · 20/08/2025

Elden Ring Nightreign runs pretty well on the steam deck. 30fps doesn’t feel horrible, but the onboard fan is fighting for its life. Likely 1 or 2 expeditions’s worth of time on a full charge. Still amazed that this is even a thing! #Nightreign […] [Original post on mastodon.gamedev.place]

A picture of the game Elden Ring Nightreign running on the Steam Deck. Not pictured is the jet engine sound the fan is making to keep it cool.

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Grogpod Roguelike Podcast @grogpod.mastodon.gamedev.place.ap.brid.gy · 25/07/2025

Sometimes games are titled too well for me to play them back-to-back without raising questions on my friends list #roguelike #gaming #steam #heiscoming #thekingiswatching #indiedev #indiegame #roguelite

Two recently released roguelite games titled "He Is Coming" and "The King is Watching"

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Grogpod Roguelike Podcast @grogpod.mastodon.gamedev.place.ap.brid.gy · 17/07/2025

Audio editing special game music episodes is always a lengthy process, but the end result is always great fun. #audacity #podcast #editing #production #gamemusic #roguelike #roguelite

Screenshot of the program Audacity showing many clips and cuts to string together a 2 hour special podcast episode on the music of roguelike games (part two!)

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Grogpod Roguelike Podcast @grogpod.mastodon.gamedev.place.ap.brid.gy · 17/06/2025

Traveling through Vienna this week and happened to take the metro right past Rennweg - home of the student developers of Forty-Five! Not every day that I happen to zip past the hometown of European devs we’ve covered on the podcast! #fortyfive #wien […] [Original post on mastodon.gamedev.place]

Picture of the Vienna metro showing Rennweg: the town where HCL Rennweg is located and where the student project game Forty-Five was developed. A recent episode of our podcast!

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Grogpod Roguelike Podcast @grogpod.mastodon.gamedev.place.ap.brid.gy · 16/05/2025

MFW my podcast that 7 people and my cat listen to is unaffected by the spotify updates displaying public play numbers over 50k #podcast #spotify #thesimpsons

Homer Simpson sitting on the couch with a dead-eyed stare into the void that is modern human existence

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Grogpod Roguelike Podcast @grogpod.mastodon.gamedev.place.ap.brid.gy · 26/04/2025

Why go to your local zoo when you have such a diverse array of great apes to see in Path of Achra? #pathofachra #roguelike #ape #gaming #steam #indiegames #indiedev

Different ape class, culture, and religion elections from the game Path of Achra.

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Grogpod Roguelike Podcast @grogpod.mastodon.gamedev.place.ap.brid.gy · 06/04/2025

Cube Chaos offers the best ant-related pixel art we've seen for our podcast thus far

Picture of a square with a total of 7 reddish ochre pixels detailing the minuteness and destructive power of the Brown Ant from the game Cube Chaos

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Grogpod Roguelike Podcast @grogpod.mastodon.gamedev.place.ap.brid.gy · 06/04/2025

There's an endearing aspect to the MS Paint level of art in this game as well

A grid of entities ranging from robots to ant colonies that you can summon in the game Cube Chaos

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Grogpod Roguelike Podcast @grogpod.mastodon.gamedev.place.ap.brid.gy · 04/04/2025

The perfectly normal, not-at-all unhinged gameplay of the roguelite auto-battling tower defense game Cube Chaos #cubechaos

A screenshot of the game Cube Chaos. Lots of particle effects and lasers that a textual description will only fail to describe in any substantial way.

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Grogpod Roguelike Podcast @grogpod.mastodon.gamedev.place.ap.brid.gy · 26/12/2024

A very merry Santascape for those that celebrate the time honored tradition from Tales of Maj'Eyal #roguelike #christmas #talesofmajeyal #tome4

Screenshot from the game Tales of Maj'Eyal with a message saying that Nikolas, the Dwarven Paddlestriker has come to stuff your stocking

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