iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Jake Sones @jakeson.es · 28/08/2026

I figured out what it reminded me of...

Jake Sones @jakeson.es · 28/08/2026

Y'all saw that Amano Eclipse, right?

A photo of the blood moon eclipse between two palm trees with some clouds being lit by the light being reflected off the moon. The final fantasy typeface is framing the eclipse.

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Jake Sones @jakeson.es · 28/08/2026

Yeah, but I brought out my nice camera with the big lens.

Jake Sones @jakeson.es · 20/08/2026

Dogpile is better than it has any right to be. Well done @folly.studio & @tootgames.com.au! In the deluge of Balatro plus <random>, this one works! I also like the model of free to try, reasonable price to own forever. iOS: apps.apple.com/us/app/dogpi... Android: play.google.com/store/apps/d...

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Jake Sones @jakeson.es · 16/08/2026

I keep waiting for another rocket launch during sunset so I can make a time lapse of it. This is the closest I've gotten in a while. You can see the trails at high altitude have blown into a spiral that catches the last bits of the sun after the rest of the sky has gone dark.

Jake Sones @jakeson.es · 30/07/2026

Film you've watched more than six times with a gif. Hard mode: no Star Trek, Star Wars, LOTR, Marvel, Disney, or Ghibli.

Jake Sones @jakeson.es · 21/07/2026

Hasbro made a couple of these in the 70s, but they were definitely more geared towards "project a target to shoot" rather than "this is how you check for monsters, also you're armed in case you find one." I like your framing better.

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Jake Sones @jakeson.es · 15/07/2026

Played once when you first posted and forgot how to play in the meantime. Love the graph and came back to try it again. Fivefold #247 (Jul 15, 2026) fivefold.ca 🕒 5:37 🏆 0 hints

Jake Sones @jakeson.es · 14/07/2026

Something that would be a big help (but is unlikely to happen due to the cost to platform holders), is to have a more stringent review process for submission to stores (eShop, PS Store, Steam). A quality bar needs to exist. The amount of low effort games that exist on ALL platforms is STAGGERING.

A cropped photo of the Official Nintendo Seal of Quality on a Super Metroid cartridge for SNES.

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Jake Sones @jakeson.es · 10/07/2026

You had me in the first half, not gonna lie.

A photo of the band Black Flag, which as far as I'm aware, is unrelated to Assassin's Creed IV.

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Jake Sones @jakeson.es · 30/06/2026

This is Eddie Legs, his favorite thing about @theonion.com is the ads.

A stuffed spider whose two front legs are lovingly wrapped around the ad for peccaries.

The caption reads:
"Move over, pigs. There's a new pig-like thing in town."

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Jake Sones @jakeson.es · 20/06/2026

Lookin good! I did spot an issue on iPhone 14 Pro (iOS 26.5) using Safari (maybe other devices/browsers). These two images are large enough that it allows the page to scroll horizontally and when using your right thumb to scroll upwards you can accidentally slide it left and have it stay there.

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Jake Sones @jakeson.es · 06/06/2026

Big Otagi Nenbutsu-Ji energy. www.otagiji.com/story-en

A rakan statue carved during the decade long restoration of Otagi Nenbutsu-Ji temple started in 1981. It shows an excited person holding a Walkman -- pilgrims to the temple were taught to carve personal figures that spoke to their passions.

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Jake Sones @jakeson.es · 02/06/2026

Huge congrats to @potipoti.studio on their Apple Design Award for "Is This Seat Taken?" Well deserved!

A screenshot of the Apple Design Awards website, featuring "Is This Seat Taken?" as the games winner of the "Delight and Fun" category.

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Jake Sones @jakeson.es · 02/06/2026

That table got me to finally set up a Stern Insider account. The machine has a camera to scan a QR code on your phone and will register lifetime catches of individual Pokémon so you can complete your Pokédex. Stern hasn't released the official version, but there's a homebrew: www.pinballdex.com

Screen shot of homebrew Pokédex pulling actual data from a linked Stern Insider account.

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Jake Sones @jakeson.es · 31/05/2026

If anyone out there is looking for a super lightweight image browser on MacOS, Phoenix Slides has just been updated to better support transparent images, so now it's great for game dev textures. Also, it's free! blyt.net/phxslides/

Screenshot of Phoenix Slides, image browsing software that focuses on directory structure at the top and thumbnails of the current folder at the bottom.

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Jake Sones @jakeson.es · 29/05/2026

Really enjoyed the demo for Luke Muscat's Normal Golf Game (store.steampowered.com/app/4663130/...). It's got QWOP controls for a THPS grinding balance meter which determines the accuracy of your shot... once you successfully hit a target with a cat you're swinging by the tail with your mouse.

Also, I hit a golf ball into a toilet. You should be proud of me, this wasn't easy.

Jake Sones @jakeson.es · 29/05/2026

Tell him to get on Bluesky. I need to whine at him about his demo not celebrating the most important hole in one.

A screenshot of Normal Golf Game, where with a perfect example of emergent gameplay, you are able to hit the ball into the toilet.

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Jake Sones @jakeson.es · 23/05/2026

At a dive bar that has The Mask on. Debating which came first between that and Ace Ventura. Turns out 1994 was just an INSANE year for Jim Carrey.

A screenshot of Jim Carrey's IMDB, where he starred in In Living Color, Ace Ventura, The Mask, and Dumb And Dumber all in 1994.

Jake Sones @jakeson.es · 27/04/2026

Procreate has native timelapse recording that could be a good jumping off point. That plus radial symmetry has strong Spirograph vibes. If your nephews are younger, might be more approachable than full anim. Result is cool! My partner captured her progress of making a bandana pattern for a client.

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Jake Sones @jakeson.es · 02/04/2026

The Grail Diary is SUCH a good shout! It was the most natural form of copy protection. It felt so SO GOOD to encounter a puzzle in game that could only be solved by physically hunting through the supplemental IN FICTION documentation that shipped with the game. ESPECIALLY compared w/ that era's DRM.

Normal copy protection for PC games in the 80s-90s prompted you for a code, or it would not boot. This required the player to have sheets of paper with codes (in an era where high resolution scanners/copiers or image files weren't readily available).

LucasArts games were more inventive in their copy protection. Last Crusade had a 65 page diary containing research that was required to solve SEVERAL puzzles throughout the course of the game. Theoretically a pirated copy could serve as a demo, forcing the player to purchase a copy to finish the game.

Jake Sones @jakeson.es · 30/03/2026

I love how Yasuhara sketched him in design docs. forums.sonicretro.org/threads/soni...

Level design sketches of Sonic game mechanics by Hirokazu Yashuara

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Jake Sones @jakeson.es · 21/03/2026

Hopping on the #RandomGameSaturday train. GDC is still on my brain, I dug up my copy of Rhythm Heaven, a giveaway at the Iwata Keynote at GDC 2009 a couple weeks before the NA release. The talk focused on DSi & WiiWare, the 1st downloadable games on Nintendo platforms. The start of the indie era.

Holding the game case for Rhythm Heaven on NintendonDS above a drawer of other DS games.

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Jake Sones @jakeson.es · 12/03/2026

YOOOOOOOOO!!!! LET'S FRIGGIN GOOOOOOOO!!!

AP Thomson on stage accepting the Excellence In Design award for Titanium Court

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Jake Sones @jakeson.es · 12/03/2026

If folks at #GDC are looking for easy grab & go eats after a short walk (or a romantic streetcar ride), El Porteño in the Ferry Building has amaaaaaazing buttery, flaky empanadas with vegetarian options.

A corn empanada and and the bag it came in

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Jake Sones @jakeson.es · 10/03/2026

Apparently Tempest has bingo on Mondays? Bonus!

Jake Sones @jakeson.es · 07/03/2026

I'm helping w/ two sessions of portfolio reviews on Thurs at #GDC. If you know students or folks looking to break in, this is a super low stress opportunity to get feedback. Thanks, @igdafoundation.org & @unity.com 10am: schedule.gdconf.com/session/igda... 2pm: schedule.gdconf.com/session/igda...

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Whelp, that worked better than I ever hoped! Just watched @shylilytwitch.bsky.social spend an hour gathering evidence and fastidiously scribbling on the notepad I made in #HighOnLife2 for the Murder Mystery that @andyvatter.bsky.social designed. [mystery spoilers, but only if you know what's up]

VTuber Shy Lily making amaaaaazing use of the UMG notepad I implemented using UE5's OnPaint DrawLines. Honestly didn't think it was possible to get this detailed, props to their high DPI mouse.

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It's usually a good thing when UI goes unmentioned in a review, but occasionally there's a reason to highlight something specific in a positive light. Designing & implementing the notepad in #HighOnLife2 was a fun few days for me. Thanks for the shout out, @zackzwiezen.com (via @kotaku.com).

Screen grab from the Kotaku review of High On Life 2, with an underline on the section in brackets:

One memorable mission involves a full-on
murder mystery that you must solve, [complete with an in-game notepad that lets you mark off clues and suspects]. Another time, I visited a retro game planet with low-poly enemies and environments. A standout boss fight involved the baddie digitally inserting themselves into my high-tech bounty suit and clawing their way into my pause menu, forcing me to fight them in the different settings menus.

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One of my favorite #HighOnLife2 reviews is from @gamerant.bsky.social. It's great to read when so many things land with someone. Like "Yes! That's what we were going for!" gamerant.com/high-on-life...

Screen grab of the Game Rant review for High On Life 2, giving it an 8 / 10.

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HIGH ON LIFE 2 - TOMORROW!

Jake Sones @jakeson.es · 10/02/2026

This is cooler than I realized. I dig the neighborhood labels that are being applied to this.

Bluesky user map showing placement among several clusters that have been labeled things like "Indie Creative Workshop" and "Retro Gaming Forge"

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Jake Sones @jakeson.es · 07/02/2026

The ruins I can do that with are of a smaller scale.

An abandoned car found on a hiking trail in Joshua Tree.

Jake Sones @jakeson.es · 04/02/2026

Just wrapping up my second day at board.fun I'm preeeeetty hype on it! I'll be designing games and leading teams to build them for their tabletop console. It's genuinely magic to interact with and I'm looking forward to coming up with new schools of alchemy to expand on what's already there!

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Jake Sones @jakeson.es · 14/01/2026

Post a game you remember playing that nobody else remembers

A screenshot of a lesser known Sierra point & click adventure game, EcoQuest: The Search For Cetus

Jake Sones @jakeson.es · 07/01/2026

I spent hours tweaking the gradient paths in Illustrator to get this logo reveal working in Godot. It looks like this tool would've made it so much easier!

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Jake Sones @jakeson.es · 25/12/2025

We found @alexhorne.bsky.social! Happy Christmas Eve, y'all! Had a ton of fun with the Taskmaster Advent Calendar (even if we did repeatedly fail to know what a UK phone number should look like).

An illustration of Alex Horne, hidden somewhere within the Taskmaster advent calendar.

Jake Sones @jakeson.es · 22/12/2025

Did gift exchange for Hanukkah last night and my brother got me the perfect #pico8 device. Finally making headway on my @adamatomic.bsky.social backlog. Skeleton Gelatin is a treat! Can't wait to dive into the rest of the collection, which is criminally underpriced at $5. finji.itch.io/corgispace

An Anbernic RG CubeXX running pico-8, and playing Skeleton Gelatin by Adam Saltsman

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Jake Sones @jakeson.es · 06/12/2025

I always think it sounds like a jaunty ode to the original Mission Impossible theme. Also, this just showed up! I ordered it months ago before all the US import shenanigans and genuinely wasn't sure if it would make it. Super pumped to dive into it tomorrow.

An unopened advent calendar from Taskmaster.

Jake Sones @jakeson.es · 09/11/2025

Totally get it, just wanted to share that I love these and am shocked they weren't already sold.