iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 17h

Steam assets are made, store is submitted, now I wait for approval! I'd never heard of "Capsules", meanwhile there are oodles of articles about optimizing your capsules to stand out in the Steam Store, what a complex process this has turned out to be Never a dull day #gamedev #indiedev #indiegame

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I'm getting the Steam page set up for my #indiegame Heretics Amulet and holy heck it's starting to feel real. Today I got achievements working and seeing my illustrations in those little, familiar pop up windows made me properly emotional DEEP BREATHS. STILL LOTS TO DO. #gamedev #panicking

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Today's #indiedev panicattack, did I choose the wrong resolution?! In my upcoming #indiegame, Heretics Amulet, I aimed for the crunchy cozy pixel vibe of the late 90s (Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories, anyone?) but players commented on asset legibility, OKAY FAIR Next time I'll do scaling resolution 😮‍💨

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

For #screenshotsaturday, here's my step by step #indiedev process for drawing the Legions Tarot from my spooky #indiegame Heretics Amulet! After collaging various skeleton toys, I did a drawing using the collage as the foundation, and added color! One of nearly 100 unique illustrations done!

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

I was prompted to share some recent screenshots and really had a chance to appreciate how far Heretics Amulet has come in the last month or so! Here's a before and after a big lighting redesign and some new art assets! We're getting there one day at a time! #indiedev #screenshotsaturday #indiegame

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Years ago I made my first #indiegame called TallManBusRide (inwhich you're a tall man on a bus). I'd never made anything and needed to make a colorful cast of characters for the ride. I had fun but GOLLY, I've grown so much as a game artist!! #gamedev #indiedev

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

Today's #sharedaysaturday is a fun one– I owned almost all of the 3d asset making for our #GMTK #gamejam this weekend and though I'm moving on Monday, I managed to turn out some fun assets and set-dressing for our 1960s space game Not all of them are perfect, but I'm proud of how they turned out!

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

One of the things I love about doing a #gamejam is the opportunity to take a break from my full project's aesthetics Heretics Amulet is a spooky gothic occult game, but for this game jam we're in the not-as-spooky 1960s, so I got to make some funky old tech. Super fun! #indiedev #gameartist

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Just because I'm doing a #gamejam doesn't mean there isn't time to draw up some silly motivational posters! It's fun to be a part of a team again, even just for a weekend, seeing the different creative choices people make. Monday it's back to work on Heretic's Amulet! #gamedev #indiegame

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Y'all, making games is like super hard lol Between thousands of systems, menus, assets, sounds, and then polishing those elements to a place of adequate quality? It's a miracle any games get made at all, ESPECIALLY games by solo devs Anyway, time to get back to work 😮‍💨 #indiedev #solodev #gamedev

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

I've been adding art to my #indiegame replacing some of the placeholders I drew earlier, so for #screenshotsaturday here're six of those illustrations! One of the joys of being a #solodev is havin to– I mean GETTING to wear a bunch of different hats! I haven't drawn this much in a while ✍🏻😮‍💨

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Like little icecream sandwich pikmin! I dig the aesthetic, super cool

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

Today's #devlog– it's bonkersbananas what a difference lighting makes.. I thought "I'm making a card game, surely it's not a big deal" but holy smokes. After changing the game's worldenvironment, the game looks SO much better. It's not final yet, but it's on its way! #indiedev #solodev #indiegame

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

The constant battle with making this game is deciding how much is necessary and how much will pay dividens for the player experience. In the end, I have a lovely bit of narrative around WHOSE skull this is, and why it floats, but TBD if that world building will make it into the game! #devlog

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

For #screenshotsaturday, the Dealer in my game was a long journey to his current form– I tried all sorts of designs, goopy guys, mystic women, even a mustachiod skelly man! In the end, I'm a #solodev so to cut down on animations, I made a cool skull and focused on giving it character! #indiedev

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

Multiple times I added things to the game thinking "this is cool" but many of the additions diluted the game and drew attention AWAY from the core mechanics. Is a gundam cool? Yes! Does that mean it belongs in a painting by Monet? Maybe not! There's a time and a place for everything

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

A throwback to an early design concept– I imagined the store for my #roguelike #indiegame being a dedicated 3D scene, the storekeeper chatting away as you buy your items I ended up going with this–a leather tool kit-like roll that unfolds right on the table! #indiedev #solodev

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

What an incredible concept! Wishlisting now, looks so good!

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

Enjoying a bowl of coffee while making a new bgm track for my #indiegame this morning This one started firmly in Gregorian melody, and as always made its way into a funky lo-fi jam, excited to get it added to the current build of the game! #solodev #indiedev #garageband

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

You make such a good point tho– maybe it's worth hashing out in-game elements that benefit players for their curosity.. hm

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

The lore definitely relates to their mechanics, but it primarily acts as atmosphere! My goal is for players who WANT the deep world-building will have their place for it, otherwise folks who want to jump in and enjoy playing can do so without feeling handicapped

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

Text-only was always a placeholder, lasted about two months, then I got out my iPad and reimagined it a little I've always loved lore– collection screens offer a chance to flush it all out, but I also know some chunk of players probably won't read anything 😂

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

For today's #screenshotsaturday enjoy this before/after! My collection screen with all of the items in the game was looking pretty sad with simple text (it didn't even respect the size of each card!) dozens of hand-drawn illustrations later, it's looking much better! #indiedev #solodev #indiegame

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

Oh that's so sick! I love the idea, great concept and it's already taking shape, excited to see where it goes

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

Heretics Amulet is a card game, and balances revealing/replacing cards on a grid. It's MOST fun when you're able to reveal a lot, so when you've bought this item, you're able to reveal twice as many cards

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

Sharing a new item I just added to my #indiegame! I knew I wanted to do something with a monocle, and the idea of a "Dual Monocle" stuck in my head. I love the idea of someone deciding a monocle needed two lenses and doing it this way, like a loupe! #indiedev #solodev #blender3d

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

When I was an undergraduate student, I used to have friends help take posed reference photos. Later when I did a webcomic for a year, I took SO many pictures of myself in Photo Booth to speed up the illustration process. Having my wife take a picture of the top of my head felt so nostalgic! 😂

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

One of the fun things about making an #indiegame with tons of #tarot stuff has been getting back into making a ton of digital art Each act of the story has a novel boss mechanic, and I wanted their covers to reference them subtly. Here's the sketch to final timelapse for act 3! #solodev #indiedev

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

On one hand, I'm so early, every two or three things I add feels like a whole new world, on the other, I'm trying to keep things pretty simple within a tight, managable aesthetic Just gotta keep the momentum up! 😮‍💨😂

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

I had never designed a custom #videogame cursor before, but gave it the ol' college try, basing it on cool watch hands I was seeing online– if they're good enough for telling the time, they must be good enough for clickin' on things! Drawn in #procreate for my #indiegame Heretics Amulet

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

Took stock of progress today– 36 commits in the last 20 days! This includes a new dealer character, six new items, 36 new illustrations, new achievements, a new mode, and three acts of the game in a workable state! That's bananacakes. #devlog #indiedev #solodev

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

Happy #screenshotsaturday! I'm working on Heretics Amulet– a spooky #indiegame where you use a tarot deck to peer into the future, defending your heretical keep from masses of foolish believers. Clear cards, earn souls, spend them on fun items, and defeat the bosses if you can! #solodev #gamedev

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

The challenge was keeping the illustrations simple enough that doing 30+ wasn't going to burn a week of work time, but still being true to some of the great art that exists in tarot I love traditional printmaking, and recreating the linoleum print style fonud a nice balance

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

I've always loved #tarot cards, and my #indiegame Heretics Amulet uses a lot of those design ideas I had the foolish idea to add a collection scene where I could write out more in-world lore, what each item is, where it came from etc but oc that needed art! Here's the timelapse! #indiedev #devlog

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

I gave each wheel twelve animations– spinning to each number, a spinning loop, and a reset animation, so I could set the player health, break the number into hundreds, tens, and ones, then call the respective animations for each! It's clunky but works well 🙌🏼

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

When it came to showing the player's health, I wanted to keep everything in-world, so I ended up making this box with rotating numerical wheels! #gamedev #indiegame #devlog #blender

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Here's another asset for the #indiegame I'm developing! I love making music and wanted the game to have a killer soundtrack (I'm up to about 6 bgm tracks at the moment!), so for in-world cozy vinyl vibes, I made this low poly gramophone #indiedev #solodev #gamedev #blender

low poly gramophone with hand crank and vinyl record sitting on player.

low poly gramophone with hand crank and vinyl record sitting on player. Half of the image shows the mesh wireframe, the other half is the material preview.

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

This is super beautiful! Love the detail in the fire/smoke especially- incredible

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

The collection page is the home of most of the game's lore– in my game, the entire world reincarnates, but relics are left behind from all over– vodou, buddhism, modern tech, christianity, etc. What other world relics should I include in my game?

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

Good LORD my drawin' hand is tired. Today's #gamedev task: the illustrations for the collection. In my game, as you buy items from the store you unlock them in the collection, and as of this morning, the collection screen still looked awful. 13 of 22 done! #indiedev #procreate #solodev

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

Are there any other ancient alphabets I should reference in my game? Let me know!

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

The runes were a challenge, but by making them a separate material, they can glow, representing how powerful the amulet is as you gather Runic Feathers in the game! Eventually I plan on adding keys for players to translate the ogham inscriptions and the runes on the inside ring– mysterious!

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

Here's a detailed render of the amulet for the #indiegame I'm developing! The game is pretty low res but that didn't stop me from packing in lore-references. The marks along the outside are #ogham, an early medieval alphabet from ireland! #indiedev #solodev #gamedev #blender

arcane amulet game asset, low poly with purple crystal, ringed by gold and silver metal. Norse runes and ogham etchings in the casing of the amulet

arcane amulet game asset, low poly with purple crystal, ringed by gold and silver metal. Norse runes and ogham etchings in the casing of the amulet. Half of image is wireframe from Blender, half is a material preview

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Leo at LanternWright @lanternwrightgames.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Ahoy! My name is Leo and I'm makin' games! My professional background is in visual arts, music and voice acting– maybe you've heard my work! My wife and I just moved to France, and I've always wanted to make games, so I'm doing it, one ugly line of code at a time. Feel free to follow along! 🙇🏼

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