iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

löyly @loyly.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

If you're a writer, write "I waited" without saying it. Two years ago still felt like last year, because nothing really happened last year. It was the year of the sofa, the meds, all the healthy routines. One of these days, I would get better. #chronicillness

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Beidi @tinystorm.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

The similarity is uncanny😧! Although some details have been changed, the substantial similarities in the core elements of the work constitute a derivative work based on my original creation. This raises significant concerns about intellectual property infringement. It also feels AI laundering.

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löyly @loyly.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

Not my usual "cozy" stuff, but this might be as good a time as any to play @jamespatton.bsky.social's Duskpunk.

Screenshot of Duskpunk: stats overview that explains the use of growth points, and that "anxious" is a useful trait for the Intuit ability that alerts you of potential consequences.

Screenshot of Duskpunk: a picture of Nasrin, a woman wearing a hijab and the uniform of the factory workers. Nasrin reminds Henry that regular people are strong together. Henry mentions rumours of community projects like field hospitals and community kitchens, and having their own community at the factory. Nasrin replies that the city is different now, and that they must find and support people working together.
The game gives the player/MC a new aim to consider: "to investigate communal projects". Nasrin says: "See you on the other side."

Screenshot of Duskpunk: a picture of Markov, a dark-skinned man with curly white hair and a full beard in formerly elegant clothes, from the Revolutionaries faction.
Zai and Markov discuss that "prying one bastard off the throne just to pop another on instead" won't be enough and that they also need to do something about "that zoo they call a parliament", consisting of "bankers or aristos or shareholders".
The game gives you a new aim to consider: "to dissolve parliament".

Screenshot of Duskpunk: white text on black background quoting Leon Trotsky as saying "Learning not to forget the past in order to foresee the future is our first, our most important task."

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John Walker - Industry Analcyst @botherer.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

Hooray! The first of the Thanksgaming 2025 posts is up on Kotaku, with an epic TWENTY unknown indies to check out! I'm going to put up another 20 tomorrow. Spread it far and wide! kotaku.com/indie-games-...

kotaku.com

20 Incredible Innovative Indie Games To Wishlist This Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgaming 2025 everybody! Celebrate with a huge pile of unknown indies to put on your radar

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löyly @loyly.bsky.social · 25/11/2025

When I see the Steam AI disclosure for "placeholder art", what I read is "We thought we could get away with it, but someone found out so now we're pretending it was meant to be replaced"

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löyly @loyly.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

As much as I love cute harmless fantasy, I also love #indiegames that aren't "just a game"

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löyly @loyly.bsky.social · 16/11/2025

Is there a word for the new form of passive aggression where they just make genAI spit out a "diplomatic" wall of nonsense to waste your time?

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Cryptid Caelus @caemck.bsky.social · 13/08/2025

the heart that comes with people giving art their best shot is ALWAYS more impactful than generative AI. the moment you can tell a voice is fake, it loses character in more than just a literal sense

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All Will Rise by Speculative Agency @allwillrise.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

Another inspiration for our sideways speculative version of reality in Kerala is the 'Seeds of Good Anthropocenes' project that tries to find initatives and projects that already exist everywhere around the world - and that could inspire a better future. goodanthropocenes.net

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löyly @loyly.bsky.social · 04/11/2025

I'm so confused. I thought early reviews for games on Steam were super important? Why would experienced indie devs publish a game without making sure they have some fans posting reviews ASAP? The game looks promising, but several hours after release just *crickets*... IT BOTHERS ME #gamedev

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All Will Rise by Speculative Agency @allwillrise.bsky.social · 04/11/2025

Made a starter pack based on cool responses to earlier thread (see below) about games that fearlessly work toward a better future and find the fun in the political struggle. Starter packs = a bit over but still. Ping us if you know more folks: go.bsky.app/Fhw51ip #gamedev #indiedev #indiegames

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löyly @loyly.bsky.social · 04/11/2025

I want to explore fantastical worlds with the content of a tool shed, a stack of 20 soups, a bunch of random stuff I found, and a burning torch in my invisible backpack.

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löyly @loyly.bsky.social · 04/11/2025

I want to explore fantastical worlds with the content of a tool shed, a stack of 20 soups, a bunch of random stuff I found, and a burning torch in my invisible backpack.

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Kris 🎃 HORRORchild @direkris.itch.io · 31/10/2025

Up for a free spooky game? Always wondered what my userpic is from? Look no further! direkris.itch.io/displacer

direkris.itch.io

Displacer Beast by Kris Lorischild

There's something wrong with your new cat.

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All Will Rise by Speculative Agency @allwillrise.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

Calling all game developers working on making the future a better place, or addressing the bullshit of our current time in some creative way! Where are you? Let's connect and team up.

Image from work in progress on All Will Rise, a game by Speculative Agency about taking billionaires to court for wrecking the planet.

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löyly @loyly.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

Me 1 year ago: I wish I could make a game and do everything myself Me now: I wish I could pay @hannahnicklin.bsky.social as a game designer, @direkris.itch.io and @onbearfeet.bsky.social for the writing, @naladraws.com for the art, ... #gamedev

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löyly @loyly.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

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Kris 🎃 HORRORchild @direkris.itch.io · 25/10/2025

Instead of paying out the nose to play generative AI slop, what about a free game where you ARE the generative AI slop? direkris.itch.io/genai

direkris.itch.io

You Are Generative AI by Kris Lorischild

A Large Language Model Simulator

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Kris 🎃 HORRORchild @direkris.itch.io · 23/10/2025

Look, I know I wrote a game called COZY Grove, but I'm starting to think coziness has reached its moral limit blog.giovanh.com/blog/2025/10...

A composite of screenshots for the indie game Nothing to Declare, a Papers Please-like in which cute characters cutely go through airport security and are cutely taken away by security when they cutely have a bomb in their cute bags.

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löyly @loyly.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

I see a lot of people comment on their "backlog" of video games as a problem to feel bad about. Honestly? I love looking at mine. All the potential experiences! The anticipation! The out-of-my-usual-niche games waiting there just in case the right mood hits me! I want to swim in unplayed games.

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löyly @loyly.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

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löyly @loyly.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

As a Linux user, I nearly choked on my food 😂 (Apple also seems to hate people who don't want or can't afford to buy 100% of their stuff from Apple though?)

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Bigg @bpbigg.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

I'll give credit where it's due: a majority of the @vangamegarden.bsky.social volunteers were masking. Also shoutouts to the single masked dev whose gaze I met over our respective respirators. He was tabling for Generation Exile so give it a wishlist store.steampowered.com/app/2963240/...

store.steampowered.com

Generation Exile on Steam

You are aboard humanity’s first and final generation ship, a last-chance expedition now teetering on the rim of collapse. One step at a time you must rebuild society and the ship’s fragile ecosystems ...

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Olivia Just Wants Tech To Be Fun Again @kingdomfantasy6.bsky.social · 15/09/2025

I'VE DONE IT, I'VE FINALLY RELEASED A WRITING PROJECT I SAID I WOULD RELEASE. TAKE THAT PROCRASTINATION DEMONS! Anyways, as the horrors keep coming and they don't stop coming, I've compiled the above into an article that'll be poked at as time goes on! And can be linked in relevant places!

oliviawertheimersart.com

Other Games For Tetris Effect — Olivia Wertheimer's Art

(blows dust off blog, immediately starts coughing) So! Something that's been discussed as of writing lately, is how Tetris is good for preventing ptsd. Not curing it mind you, but *preventing it*. Or...

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löyly @loyly.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

1 day 10 hrs left for the Queer bundle, 2 weeks for the Palestine one

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löyly @loyly.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

Me: I should really use itch.io more and check out some of all those bundle games I bought Also me: *buys 3 more itch.io bundles to support good causes and goes back to the site run by the guy with the superyacht fleet*

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Anna Megill @annamegill.com · 04/09/2025

There are so many skilled, brilliant writers out of work right now. If you have any budget at all, now's your chance to hire the best writing talent the games industry has ever seen ✨️

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😈Miss Hell Batkeeper😈 @mishellbaker.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

So anyone who wants to ask me, "Why are you so obsessed with vidyagames when humanity itself is in crisis," I would reply that video games represent, to me, one of the most valuable things there is to preserve about humanity: the ability to invent, imagine, enjoy, empathize, and create.

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RaphZ @imraphz.bsky.social · 30/08/2025

Just a reminder LibreWolf does this (and other privacy options) automatically. I would suggest using it instead of Firefox.

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😈Miss Hell Batkeeper😈 @mishellbaker.bsky.social · 30/08/2025

Trying to imagine if I talked about gardening or anything else I love the way folks talk about alcohol. 😂 THERE ARE NO SEED PACKETS IN HERE. YOU DON'T GARDEN??? MAYBE YOU JUST HAVEN'T GARDENED THE RIGHT THINGS??? HERE, PLANT THIS. I SWEAR YOU WILL LOVE IT.

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löyly @loyly.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

I feel like a part of me is stubbornly holding on to peaceful, idyllic games for escapism, while a different part is emerging like "Fuck that, it's time for horror and apocalypse, I get it now".

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All Will Rise by Speculative Agency @allwillrise.bsky.social · 07/06/2025

Make your case and win the battle for your future. It's in your hands. Wishlist All Will Rise on Kickstarter now: www.kickstarter.com/projects/spe...

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löyly @loyly.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

I was impressed with the demo (which is still up btw)! Looks like it's going to be a good and important #indiegame

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löyly @loyly.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

It's been a while, but I had some lovely stays in the fairy cabin last year ✨ (What I described there turned out to be symptoms of a new chronic illness btw, poor little sprout lol) #indiegame #cozygaming

Screenshot of The Merry Fairy demo: a worn out looking scrapbook with cozy old-fashioned cabin interior in the background. There's a mildly poem-ish entry: "After all those rough times I'm finally growing a new sprout of good life. But I still have to fight, nothing is safe, my muscles stay tense, my sleep stays light. I have to protect my little sprout."
Illustrations are put together from stickers, showing a concerned looking frog, a rainy cloud, and an adorable fox surrounded by vegetation.

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Kris 🎃 HORRORchild @direkris.itch.io · 02/03/2025

Just a reminder that I am open for work: 1. Game writing and narrative design 2. Copyediting/subediting 3. Copywriting and marketing 4. Ghost writing I have >20 shipped game credits to my name including Cozy Grove and You Are Jeff Bezos, and I've worked on properties including League of Legends

A cover for the videogame Cozy Grove. It shows the Spirit Scout at a campfire with Ranger Bear, roasting marshmallows.

A cover for League of Legends featuring various champions.

A cover for my game, You Are Jeff Bezos: A Billionaire Simulator. The "S" in Bezos looks like a dollar sign.

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löyly @loyly.bsky.social · 01/03/2025

I got to play @springfoxgames.bsky.social's Nif Nif for my curator and had so much fun! Most adorable game I've seen in quite a while 💚 100% recommended even if you aren't that into deckbuilders - check out the demo at #NextFest! #indiegame #cozygaming

Screenshot from Nif Nif: a card battle to remove goo and trash from a forest creature. The background is a beautifully painted river landscape with mangrove trees. Cat, one of two playable characters, is wearing a silly fake Viking helmet and standing on a giant floating leaf in the river, facing a gooey mass with a pair of disturbed-looking eyes peeking out of it. Three cards are visible. The one highlighted to be played is called "deep cleaning" and shows the cat leaping forwards wielding a giant Q tip.

A bright swamp landscape with planks leading to a little cabin and cute, big-eyed frogs. Nif Nif meets a red fox vaguely dressed like an Asian monk and asks "Can you teach me how to swipe better?". The fox says "Sure. First learn dust, then learn mop!". You can choose between training to upgrade a card, and meditating for cleanliness +12.

An idyllic sunny landscape with grass-covered huts, resembling Tolien's Shire and hobbit houses. Cat meets three mischievous animals (groundhogs?) and states: "You seem quiet today, it's suspicious". The little group explains: "We haven't found anyone to prank". Cat asks: "Have you tried Nif Nif?".

Night scene with a campfire. Cat is seen sleeping on a camping mattress. A mouse with an outdoorsy hat is holding marshmallows near the flames. In the background, a squirrel and a rabbit curiously peek at the campsite from behind the trees and bushes.

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Thomas Altenburger @thomas.flying-oak.com · 21/02/2025

Accessibility is important, so I made a disclaimer to add to your games if need be.

A disclaimer saying "Health & safety warning: this game contains pronouns, a female protagonist, possibly gay characters, and depictions of people eating their vegetables. If you experience signs of seizures or dizziness, please stop playing and consult your physician immediately."

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löyly @loyly.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

I sometimes (often?) like playing relatively optimised, especially in new playthroughs. But I want it to feel like a true *choice*. And sometimes going for aesthetics over efficiency is optimal for me 🙃

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Pablo F. Quarta 🐍🌺 @pfquarta.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

Atuel, our award-winning surrealist documentary game about climate change, is coming to Steam & Google Play later this year! 🙌🎉✨ 🌏 Localized to 7 new languages! 🎮 Full controller support! 💸 All for free! Wishlist it now and help us with a RT!🙏 store.steampowered.com/app/2794330/...

store.steampowered.com

Atuel on Steam

Atuel is an award-winning surrealist documentary game in which you explore beautiful, dreamlike landscapes inspired by the topography and wildlife of the Atuel River Valley in Argentina.

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löyly @loyly.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

löyly-coded characters

Dominique Pamplemousse, from the game with the same name. They are made of clay or something like the rest of the game, derpy-looking with googly eyes, dressed in what may be a trench coat and a detective hat. Their dialogue says: "You're probably looking at me like I'm strange".

Ashley from Necrobarista, an anime-ish 3D visual novel. Ashley is a light-skinned teen with rather light, straight hair mostly tied back, dressed in a green sweater/jacket and a green cap. She's busy with something we can't see in the screenshot, while her dialogue says: "I feel like I'm stuck in a loop of trying things that are inevitably going to fail and I don't know how much of it is my fault for not being good enough at a monumentally difficult task".

Drake from Frank and Drake, a hand-drawn 2D mystery game. Either I was hallucinating that he was described as nonbinary out of game, or the devs/publisher changed their mind. Oh well. He's very pale, with long dark hair and well-defined dark eye brows, wearing casual clothes and pink shades. His face looks rather soft, but right now his expression shows that he's thoroughly fed up.

A possum from Hibernation Day, a funny little 2D game with simple but cute hand-drawn art. The possum is wearing a reddish pearl necklace and a green-white something that may be a scarf. The dialogue above says: "well, I am wise, old, and a marvelous horticulturist".

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löyly @loyly.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

I had a lovely time with @speldosa.bsky.social's little Project Shoreline. It has some quirks and doesn't always save progress, but it's free! Looking forward to Muri: WIldwoods 💚 Slightly longer review: steamcommunity.com/id/loyly/rec... #cozygaming #indiegame

Screenshot from Project Shoreline, a light 3D platformer with relatively lo-fi but pretty graphics. You play as an anthropomorphic mouse-fish hybrid, here shown to clean fantasy vegetation by spraying water on it.

Birds-eye view of a rocky landscape with a lake and a small island in its middle. The island is freshly cleaned and lush again, emitting a bubble effect.

The main character is standing on a rock, overlooking a beautiful rocky coastal landscape with fresh green growth and some huge sea shells.

The main character is standing in the middle of a bright green meadow surrounded by rocks and a lake, with large pink flowers in the foreground. A dark little hedgehog-like creature is right beside the MC, looking at them with big eyes. A few more of the creatures are down by the lake shore.

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löyly @loyly.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

I'm a low-key romance grinch (and yes, I hate half of my feed today), but this one is cool

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