iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Mel (she/her) @meltea.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

It can feel very difficult to get off US tech and I myself still use a lot of it. But, if nothing else, this article is super interesting just for questioning: how much tech services do you really need?

Do we really need this much?
As I continue this journey, I haven’t just been thinking about how to replace many of the US services I use with alternatives, but also how much of all this I actually need at the end of the day. As I’ve cut back on US streaming services, I’ve found myself simply watching less instead of completely replacing my viewing with domestic services. That’s made more time for things like reading and playing games, which I’m happy about.

After speaking with Casey Johnston about her own efforts to cut back on her screen time and the intrusiveness of her smartphone, I’ve been endeavouring to do a bit more of that myself: setting limits on the amount of time I use social media, deleting a bunch of apps from my phone, and blocking those that are left after 7pm on most nights of the week. It’s notably cut the amount of time I spend looking at my phone.

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Mel (she/her) @meltea.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

I think September is a good time to become a witch again

Witch with a kitty cat on her back. Capture reads: can I come over and be strange and intense?

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Mel (she/her) @meltea.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

This also looks extremely cool

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Mel (she/her) @meltea.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Finally something interesting 👀

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Mel (she/her) @meltea.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Factually correct. Thank you for your super inspiring talk, Kim Belair @sweetbabyinc.com 💜🙏😭 Our lives are ending one sprint at a time, make cool art, don't die, don't be afraid to tell your story.

Perspective and interpretation are crucial to art.

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Mel (she/her) @meltea.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Quote of the day: "There is no balls' physics of any kind in Control Resonant." - Juha Vainio, Executive Producer at Remedy #GamescomDev #Gamescom

Talk by Juha Vainio from Remedy: slide showing production prios going from Must Haves, Should Haves, Could Haves to Must Must Haves, Should Must Haves, Could Must Haves.

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Mel (she/her) @meltea.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

Thanks so much for this insightful talk about sex representation in games which is a quite important topic being censored without a clear reason @raxsha.bsky.social

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Mel (she/her) @meltea.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

Some reviews are just wonderful, heartwarming essays 💜 #indiedev

Steam review of Blueberry screenshot. Text:

Posted: 5 Jun @12:45pm

Blueberry is a perfect example that a good game does not need to do too much! Even though the game is very short and can easily be finished in about 2–3 hours, it was an emotional rollercoaster in the best way. This game will make you feel things, even with this simple yet perfectly fitting vector-illustration artstyle! Usually, I want games to be fun and mechanically heavy, and I would also say that I might not be the target audience of the game. But I also understand, that this game does not want to be "fun" in the traditional sense. Much more, it wants you to experience different emotions and leads you on a very personal and real journey: In this game, you play through the life and memories of Barbara, or "Blueberry", as she was called by her mother. We start with her as a senior and after a phone call from her son, you basically save yourself into some kind of "Wonderland", the Tower of Life, where you then recall different memories and experience different stages throughout Barbara's life, starting with her as a 4 year old child. The gameplay consists of simple platforming and focuses more on the different memories. There are decisions to be made and while some just include different dialogue options, some decisions in this game go much deeper. In some cases, the game does not even present them as actual choices, but instead lets your actions influence the outcome, so it always feels like YOUR story. As mentioned before, this makes this game an emotional rollercoaster. The game also includes heavy topics such as alcohol abuse, suicide and suicidal thoughts, depression, and anxiety. But it handles them in a way that helps you understand why people act the way they do, without ever telling you, "This is good" or "This is bad." Instead, you get to understand the emotions behind not only Blueberry /Barbara, but also of her parents.

Blueberry steam review screenshot 2. Text:

And even though the game is short and mechanically not very demanding, I would still recommend playing it, because it manages to connect its visuals to the narrative so well. As she grows up, Barbara's wonderland develops from a childish dreamland filled with huge talking rubber ducks and crayon trees to a more adult version, sometimes even leading you back to previous memories, now seen from the perspective of the older Blueberry. The memories also feel natural and are written well enough to make it all feel real rather than "videogame"-scripted! There are also different endings, that reflect your choices and how you acted towards your dad, your mom and most importantly, yourself. My only complain would be that the price is a little high for what is offered, but I would rather have a short and sweet emotional journey where its very clear the devs spent love, thought and soul into every second, than have a 10-20 hours game where things get repetitive and boring, just to pad the runtime. So, if you have read this far, I hope you will give this small indie game a chance and support the devs! Have a great day and, most importantly, take care of yourself and the people around you!

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Mel (she/her) @meltea.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

Also, my programmer found this bug quite upsetting 😢

Screenshot of bug text: #289 3_6 Kitchenson: Bug Emilio not stopping crying

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Mel (she/her) @meltea.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

They're pretty much there now! 🤩🌕 Victor even said that some areas looked like snow (which it obv isn't but interesting observation).

Screenshot from Artemis II live stream by NASA. Looks moony!

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Mel (she/her) @meltea.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Nearly all of the presenters of the NASA stream appear to be incredibly intelligent, very articulate women. Love it

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Mel (she/her) @meltea.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Still loving the zero gravity indicator 🥰🌏🌠🌕

Interview with 8-year old Lucas Ye who designed the zero gravity indicator "Rise"

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Mel (she/her) @meltea.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Walking to the launch pad 😱😱😱

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Mel (she/her) @meltea.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

Artemis II mission let's go 🤩🚀 Though I wish they'd use the metric system 😅

Infographic from NASA's live stream of the Artemis II Moon mission showing an infographic of the rocket and the cryogenic propulsion stages.

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Mel (she/her) @meltea.bsky.social · 29/03/2026

Have you seen the mascot of the new moon mission yet? Look at his eyes - he's terrified.

The little plushy "Rise" which is basically a smiling ball with an Earth hat, being held by one of the astronauts.

“Rise,” designed by Lucas Ye of Mountain View, California, as the zero gravity indicator that will fly with the crew around the Moon. “Rise” was inspired by the iconic Earthrise moment from the Apollo 8 mission. A zero gravity indicator is a small plush item that typically rides with a crew to visually indicate when they are in space.
Credit: NASA

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Mel (she/her) @meltea.bsky.social · 16/03/2026

Ooooh, Orwell is 75% off on Steam! 😱 Wonder if I should buy it 😅

Screenshot Steam store showing Orwell key art, -75%, 2.49€.

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Mel (she/her) @meltea.bsky.social · 23/02/2026

Cover of my next emo post punk album

Shatner and Spok from the original Star Trek with the caption "Death is real"

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Mel (she/her) @meltea.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

"The Laysan albatross hasn't eaten since he was abandoned by his parents two weeks ago." OMG I feel you Laysan albatross chick 😭😭😭

Screen cap from "Our Planet" where a really sad looking Laysan albatross chick sits on the beach and stares at the ocean in existential dread.

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Mel (she/her) @meltea.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

Showing Blueberry at a great Creator event in Cologne 🤩

Panel Talk with Luara, Pia Bäneke, Natascha Wiedenfeld and moderator

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Mel (she/her) @meltea.bsky.social · 26/10/2025

Last day of GIC Poznań 🎉 Already seen an amazing CD Projekt talk about the MaxTac police spawn system in Cyberpunk 🤩

Slide showing the algorithm which decides where MaxTac AV (Night City special police) spawns in Cyberpunk

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Mel (she/her) @meltea.bsky.social · 24/10/2025

Deep questions at GIC Poznań (by Adam Mirkowski of 11Bit Studios

Picture of Adam's presentation saying "Is humanity at it's core just dark?"

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Mel (she/her) @meltea.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

Blueberry is a game about pink walls.

Screenshot of Blueberry, a game that I am currently making. It shows an elderly woman on a platform in front of a pink wall.

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Mel (she/her) @meltea.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

My pic was at least as good 🌔

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Mel (she/her) @meltea.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

I was at Gamescom last week in @behindthescreens.bsky.social 's wonderful panel about psychology in games, talking about how we depict trauma in Blueberry. Thanks again for the invite, it was super interesting and fun! Photo by the lovely @ratqueen.bsky.social 🙏💕

From left to right: Ben and Nicholas from BTS, myself and Jessica, also from the awesome BTS team.

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Mel (she/her) @meltea.bsky.social · 06/07/2025

happy pride! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ #ColognePride #CSD

Rainbow flag, umbrella and Tokyo game show bag

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Mel (she/her) @meltea.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

I just had a bday and it made me think about my life. Had the idea to become more normal recently because I feel so isolated and strange often. A very special person gave me this sticker and it made me feel so accepted. Hope you all have someone to tell you to stay weird 💜

Cat sticker saying: Stay Weird. Cat is bending over weirdly and looking at a fly.

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Mel (she/her) @meltea.bsky.social · 15/03/2025

@hellokas.bsky.social just gave a great talk about designing experimental game mechanics at GameCon Central Asia 2025 👀 #indiedev #gamedev

Screenshot from Lukas's current game map map

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Mel (she/her) @meltea.bsky.social · 15/03/2025

Thank you so much for this lovely speaker portrait @gaurwenart (on Instagram) 😍💜 I was really moved to get this cool artwork after giving my talk at GameCon Central Asia in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan! #gamedev #indiedev

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Mel (she/her) @meltea.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

At GameCon Central Asia 2025 🎉 Wonderful games and very inspiring people. Thank you so much to Thorsten @amazefest.bsky.social for the invitation. #gamedev #indiedev

Stage at At GameCon Central Asia 2025 showing attendees and Thorsten from A MAZE.

Game by Chloe Desmoineaux which is played with a flute as a controller.

Game by Jana Reinhardt (Rat King) where you high five the other player to move your character.

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Mel (she/her) @meltea.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

OMG he has the same poster that I have in the kitchen 🤩 🐧🐧🐧🐧

Youtuber Jay Foreman in his kitchen cutting carrots with the London Transport Museum poster "For the Zoo, book to Regent's Park or Camden Town" in the back on his will. Yes, the one with the 4 penguins. The OTHER one with the 4 penguins.

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Mel (she/her) @meltea.bsky.social · 16/01/2025

Just need to get this last item on my to do list done... Oh.

It says FINISH GAME. It is NOT ticked off yet 😭😭😭

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