iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

James @nonzerosumjames.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 26/10/2026

This is my all-time favourite game theory example. nonzerosum.games/staghunt

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James @nonzerosumjames.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 14/10/2026

While, on the face of it, the game was very minimal, and the core mechanic very simple, the project got so bloated with particular behaviours, combinations that broke levels, and just not enough time to iterate in my spare time, I shelved it... ... for about 5 years.

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James @nonzerosumjames.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 13/10/2026

I realised that the NEUTROPIA levels were ending with a "world domination" aesthetic, everyone a uniform green... it didn't feel very non-zero. So...I started to add LOADS of new types, with new colours, and abilities, and personalities—and then everything stopped...

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James @nonzerosumjames.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 12/10/2026

My daughter's first school had this motto where they would "fill up each other's cup" and the kids would put on a chart who had filled their cup that day and why—and that's how I solved the "how much charge without numbers?" problem, the level indicates positivity and negativity.

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James @nonzerosumjames.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 10/10/2026

Then enough people had wondered out loud "Why the number faces? You know some people don't like numbers" and I started toying with som characters. But how would I indicate how much charge they have...?

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James @nonzerosumjames.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 10/10/2026

About a year in it started looking like an actual game... bear in mind I learned to code on this project—and it was in Objective-C and then Swift at this stage! People kept saying "Why aren't you using Unity?" #GameDev #ScreenshotSaturday

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James @nonzerosumjames.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 09/10/2026

Some “inspo” for NEUTROPIA’s weeds, right there on my house #NatureFindsAWay #GameDev #ScreenshotSaturday (almost). The mads contribute by “fertilising” the map, when the greens plant there you get flowers :)

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James @nonzerosumjames.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 09/10/2026

NEUTROPIA gradually got more minimal, as I refined the concept, small puzzle worlds. The neuts became little number faces, with just a dash of personality, and the dragon... rabbit still holding on in there.

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James @nonzerosumjames.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 08/10/2026

The NEUTROPIA design kept evolving...

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James @nonzerosumjames.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 07/10/2026

Next the "Neuts" of Neutropia needed to feel industrial and utilitarian. The game is all about emotional contagion—the core mechanic: positives build each other up, negatives drag each other down, and in the end the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts.

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James @nonzerosumjames.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 06/10/2026

NEUTROPIA began with a cute #dragon as the player—much to the disappointment of my daughter, that changed.

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James @nonzerosumjames.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 06/10/2026

I realised at this point, if I was going to try and push it further, and get it published everywhere, I'd need to port NEUTROPIA to #Unity sooner rather than later. This is how it started... well that's different.

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James @nonzerosumjames.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 06/10/2026

About 2016 I introduced disco mode, and mood walls and... somewhere the dragon got lost... I realised if the message of the game is that we can all make a difference by being a positive influence on those around us, then a magical dragon rescuing us all doesn't really make sense.

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James @nonzerosumjames.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 06/10/2026

These posts are a contracted "Dev Log" showing the many iterations over the last 10 years for my upcoming game NEUTROPIA which teaches non-zero dynamics. The 1st version was based on light-switches... they made little clicky noises. #GameDev #Games #MobileGames #GamesForChange

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James @nonzerosumjames.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 18/05/2026

"The Human Acceptance Project" was a simple and fun submission from a subscriber; Destiny, as one of our first collaborations—submit your own! #collaborations #creativity #sharing

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