iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Tom Francis

Thew @amazingthew.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

god i love videogames. have you heard about "places"? they are called locations

Tom Francis @pentadact.com · 11/09/2026

We did the first playtest of the next game recently, and it's already led to an idea that adds depth while fixing a dozen problems. youtu.be/Sw8kMC2NFek .

youtu.be

Dev log: how our first playtest has already changed the game

YouTube video by Tom Francis

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Tom Francis @pentadact.com · 11/09/2026

This already looked good years ago, but the glow-up for this version is insane. I wanna play it on a cinema screen.

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Tom Francis @pentadact.com · 11/08/2026

Proposal for the complimentary form of friendslop: Friendbisque

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DougExeter @dougexeter.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

hey john. its your cousin marvin. marvin cage! you know that new sound youve been looking for? well listen to this *hangs up phone*

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Tom Francis @pentadact.com · 05/08/2026

This might look like an unreasonable amount of chilli seeds to put on a parmesan crisp, but personally I appreciate a rate limiter on how fast I would otherwise eat what is ultimately a box of fried cheese.

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Tom Francis @pentadact.com · 31/07/2026

"We call these boomer shooters." "Right, cos of all the booming." 'Oh, no that's not why." "Then why?" (Deep breath) "So in the aftermath of the second world war..."

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Tom Francis @pentadact.com · 28/07/2026

If Michaelangelo had my cats, at least one chapel would have had a radically different paint job.

Jess and Beth, asleep. Jess's paw is extended and Beth is clutching it.

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Fellow Traveller @fellowtraveller.games · 24/07/2026

Fae and Wizards signed a landmark partnership for the Outlandish Fantasy Tactics bundle 🧚 🤝 🧙 🎭 Titanium Court: A one-of-a-kind surrealist match-three adventure 🚔 Tactical Breach Wizards: Turn-based tactics with Kevlar-wearing wizards Grab both games at 10% off today on Steam! 🔮 bit.ly/OFTBundle

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Tom Francis @pentadact.com · 23/07/2026

The main thing I've learned from playing with my cats is they would have fucking loved the convoy ambushes in Far Cry 2.

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lit_patches @litpatches.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald v1.49: Mini Turrets now have 35% melee resist

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Tom Francis @pentadact.com · 29/06/2026

The humble bar graph taking a bold step into 3D here, while never losing sight of its passion: clearly showing which numbers are bigger.

A 3D bar graph where the smaller bars are closer to us, making them taller than the larger ones.

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Tom Francis @pentadact.com · 28/06/2026

I had never imagined Merchant Ivory films was just named after two guys called Merchant and Ivory. It was olden times! I think I just assumed they were killing a few endangered animals between takes as a side gig.

Merchant Ivory Productions is a film company founded in 1961 by producer Ismail Merchant (1936–2005) and director James Ivory (b. 1928). Merchant and Ivory were life and business partners from 1961 until Merchant's death in 2005. During their time together, they made 44 films.

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Tom Francis @pentadact.com · 24/06/2026

Git still hiring poets to write error messages.

A git error message reading "fatal: you are on a branch yet to be born"

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Tom Francis @pentadact.com · 11/06/2026

More videogame bosses should look at your cursor like, what the fuck is that. What are you doing with it.

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Tom Francis @pentadact.com · 31/05/2026

Sick this week, so I finally started F1 Drive to Survive. It's good but there are a lot of smug young men in it and so far only one of them has been put in the bin.

An F1 driver in a wheelie bin. (It's an ice bath but it undermines my joke to mention this)

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lit_patches @litpatches.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck v0.1: When you try to walk into a brick wall, your way is now referred to as being blocked by some brick, not a brick.

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Tom Francis @pentadact.com · 22/05/2026

My favourite fact in ages, via @lucyjames.games on the Besties: Widow's Bay (which is great btw) was created by the overdressed Babadook from this historic tweet.

Tweet from Katie Dippold where she's dressed as the Babadook but the party has more of a grown ups drinking wine vibe.

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Tom Francis @pentadact.com · 13/05/2026

Mana orb: do not drink until overcharge pfx finish Health orb: do not drink (candle)

A glowing blue cocktail with a blue flame at Shameful Tiki Room, next to a candle in round red glass.

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Nels Anderson @nelsanderson.zone · 17/04/2026

After a length of development that - if I truly, deeply thought about it, I would instantly go insane as if I'd opened some Lovecraftian skin-bound tome - our narrative city-builder Generation Exile has launched out of Early Access into full 1.0 today! store.steampowered.com/app/2963240/...

store.steampowered.com

Save 35% on Generation Exile on Steam

Rebuild settlements entirely within a colossal generation ship in this turn-based city builder. Expand your city, manage limited resources and optimize production chains as you navigate difficult choi...

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Tom Francis @pentadact.com · 07/04/2026

Deadloch season 2 was great again - truly Australia's answer to The Thick Of It in the swearing Olympics. As before, the mystery is juicier and better told than you expect from a comedy. And it has a knack for making fun of eccentricities without feeling unkind.

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Mythic 🦊 @mythicalredfox.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Thinking about this quote from Persepolis creator Marjane Satrapi again.

Picture of Marjane Satrapi alongside a quote from her. The quote reads:

The world is not divided into countries. The world is not divided between East and West. You are American, I am Iranian, we don't know each other, but we talk together and we understand each other perfectly. The difference between you and your government is much bigger than the difference between you and me. And the difference between me and my government is much bigger than the difference between me and you.

And our governments are very much the same...

- Marjane Satrapi, Iranian-French graphic novelist

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Tom Francis @pentadact.com · 03/04/2026

The 2 minutes and 5 seconds from the moment @memoriamatters.bsky.social spies an oddly tall horse in @manbearcar.bsky.social's Horsey Game are the hardest I've laughed in weeks. www.youtube.com/live/4Wr8J4S... .

youtube.com

(LIVE) minmaxing horsey game

YouTube video by Memoria

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Tom Francis @pentadact.com · 02/04/2026

I think this April fools was amiably aimed at anyone who's over-attributed our games to me alone, but God it's so deadpan even I start to worry if I was serious at points.

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Tom Francis @pentadact.com · 02/04/2026

I can't speak to their overall cultural impact, but I do think if Dickens had come up with "Hi it's me you're all in danger" before Charli XCX, A Tale of Two Cities would have opened very differently.

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Tom Francis @pentadact.com · 24/03/2026

Ominous seating arrangements.

Restaurant bathroom. Three wooden chairs face the toilet.

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Tom Francis @pentadact.com · 18/03/2026

Discovery: cats can toggle their legs.

My cat Jess, lying with no legs visible.

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Tom Francis @pentadact.com · 18/03/2026

We have a Discord now! It's been lovely so far. Today in the Heat Signature channel, someone figured out how to do a Hijack mission (take out all crew and deliver the empty ship) without breaking their Ghost Vow (never be seen or harm anyone) and we were all like what. discord.com/invite/3M8pf...

discord.com

Join the Suspicious Developments Discord Server!

The official Discord for games by Suspicious Developments, including Gunpoint, Heat Signature and Tactical Breach Wizards. | 505 members

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Reposted by Tom Francis

Mike Cook @mtrc.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

Good morning! I wrote a book! @flantz.bsky.social called it “the definitive history of procedural generation in video games” which is just about the best thing that can happen to a book. Tell your friends, enemies and book-loving acquaintances!

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Tom Francis @pentadact.com · 13/03/2026

I'm having a lovely time coding our next game in Godot, so I did a little devlog about some of the coolest things I've discovered, and some of the systems I've built so far that I'm excited about. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj56... .

youtube.com

I'm having a lovely time coding our next game in Godot

YouTube video by Tom Francis

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Tom Francis @pentadact.com · 21/02/2026

Tip for balancing wizards: keep buffing them til their attacks visibly illuminate your face. youtu.be/TBELTya013I .

youtu.be

Wizard tuning

YouTube video by Tom Francis

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XEECEE @xeecee.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

This is what gaming is all about

A screenshot of a text box from Star Trek Voyager: Across the Unknown. Kathryn Janeway: Follow them! We'll get Tuvok's lungs back.

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Reposted by Tom Francis

The Killing Stone @thekillingstone.com · 18/02/2026

The Killing Stone is OUT NOW in Early Access 🃏 Occult Card Battler 👺 17th Century Occult Horror Mystery 📖 Modern and 17th Century English 🎙️ Starring @emmagregoryvoice.bsky.social & @voiceofobrien.bsky.social Can you beat the Devil at his own game? store.steampowered.com/app/2781470/

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Tom Francis @pentadact.com · 13/02/2026

Are we doing trailers for bins now

A pink recycling bin sealed with a "coming soon!" label

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Tom Francis @pentadact.com · 12/02/2026

Met a very high resolution rabbit tonight, and a very sweet drawing of a rabbit I did not meet tonight.

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Tom Francis @pentadact.com · 12/02/2026

The Forgotten City is a game about going back to Roman times, so when it came time to choose a name, I decided it was worth becoming someone I hate in return for also ruining the game.

A screenshot in which an obviously Roman character is greeting me, and my response options include "I'm Roman and I've just come from the future. "

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Tom Francis @pentadact.com · 07/02/2026

Accidentally summed it up.

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Graham Smith @grahamsmith.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

A new website about PC games, from me, @brendyc.bsky.social and @jonhicks.com. Reader-supported, which means no ads, no guff, and lots of games blogging about delightful things to play. If you liked our work on RPS, we think you'll like @jank.cool.

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Tom Francis @pentadact.com · 24/01/2026

My eyes are bad but I won't ruin the vibe with a flashlight.

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Tom Francis @pentadact.com · 22/01/2026

The brains are in the grenades: How enemies think in Tactical Breach Wizards youtu.be/gEFfBXQAtYE I'm not going to GDC this year, so here's a little talk for free - on a thing I want to share before I forget how it works.

youtu.be

The brains are in the grenades: how enemies think in Tactical Breach Wizards

YouTube video by Tom Francis

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Musicology Duck @musicologyduck.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

I just woke up from a nap and somehow while I was asleep, everyone on the bus has figured out we are not going to the right place

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Tom Francis @pentadact.com · 21/01/2026

Day 3 of being woken up by a long, low foghorn-like sound: It strikes me now that - given I live near the water and the weather has been foggy for 3 days - the explanation for this phenomenon may be closer to hand than previously realised.

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Tom Francis @pentadact.com · 08/01/2026

I've been running an indie games studio for 15 years now, and it felt like a good time to boil down what I've learned into 4 pieces of advice: www.pentadact.com/2026-01-08-1... I hope it's of use, not least because goddamn I forgot how long blog posts take to write.

A timeline visually representing the advice from my post, emphasising how dramatically and reliably having more time, with a testable build, converts to your game being better and your studio being safer.

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Chris Thursten @cjpt.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

My post-layoff professional hiatus has come to an end and I'm looking to rebuild my contact book. If you're in need of: ✏️ Fiction! Produced entirely by my human brain and hands! 🧙‍♂️ Narrative design, worldbuilding or creative direction! 🎺 Comms, bizdev or marketing support! ...then get in touch!

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