iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 24/09/2026

Pretty surreal to be in a print magazine. 12 year old me would be proud. (Issue 66 of Return Magazine, a German retro game magazine)

A photo of Return Magazine, open to the page on the ereader. On the left side is a story about the Series One games and a photo of me holding the cards up.

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 18/09/2026

A nice preview of what our foster will look like :)

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 16/09/2026

Retro Achievements so far has Pixel Pup at about 15 hours to complete, which is about right imo. retroachievements.org/game/42809 #gba #homebrew

A screenshot of the Retro Achievements stats table showing "beat the game" took 5 players a median time of 15 hours and 40 minutes, and "mastered" also took 5 players 15 hours and 40 minutes.

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 15/09/2026

The PC version of Eridin will largely be just like the GBA version. But it will get some quality of life improvements and graphical flourishes here and there. Here's a simple example. #gamedev #indiedev #whatbigpixelsyouhave

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 12/09/2026

My first goal for my GBA/e-reader/PC strategy game is to bring this screen to life. #indiedev #screenshotsaturday

A screenshot of the battle intro screen. It shows a rabbit-like creature with a cape, sword, and a worn out look on his face. He is facing a goblin who holds a sword, is wearing leather armor, and has a goofy look on his face.

The text reads "Rimcain: Invasion of Ru'oal Village"

The background is a fantasy style map in beige/grey.

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 08/09/2026

I think an e-reader game that communicates over the wireless adapter might be possible. It would be just about the most asinine video game ever made, which intrigues me :)

Two Game Boy Advances both with an e-reader plugged in, then a wireless adapter plugged into each e-reader.

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 03/09/2026

Hmmm ... nearly 5000 files changed. Oops, I had regenerated all of the random puzzles. Even when you're the sole developer on a project, code review is still good practice. #indiedev

A screenshot of a GitHub diff showing that from version 1.0.4 of Pixel Pup to 1.1.0, over 4800 files changed.

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 02/09/2026

Sometimes puzzle race mode will really challenge your puzzle solving skills. Such as this doozy.

A screenshot of a puzzle in pixel Pup. The entire puzzle is empty except for one tile.

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 02/09/2026

Even just testing puzzle race mode by myself is fun. I'm excited for my wife and I to compete. If it leads to me sleeping on the couch, I have succeeded! 😛

A screenshot of puzzle race mode in Pixel Pup. It shows two players solving 5x5 puzzles with an indicator in the lower corner showing how far into the race each player is.

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 31/08/2026

Issue 66 of Return, a German retro gaming magazine, has an article on the e-Reader. They also added a side article about the Series One games. I never thought I'd be in a game magazine 😲

An image of the e-reader article in the magazine. On the left is an article about the e-reader in general and its history. On the right is an article about RetroDotCards Series One e-reader games.

The articles are in German.

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 31/08/2026

To add wireless support to Pixel PUp, I almost had to do ... nothing at all. Just some wireless graphics here and there. afska's GBA networking library just handles both modes seamlessly. If you are a GBA dev, this library is awesome. github.com/afska/gba-li...

A screenshot of Pixel Pup, showing the players about to start a two player session. It is asking them to either attach a link cable, or wireless adapters, then press A to connect.

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 29/08/2026

Wireless support is going swimmingly.

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 25/08/2026

I'm working on Pixel Pup 1.1 Some bug fixes, polish, wireless adapter support, and a new two player mode: Puzzle Race. Who can solve a series of puzzles first?

A screenshot of Pixel Pup's two player mode menu. It shows the options competitive, cooperative and puzzle race. Puzzle race is focused.

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 24/08/2026

Pixel Pup came out just in time, to, um ... celebrate? Windows 95's anniversary. Hope you don't get a blue screen of death! 😛

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 20/08/2026

If I needed a 17th message type, that means a pretty big change to how two player mode works. I managed to rework the tile types such that I only needed 3 bits for that part. That gave me a single extra bit. But that was all I needed, with x increased to 5 bits and y still 4, I could fit it all!

The "change tile" message type reconfigured with a slightly different payload. Now the tile type section is 3 bits instead of 4, allowing x to be 5 bits instead of 4. Y is unchanged, still 4 bits.

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 20/08/2026

When one player changes a tile, I send this message across. The first four bits indicate this is a "tile was changed" message. The next 4 bits contain what the tile was changed to (filled? emptied? x'ed out?), and then 4 bits for the x location, and finally 4 for y.

A diagram of the "tile was changed message". It shows the "change tile" id up in the message type section, then the payload made up of what the tile was changed to, and the x/y location of the tile that was changed.

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 20/08/2026

To do two player GBA games, you send data across the link cable 2 bytes (16 bits) at a time. I divided this into 4 bits that indicate what the type of message is, and the other 12 bits are the data for the message.

A diagram of the 2 bytes/16 bits data packet that gets sent over the link cable. It shows that the first 4 bits are used to set the message type, and the other 12 bits are the data (payload) of the message.

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 20/08/2026

I was testing extra large puzzles in two player mode in Pixel Pup when this happened. Compare the right side of each board. Uh oh.

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 19/08/2026

I still have two boxes of them I never packaged. Yeah I way overestimated these...

Two boxes of unprocessed/unpackaged Series One cards.

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 19/08/2026

After setting aside a lil chunk for the Detroit con in November, I'm left with 90 English Series One packs. I'm not usually a FOMO inducing kinda person, but I am pretty sure I'll never be able to reprint these.

A cardboard box with 90 packs of Series One English cards

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 16/08/2026

Each time you go into the e-reader menu, a different Franny from the e-reader version of Pixel Pup will appear. A small way to keep the canceled e-reader version alive. Pixel Pup will be available for the #GBA this coming Friday! retrodotcards.itch.io/pixel-pup

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 10/08/2026

Not sure what all this e-reader stuff is in Pixel Pup? Scan the QR code for more help. It will take you here: www.retrodotcards.com/pixel-pup/e-...

The e-reader menu in Pixel Pup, a game for the Game Boy Advance. Franny the dog is saying "Scan the QR code for more info." There is a QR code in the lower left.

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 04/08/2026

This site has a lot of e-reader info including many Nintendo Power scans. gbasp.ru/ereader-en.h... This page of the Game & Watch games is a nice peak at what could have been.

A scan of Nintendo Power showcasing the Game & Watch games that ultimately never came out.

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 01/08/2026

Pixel Pup's e-Reader feature is just a little bonus. But I think it will be pretty fun. #screenshotsaturday #gba

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 29/07/2026

Well, Pixel Pup isn't going to make it for July :( But, I'm confident we'll make August. The game is entirely done, except it turns out music on the #GBA is challenging. We're also adding in one last feature. It just doesn't seem right for a RetroDotCards release to not use the e-Reader! #indiedev

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 28/07/2026

There are now two Smaghettis, the original Smaghetti is still at smaghetti.mattgreer.dev You can move levels between them by clicking the ... in the upper left, select "Export level to file", then "Load level from file" at the other Smaghetti.

A screenshot of Smaghetti showing the export level/load level menu.

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 17/07/2026

Two player Pixel Pup works great on the MiSTer two player GBA core.

A competitive game of Pixel Pup being played on the MiSTer. It shows both players side by side on the same screen. They are playing on the fantasy board and each player has placed some tiles.

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 13/07/2026

Happy that @roninopf.bsky.social has joined the Pixel Pup team to provide some great tracks to listen to while you solve those nonograms. The music is still a WIP and this video is a mock up of real gameplay with still-in-progress music, but it gives an idea of where it's headed. So cool!

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 10/07/2026

Pixel Pup has 10 mini Franny stamps hidden throughout. Can you find them all?

A screenshot of Pixel Pup for the Game Boy Advance. A nineties puzzle is being played on the Macintosh desktop. A mini Franny icon is in the upper right corner, and a blown up view of it is shown.

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 08/07/2026

Here is a very simple gba tile viewer. For example, these tiles are from Advance Wars www.retrodotcards.com/tools/tile-v...

The online tile viewer with the game Advance Wars loaded. The tile viewer is showing tiles 769-800, with tiles that show fonts, and other graphical assets such as character portraits.

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 04/07/2026

The Atari 800 has dual cartridge slots but as far as I know no software ever took advantage.

The Atari 800 computer with its cartridge door open to show the dual cartridge slots.

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 03/07/2026

Here's some quick mock ups of what I'm aiming for with my next GBA/e-Reader game. Kind of what you'd get if Advance Wars, Fire Emblem and Magic the Gathering were thrown into a blender. Super ambitious, can I pull it off? Eh, probably not. But I will try my hardest :)

A mock up of a Game Boy Advance strategy game. It shows the main gameplay on an overhead map. The left side is a forest, and the right is a desert plain, there is a river cutting through the middle. To the left are the heroes, and it is Tril's turn. He is figuring out where to move. To the right are three goblins, the enemies of the map.

A mock up of the character details for the Game Boy Advance strategy game. It shows the details for Tril, a mouse-like creature. He is a level 2 fighter. It shows what he currently has equipped, a sword and a cook pot. There is a third available slot that is empty, which says "scan an equipment card".

A very rough mock up of what en equipment e-Reader card might look like. This is the cook pot equipment card. To the left is a rough pencil sketch of the pot. To the right it says "turn ability: generate one food item", and below that, "food item: regain 2 health".

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 01/07/2026

Y'all were right. I'm not happy that it doesn't line up with the other numbers, but this is probably least worst option. Only about 1% of puzzles even have a 20, so not a huge deal.

A screenshot of Pixel Pup for the Game Boy Advance. It shows a 20x15 puzzle with a single row that has a 20 hint. The 20 is a bit wider than other numbers, making it stick out a tad, but not too badly.

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 30/06/2026

I'll experiment more. But I am a lil worried it will be interpreted as a 2 hint then a 0 hint. Sure that makes no sense, but sometimes we're running on auto pilot.

A close up of a Pixel Pup nonogram board, showing the 20 hint rendered as two separate numbers so that they are wider than 5 pixels.

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 30/06/2026

Challenge, draw the number "20" in a 5x5 space with a single color. Is there a better solution?

Gameplay screenshot of Pixel Pup, a nonogram game for the Game Boy Advance. It shows an extra large puzzle (20x15) being played. One row has a "20" hint number, and the screenshot shows the 20 blown up large to show how it was drawn in such a tight space.

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 27/06/2026

A little change to the win dialog. It shows the puzzles in full color, but also in their original solved b&w version. Before I felt the colored in puzzle was too much of a jump for some puzzles, "wait, that's what I just solved?". I like how well this solves that issue. #gba #screenshotsaturday

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 26/06/2026

Some uh, unintended creepy vibes...

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 24/06/2026

When you add a backlit screen to your GBA.

The South Park "and it's gone" meme. It shows a guy at his computer, staring out pensively. The caption says "turn it on ... aaand the batteries are dead"

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 23/06/2026

The Pixel Pup beta test has begun! We are doing a small, private beta test. At this point we are still very much on track to release the game in late July.

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 18/06/2026

We commissioned Jackson Pollock to design some puzzles for us.

A screenshot of Pixel Pup for the Game Boy Advance. It shows the win screen of a solved, 20x15, puzzle. It is set in the art museum theme. The puzzle is abstract and looks similar to some of Jackson Pollock's paintings.

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 17/06/2026

Every once in a while, the random puzzles form a neat little abstract image. Not often, but it's cool when it happens.

A photo of Pixel Pup playing on a real Game Boy Advance. It shows a completed random puzzle. The word "clear!" is very large and dominate, and the title of the puzzle, "random 1390" is just below. The image of the solved puzzle kind of looks like a sand sculpture or something.

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 17/06/2026

Are you decent -- but not amazing -- at nonograms, like I am? Then crank the clock setting to 99 minutes for these big puzzles. And yeah, it was me playing these big puzzles that made me realize I'm gonna need more time :) The clock can be set to 30, 60, 45 or 99 minutes as you please.

A screenshot of Pixel Pup for the Game Boy Advance. It shows an "extra large" 20x15 puzzle being just started, with none of the board filled out. The clock reads 98:55.

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 04/06/2026

Pixel Pup will ship with 3,788 random puzzles. Including extra large 20x15 puzzles.

A screenshot of Pixel Pup for the Game Boy Advance. It shows an extra large, 20x15, puzzle, being played in the Windows 95 nineties puzzle pack.

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 03/06/2026

Someone pointed out to me this interesting coincidence. This other song is very similar to the bgm in Bomb Hunter. It's even GBA themed. The Bomb Hunter song was made by Nintendo, it's a song that is on the e-Reader itself, the game asks the e-Reader to play it (song id 129).

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 02/06/2026

Two player mode is now complete minus bugs and a lil polish. I think this will be pretty fun. #gba #indiedev #nonograms

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retrodotcards.com @retrodotcards.com · 02/06/2026

My favorite comment on the video :)

A screenshot of a YouTube comment. It says:

"Just a simple port of Snake will do"
Shan Mansell - "You insult me, sir"

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