iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 21/09/2026

King's Quest 6! Played it when I was around 5 years old back in the early 90s! It felt wondrous to me at the time!

Screenshot of the starting beach from King's Quest 6

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 31/03/2026

Excited to be at Game Town's first game narrative event!

Photo of the panelists and presenter at Game Town's game narrative event

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 11/02/2026

Sitting in the area marked "Game Development Galaxy"; pretty on point!

A galaxy map of all accounts on Bluesky, which are grouped into different clusters. My account sits in a cluster called "Game Development Galaxy"

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 21/11/2025

After so much time, blood, sweat, and tears poured into the game, we finally launched @battlemarked.bsky.social yesterday! I'm a massive fan of D&D and TTRPGs so it was an honour and a privilege to work with an IP so close to my heart. I hope players enjoy the game as much as we enjoyed making it!

Cover art for the game Demeo x Dungeons & Dragons: Battlemarked. The art depicts Ash, tiefling rogue, Jessix, human ranger, and Bolthrax, dragonborn paladin in various heroic poses standing in the foreground. A dragon appears menacingly in the background.

Screenshot of a section of the credits from the game Demeo x Dungeons & Dragons: Battlemarked. The screenshot showcases various programmers that worked on the game. My name is among the list

Photo of the Stockholm team who worked on the game Demeo x Dungeons & Dragons: Battlemarked.

Photo of the Linköping team who worked on the game Demeo x Dungeons & Dragons: Battlemarked.

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 17/10/2025

Ask me anything! Curious about life in Stockholm (or Malta, UK, or Denmark?) What it's like working working as a gamedev? Parenting life in Sweden? Something about books/games/music/RPGs/film/ice-cream? Wanna learn more about me, hopes and dreams, fears and regrets, or affirmations? Ask away!

Photo of a nearby park in Stockholm early in the morning. The leaves on the trees are turning orange and yellow, as autumn is approaching.

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 26/08/2025

Finally managed to sort out the latest pile of Maltese books that I brought back with me to Sweden!

Photo of a pile of books on top of a table. From top to bottom, the books are titled as follows: Kitba W Kittieba tal-Malti - II.2 by Ġużè Cassar Pullicino, Dawl Ġdid fuq Vassalli edited by Olvin Vella, Qwiel u Qaddisin by Victor J. Galea, Gozo: The Island of Joy by Thomas Freller, Spies and Renegades in Hospitaller Malta by Thomas Freller, Il Mezzo Vocabolario Maltese-Italiano del 700 by Arnold Cassola, Maltin u l-Inkiżizzjoni by Alexander Bonnici, A Trial in front of an Inquisitor of Malta (1562-1798) by Alexander Bonnici, Society, Culture and Identity in Early Modern Malta by Carmel Cassar, The Houses of Valletta by Victor F. Denaro, Musical Culture and the Chitarraro: Mattheo Morales in 17th Century Malta by Anna Borg Cardona, Diaspora: Maltese Overseas Settlement by Henry Frendo, Ponta Reale and Environs by MIchael Ellul, Dictionary for Specific Purposes by Charles Briffa, Id-Dar Maltija: Aspetti Soċjali Ekonomiċi u Kulturali bejn il-perjodu Medjevali sa Żminijietna by George A. Said Zammit, Knights in Durance: A Record of the Carvings and Inscriptions in the Dungeon of the Castle of St Angelo in Malta by Denis Calnan, and Malta and the Czars 1697-1802 by Andrew P. Vella.

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 24/08/2025

Back in Stockholm, and back to my regular routine on parental leave. You can see a snippet of my trip back home in Malta in the quoted thread.

Photo of the view of Malta from the airplane. The land is a mixture of green and brown, and most of it is built up. The sea is a deep blue, and the sky is clear and a bright blue. The airplane's wing is visible, and the livery indicates that this is a Ryanair plane.

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 23/08/2025

A selection of food eaten in Malta! After hearing the donut man shout about his donuts for several days, we couldn't not buy some!

Photo of a slice of Maltese ice-cream (ġelat tan-nanna from Elia) in a bowl.

Photo of three donuts, two chocolate and one jam, in a cardboard box. Purchased from the donut man.

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 22/08/2025

Found a poor lizard trapped in our carpet this morning. No idea how they got there, but they're now living their best life away from purple carpets.

Photo of a lizard trapped within the strands of a purple shag carpet

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 21/08/2025

More photos from Valletta

Photo of the houses at St. Barbara Bastions in Valletta, with iconic blue wooden balconies

Photo of the busy steps down Triq San Ġwann in Valletta. The sea can be seen in the background.

Photo of Fort Saint Angelo, as seen from Valletta. The sky is clear and the sea is calm and blue.

Photo of a picturesque street in Valletta with steps

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 21/08/2025

This might be familiar to anyone in the game AI space, or anyone who's played Creatures 2!

Photo of a green Norn doll plushie, a character from the game Creatures 2

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 21/08/2025

Post a non-religious photo you think of as Holy

Photo of red ochre patterns and spirals drawn on the ceiling of the Ħal-Saflieni Hypogeum. Photo taken from Heritage Malta's website at https://heritagemalta.mt/news/a-subterranean-neolithic-masterpiece-the-hal-saflieni-hypogeum/

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 19/08/2025

I'll never get tired of this view.

Photo of a sunrise over the sea, making the sky glow orange.

Photo of the moon over the sea during the evening.

Photo of an ominous cloud in the sky over the sea.

Photo of a sunrise turning the sky pink/purple over the sky. The sky is cloudy.

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 17/08/2025

Good times. Simpler times.

$Picture of a floppy disk. The label reads "Treasure Hunt Maths, A:\THM\SETUP" and "Prince of Persia, A:\PRINCE\INSTALL"$

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 12/08/2025

Got up early to watch the sunrise

Photo of the sunrise over the sea. The sky above the horizon is orange.

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 11/08/2025

Third and final day at the National Library is done! I didn't manage to find everything I wanted, but I found a lot of super interesting stuff that I can't wait to properly dig through.

Photo in a selfie format of myself in front of the entrance National Library of Malta. The sign behind me is in Maltese and says Bibljoteka Nazzjonali.

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 11/08/2025

This is probably the weirdest flavour idea for a savoury snack that I've seen, but it's not terrible?

Photo of a light blue packet of Twistees Minty Fresh, with several boxes in the background containing more packets

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 08/08/2025

Playing tourist in Valletta

Photo of the Triton Fountain in Valletta

Photo of a door leading to the inside of the Palace of the Grandmasters

Photo of the exterior of the National Library of Malta

Photo of Valletta and steps leading down towards Victoria Gate, taken from the bridge

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 06/08/2025

Taking the opportunity to read books in Maltese while I'm on the island! Especially if I have a bus to catch

Photo of the interior of the bus in Malta. It's half empty, with seats upholstered in blue.

Photo of the book Ix-Xitan Wasal fit-Tlettax by Joseph Attard, which I'm reading on the bus

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 31/07/2025

Back on the rock! Hello Malta! 🇲🇹

Photo of Gozo, Comino, and Malta in the distance, as visible from the plane.

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 26/07/2025

I thought I'd try an experiment, so I made imqaret ice-cream this weekend! Imqaret are a Maltese street food/dessert consisting of fried date pastries. I took the date filling and turned it into an ice-cream. It certainly has potential!

Photo of the imqaret filling in a saucepan, consisting of dates, orange blossom water, cloves, cinnamon, and aniseed.

Photo of the imqaret ice-cream mixture churning away in the ice-cream machine.

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 05/07/2025

Not many chances to dress up while on parental leave, but attending a wedding is as good a reason as any!

Photo of myself wearing a blue waistcoat and suit jacket, together with a light blue tie and pocket square. I'm holding a floral umbrella due to the rain.

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 19/06/2025

Here's something custom written for you! Apologies for the delay; being on parental leave with a toddler means that I don't get as much time to write (or think) as I'd like!

We turn now to the golfu, one of the more dangerous avians in this bestiary. Though there are conflicting accounts of its physical description (see Lanfranco & Lanfranco 1977 for a full list), the golfu can be described as a large bird of prey. It is often known to attack dovecotes in search of food (see Schembri 1985 for a description of the golfu's diet). Its most notable feature is a high-pitched screech which can turn enemies into dust (see Fenech 1984 discussing an eyewitness account by local hunter Salvu Mgħawweġ), and is therefore considered highly dangerous.

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 06/06/2025

Today, on Sweden's national day, we went to the Stockholm City Hall to join 6900 brand new citizens and celebrate becoming Swedish in an afternoon of speeches, music, and fika. We were even given free museum tickets and a kid's book about nature for our son! Proud to be dual Maltese-Swedish! 🇲🇹🇸🇪

Photo of a celebration for new Swedish citizens inside the Stockholm City Hall. Lots of people are waving Swedish flags while singing the national anthem.

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 01/06/2025

I don't have as much time to make ice-cream anymore with a toddler on the loose in the house, but everything lined up this weekend so I could make homemade strawberry ice-cream! 🍓🍦

Photo of homemade strawberry ice-cream mixture churning away in an ice-cream maker.

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 18/05/2025

This is how your email finds me

A warning sign in Swedish that says "Klämrisk vid transport av gods", which means "Risk of crushing when transporting goods".

There is an image of a person with a wheelie bin in a lift, followed by an image of a person being crushed by a wheelie bin in a lift.

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 14/04/2025

Since I don't have as much time to sit in front of a computer while on parental leave, I figured I could still do creative stuff by writing in a physical notebook instead. A bit embarrassing to have pulled a notebook out that after 10 years, I still haven't filled from cover to cover... 😳

Photo of a black notebook, taken while sitting on a bench in the park. The text on the notebook's cover reads "Code Camp on Computational Creativity, Coimbra, Portugal, 12th-15th January 2015"

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 09/04/2025

Parental leave lunch walks in the nearby nature reserve, with a sleeping baby, Hannah Nicklin's Writing for Games, and Kevin Saunderson's Detroit techno mix on NTS Radio.

Photo of the book Writing for Games by Hannah Nicklin on my Kindle. A stroller with a sleeping baby can be seen to the left, and the forest and lake making up the nature reserve in the background.

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 06/04/2025

Here's what I've learnt in my first week of parental leave: • I'm now very familiar with our local nature reserve, walking there often to put my son to sleep • Swedish nursery rhymes are bangers • My spoken Swedish is terrible, but parents at the local open preschool are supportive! • I'm exhausted

A photo of the local park, on a bright sunny day.

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 24/03/2025

I'll be off on parental leave with my son for the next six months! Looking forward to spending some quality time with him!

A photo of an assortment of baby toys. From left to right: a squirrel soft toy, a board book in Greek about animals, a pink beholder soft toy, and stacked wooden blocks that make up a tower

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 14/01/2025

As a Maltese, I couldn't not have a replica of a similar beauty!

Photo of a replica of The Sleeping Lady, a figurine originally found in the Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum in Malta

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 06/01/2025

Final book haul! Very happy with my additions to my library.

Photo of a pile of books on a table. From top to bottom, the books read as follows:
The History of Magic, by Chris Gosden
Everything to Play For, by Marijam Did
Folklore of Somerset, by Alan Holt
The L'Isle Adam Illuminated Manuscripts and other illuminated choral books in Malta, by Martina Caruana
The Cultural Logic of Computation, by David Golumbia
The Great Maltese Composers: Historical Context, Lives, and Works, by Joseph Vella Bondin
Wildlife of the Maltese Islands, edited by Joe Sultana and Victor Falzon
The Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri (The Folio Society)
Art Nouveau to Modernism, by Conrad Thake
The Late Medieval Art and Architecture of the Maltese Islands, by Mario Buhagiar

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 05/01/2025

It's my birthday today! I had a great time with family (and a very excitable baby) in rainy London.

Photo of a chocolate cake, with 5 lit candles

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 31/12/2024

Some highlights in 2024: - Released Home Sports with @resolutiongames.bsky.social - Wrote a retrospective on my D&D Westmarches campaign for 30+ people (simon.com.mt/blog/reflect...) - Became a parent to a baby boy! - Became a Swedish citizen! - Ran simplified D&D for 120 people Not too bad!

Photo of the Resolution Games office celebrating the release of our latest XR game Home Sports

Photo of myself carrying my newborn son, whose face is hidden

Photo of myself celebrating becoming a Swedish citizen. I'm surrounded by colleagues from the office, and the table is draped with a Swedish flag. I'm holding up some homemade ice-cream which I made which is meant to resemble the colours of the Swedish flag (it's vanilla ice-cream coloured blue and topped with cloudberry jam, which is yellow)

Photo of myself on stage running a simplified version of D&D at an internal company event for 120 people. Photo taken by Sebastian Bularca

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 25/12/2024

Had a great Christmas in London with family, and received some great presents!

Photo of my presents received at Christmas. A new pair of walking shoes in dark blue, the book Everything to Play For: An Insider's Guide to How Videogames are Changing Our World by Marijam Did, the book The Cultural Logic of Computation by David Golumbia, and the book The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri published by the Folio Society

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 23/12/2024

Had a great time in London yesterday meeting friends and trawling our favourite bookshops!

A photo of me and my wife with two of our friends.

A photo of Judd Books, a second hand bookstore in central London.

A photo of Skoob Books, a second-hand bookstore in central London.

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 27/11/2024

7. Outside of dabbling as a musician, my academic work in my MSc & PhD involved music and games. For my MSc, I generated music using 1D cellular automata based on colour→music mappings, while in my PhD, I used Markov models/viewpoint systems to generate dynamic transitions between precomposed music

Screenshot of my MSc project, where players could walk around a cityscape dotted with artwork in order to see how the view would sound by using colour→music mappings and 1D cellular automata

Screenshot of my PhD project visualising transition sections along a bridge between two different islands representing different musical themes. My PhD work focused on generating dynamic musical transitions between precomposed game music

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 26/11/2024

6. I collect flags of the places I've been too! Specifically, when I travel, I take photos with the flag of the country I'm visiting in front of a prominent landmark.

Photo of my self holding the Latvian flag in front of the Freedom Monument in Riga, Latvia.

Photo of myself holding the French flag in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France.

Photo of myself holding the Cuban flag at Cayo Santa Maria in Santa Clara, Cuba.

Photo of myself holding the Slovenian flag at Lake Bled, Slovenia.

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 25/11/2024

4. I sing and play the drums! Given that I've moved countries so often, I've only really kept up with singing, but I've sung in a variety of styles and college bands with friends and colleagues since my mid-teens. In particular, I was in a ska band, a rock/funk band, an acoustic folk band and others

Photo of me playing the drums and jamming out in 2006

Photo of me wearing a white hat, white shirt, black tie and singing as part of a rock/funk band in 2010

Photo of me wearing a black hat, black shirt, and suspenders singing as part of a ska band back in 2008

Photo of me singing on stage together with another singer, while another person wearing a mask dances in the background. I'm wearing a white shirt, pink suspenders, and a pink bowtie

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 24/11/2024

3. Since I've lived away from Malta for so long, I've gotten very into Maltese folklore, history & culture. I frequently tweeted about it on Twitter, and also took part in two videos (origin legends: www.youtube.com/watch?v=jO4M..., and Maltese Christmas folklore: www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnhK...)

A stack of books about Maltese folklore, history, and culture. From top to bottom: Papers in Maltese Linguistics by Joseph Aquilina, Studies in Maltese Folklore by Joseph Cassar Pullicino, Folktales of Malta and Gozo by Ġużè Cassar Pullicino, Society and the Inquisition in Early Modern Malta by Frans Ciappara, A Comparative Dictionary of Maltese Proverbs by J. Aquilina, Beyond Our Shores: A Panorama of Maltese Migration by Fr Lawrence Attard, The Maltese Bestiary by Stephan D. Mifsud, Place-Names of the Maltese Islands ca 1300-1800 by Godfrey Wettinger, and Musical Instruments of the Maltese Islands: History, Folkways and Traditions by Anna Borg Cardona

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 24/11/2024

I'm originally from the sunny Mediterranean island of Malta, but left at 21 to pursue my MSc in Copenhagen, Denmark, where I lived for 2 years. I then moved to Milton Keynes, UK for 4 years to pursue a PhD, and now live in Stockholm, Sweden. I've since also become a Swedish citizen!

Photo of the Valletta breakwater bridge in Malta

Photo of the Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Photo of the Concrete Cows statues in Milton Keynes, UK

Photo of my celebrating becoming a Swedish citizen. I'm behind a counter decorated with a Swedish flag, serving homemade ice-cream (blue coloured vanilla with cloudberry jam) topped with tiny Swedish flags

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 24/11/2024

I really enjoy making (and eating) ice-cream! After getting an ice-cream maker for Christmas, I've made a LOT of ice-cream, some of which the office also gets to enjoy. I've made pear, strawberry, blueberry, date and tahini, lemon sorbet, prickly pear, basil, crème brûlée, and many more flavours!

Two tubs of home made ice-cream, one with pina colada ice-cream and the other with basil ice-cream.

A tub of home-made crème brûlée ice-cream

A tub of home-made prickly pear ice-cream

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 21/11/2024

Hi all! I'm Simon, an XR game programmer from Malta 🇲🇹 and currently based in Sweden 🇸🇪! Professionally, I'm into ethical game AI, procedural content generation, and computational creativity. Outside of work, I'm into games, folklore, music, tabletop RPGs, film, writing, and making ice-cream.

Photo of myself on a snowy day in Stockholm, Sweden. I'm wearing a thick blue jacket, a woollen blue scarf, and a yellow beanie.

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 24/10/2024

One last session before the conference comes to a close: a closed beta looks on the 2024 Swedish Games Industry Report by @nylander.bsky.social from Dataspelsbranschen.

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 24/10/2024

The final talk of the day: @softndeadly.bsky.social with her talk Make Games With Humanity!

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 24/10/2024

A panel on the power of Mentorship in game development by Jenny Brusk from Science Park Skövde, and Valeria Matos Astrid Vahlström, and Paula Ingvar from King

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 24/10/2024

Up next is a talk titled The Tetralemmas of Game Making by Raunaq Singh Sokhi and Emelie Fuller from DICE!

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Simon Cutajar @sc.mt · 24/10/2024

After a quick lunch, I'm attending a panel about community management with Hanna Fogelberg from Landfall, Jeremy Fielding from Stunlock, and Anna Erlandsson from The Gang.

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