iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 27/09/2026

Here's my current complete Lego collection. Started building and curating this year, wrapping up with a lot of really lovely sets on display. Until they announce something that I feel would fit in with all this (or I pay hoarder prices for retired sets) it's pretty much good to go.

Lego sets for Shopping Street, Central Station, airport, the bridge of the enterprise, a Nintendo entertainment system, a Polaroid camera, a normal shutter camera, a retro phone, the DeLorean for back to the future, a hot rod, a french fry truck, and a burger truck.

Lego sets for the smart play Star Wars X wing, Nintendo game boy, an arcade machine modified to look like a neo Geo, and figurines that look like my characters Naomi and Penny.

Lego arcade cabinets for donkey Kong and Pac-Man.

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 22/08/2026

if you see this, we implore you to post a picture from whatever device you're using without explanation.

Three women in green vest and yellow shorts and 3-D glasses in front of an NTSC color pattern. If you know, it's from Blippo+

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 05/08/2026

First time I've ever gotten to scientific notation in Balatro.

I don't remember the names of the jokers but it's the one where Kings give you 1.5 multiplier, with a whole lot of blueprints and cocktail napkins and mimes

Best hand was in E 16 scientific notation, got to anti-15.

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 04/08/2026

If you see this, quote the energy you bring to bluesky

A TV test pattern on an old computer monitor, but it's also the pride flag.

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 02/08/2026

Last Night: you know, my elbow is feeling a lot better today. Maybe the worst of it is behind me. Tomorrow morning, I'll get up, take my shower right away, do some writing and Today:

The cover of an early 1980s aerobics album, with the title changed to I am in constant physical pain, life is a nightmare

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 27/07/2026

Got blocked by another AI bitcoin enthusiast. You can tell that they're a vibe coder because there are three "has added you to the" and only two "moderation lists." I don't think this code is going to compile.

The name is blacked out, but it says someone has added you to the has added you to the has added you to the moderation list moderation list

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 19/06/2026

When I was a kid, I told myself "I want to work at Sierra On-line when I grow up!". I knew when I played this game that I wanted to be a game designer. I wanted to make stories and worlds people loved and returned to, again and again. It inspired me with stars in my eyes to reach for more.

A crashed spaceship inside a giant junkyard.

An alien gift shop merchant named Blatz offers trinkets for buckazoids.

Docking at Monolith Burger, a space station fast food joint.

One of the many, many gory deaths you can die if you walk in the wrong place.

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 19/06/2026

The final box on the shelf is a doozy. Space Quest III: The Pirates of Pestulon (1989) was my first "AAA" computer game, with eye-popping graphics (for the time) and amazing music (for the time). I hadn't even played SQ1 or SQ2 but this called to me, and I responded. The vibes are immaculate.

Boxed game collection. Titles include Hitchhiker's Guide, Pinball Construction Set, Lane Mastodon, In Search of the Most Amazing Thing, Adventure Construction Set, MYST, Monkey Island, Zak McKracken, Maniac Mansion, Pipe Dream, City of Heroes, and Space Quest 3.

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 16/06/2026

Notably this let me play as a game designer, thanks to the "Mission Architect" system, which let you create story arcs with NPCs and more. When CoH shut down I was devastated. Once fan servers popped I played again for a time, before disability and a fan dev difficulty ramp-up lost me.

Proof I had both the Hall of Famer and Chosen One badges, awarded for truly exceptional custom story missions.

Promo image for "The do it yourself casino heist project," a mission I wrote.

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 16/06/2026

I made dozens and dozens of original characters; "OCs," if you will, to experiment with different builds and narrative concepts. I roleplayed. I even prototyped characters that'd end up in visual novels, like Penny Larceny. I made friends, I wrote stories, CoH was everything I'd ever wanted.

My OCs. Look at them. Notable ones include Elisa Morales, Melvin the Adequate, Overlord Magnus, Foxtrot Charly, and Penny Larceny.

Penny Larceny! Her COH version used recolored pieces like an ammo belt and backpack and tarot card aura to simulate having a bag of money.

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 16/06/2026

Box #12 is City of Heroes (2004-2012), a superhero MMORPG. I am not kidding when I say this DEFINED my life for over a decade, on official servers and beyond. It was the first MMO game to have a modern urban setting and to divorce character stats from appearance, allowing amazing customization.

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 15/06/2026

It feels so good to be seen for who I am and what I believe in. (Although for the record, no problem with VR. I just can't use it because my glasses are too big and I have mobility problems.)

Notification that I've been added to a moderation list called "Does not like AI, crypto, smart glasses, NFTs, Bitcoin, VR"

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 12/06/2026

OK, but what is the game? Yeah, it's the hacking mini game from BioShock as a standalone experience. It's become shorthand for so many different little puzzles in other games that at this point it has no identity of its own. I love it, despite being a failed attempt to take the crown of Tetris.

The standard pipe dream puzzle arrangement, where green fluid starts to flow slowly and you have to place pieces ahead of it to reach a destination. This screenshot is from MS dos, with 16 color artwork.

The same thing but with an incredibly crappy looking windows 95 interface. No real decoration to speak of.

The Nintendo entertainment system version which is extremely bare-bones.

The game boy version which is incredibly busy visually despite the low resolution of the screen.

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 12/06/2026

As a kid, I was completely drawn to the Lucas version of the box art. This cute little plumber guy, the maze of pipes, the whole aesthetic of it screamed to me. But that aesthetic was not consistent from platform to platform! They got buck wild with some of these pieces of art.

The Amiga and Dos version of the game in a largely orange box with standard Lucas film design, with a little plumber desperately trying to fix leaking pipes.

A magazine ad for the game boy version which looks more like a 1980s horror movie poster. A man screaming as he plunges desperately trying to grasp on a pipe.

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 12/06/2026

Box #11 is Pipe Dream (1989) which is, confusingly enough, a Lucasfilm Games release. Or maybe it's a Bulletproof Software release! Or Microsoft...? So yeah, the original was made for Amiga and then the rights got sold all over the place to everyone for a series of very slipshod budget ports.

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 11/06/2026

It's not the peak of this team's capabilities, I believe that would be Monkey Island, but even their later games would not reach this level of interlocking puzzle complexity and physical space. I'd love to see a remake which omits the few cheap deaths and softlocks but focuses on the core strength.

The box, manual, and cartridge for maniac mansion on the Nintendo entertainment system.

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 11/06/2026

The game takes place entirely within one mansion, with a strong sense of place and connectivity. Puzzles can be solved in different ways depending on your party composition. There's a real feeling of a living locale in interactivity between the different rooms and the mobile Edison family members.

The composite layout of different rooms from the house, taken from the pixel art, arranged roughly in the physical space they occupy within the mansion.

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 11/06/2026

Box #10 is Maniac Mansion (1987). An absolute classic. It got an NES version, a forgettable TV show, an amazing legacy sequel, all the trimmings. And I would argue that this game is in the ancestral tree of modern immersive sims, with a fascinating non-linear design structure. Very ambitious!

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 10/06/2026

I played this one with the bad C64 160x200 fat pixels. It was also released in full EGA, and weirdly enough, nearly VGA on the obscure Japanese only FM Towns Marty console. See screenshots. Games released during the transition between decades can be a real mixed bag of technology.

Wide Commodore 64 16 color imagery of Zack standing in his bedroom.

Higher resolution EGA 16 color imagery. Same scene, although this ones from the German version.

Full 256 color version of the same image.

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 10/06/2026

One more box that I think I need to unplug from Bluesky for a while. Being in the spotlight has not been fun. Box #9 is Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders (1988). It's less well-known and then it's younger brother maniac mansion, and a more sprawling and confusing game. But still a classic.

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 09/06/2026

Box #8 is The Secret of Monkey Island (1990). Quite possibly the pinnacle of the point-and-click, doing away with cheap deaths, soft blocks, and many other frustrating conventions. It valued humor over punishment, staying approachable to all players. Modern games could learn from that.

See previous threads for the entire box collection list.

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 08/06/2026

They did a complete reimagining of it recently with impressive volumetric FMV for the characters. But a lot of the charm has gone at this point because it just feels like a standard iPad puzzle game with a thin story stapled on top, lacking any camp. You can't recapture the originality.

Another example of a ghost standing in front of the front door, but this time in full 3-D with better video capture and visual effects.

A remake of the shot where all the guests are in the library, this time with pretty spectacular visuals.

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 08/06/2026

This did make the game very clunky to play, as you had to sit there and wait through the various transitions even when solving a puzzle. The writing was also ridiculously campy with community theater acting, but that was likely intentional. Amazing soundtrack, either way. Absolute bangers.

An early 90s 3-D render of a marble foyer and staircase.

Six of the guests as weird video overlay ghosts on top of the library.

A better example of the translucent video overlay for characters, a man reading a note in front of the front door.

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 08/06/2026

Box #7 is the game that single-handedly sold CD-ROM drives, The 7th Guest (1993). Functionally very similar to Myst, but using full motion video for transitions between scenes. Everything completely pre-rendered, with ghostly people overlaying the images. Low tech but high impact.

The box PC game collection. See previous threads for a complete list.

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 08/06/2026

Fun fact about this game is that it's built on the back of what's basically PowerPoint for Mac... a system of "hypercards" that were designed for interactive business presentations but quickly adapted to play point and click games. See also Cosmic Osmo, a black and white precursor, and The Manhole.

Black and white image of a spaceship interior from Cosmic Osmo.

Black and white image of a manhole and fire hydrant from The Manhole.

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 08/06/2026

Sadly we're out of obscure 80s jank, so it's on to the popular titles. Box #6 is Myst The Surrealistic Adventure That Will Become Your World. (You gotta say the whole thing, it's like A Tribe Called Quest.) I own this game like six times over; digital, remasters, full 3-D versions, and more.

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 07/06/2026

"You can make a game entirely with a one-button joystick" is a hell of a promise... but it has to do so with the clunkiest UI ever. It's like a complex gearshift knob on a car. Graphics being kinda weak and slow did not help matters! Still, what it lacked in power it made up for in simplicity.

A menu of settings for your game, navigated by moving a cursor along a series of tracks and branching paths with a joystick. No mouse support.

Some of the chunkiest four-color graphics ever, with a wizard in an asteroid mine fighting a zombie. Maybe. It's hard to tell.

The sprite editor, which also used the same gearshift knob approach, sliding along tracks and branches.

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 07/06/2026

Box #5 is Adventure Construction Set (1984). Like Pinball Construction Set, I was immediately drawn to a game that can make other games. It provided a simple (VERY simple...) toolset to make games similar to the original Ultima. They could even be self-booting and standalone for distribution.

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 05/06/2026

Box #4 is "In Search of the Most Amazing Thing" (1983). It's from an educational software publisher, promising a vast world to explore, alien diplomacy to learn, trades and auctions, and searching for a lost relic. And it is an absolute hot mess of barely playable, incomprehensible jank.

The box PC game collection. Please see earlier posts for the complete alt text.

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 05/06/2026

Post an album you've listened to 100+ times.

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 04/06/2026

Box #3 in the collection is Lane Mastodon vs. The Blubbermen (1988). This is a WEIRD one; Infocom, who made text adventures, branching out into what could be called the first western visual novel ever made. It plays out like a long cinematic, but you can branch to other character's POVs.

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 03/06/2026

Box #2 in my collection is Pinball Construction Set (1982). It's exactly what it says on the tin! A simple tool for creating 8-bit micro computer pinball games. Also my first introduction to the idea that a game can make other games. I would seek construction set type games for the rest of my life.

Boxed collection including hitchhikers guide, pinball construction set currently highlighted, lane Mastodon, in search of the most amazing thing, adventure construction set, myst, the seventh guest, monkey Island, Zach McCracken, maniac mansion, pipe dream, city of heroes, space quest three.

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 02/06/2026

Kiddie me couldn't hope to beat this sucker completely on his own, but they sold a book of "InvisiClues." You could gradually reveal nudges and hints with a yellow pen until it just gave you the solution. I've taken the same approach to designing content warnings, oddly enough; click to reveal.

A hint booklet where you use yellow highlighter to reveal each clue.

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 02/06/2026

This is a classic text adventure game -- just text, zero graphics, zero sound. Just the goofy extras seen here. It pulled from the original novel but was a pile of weird little puzzles based on memorable moments and ideas from the book. And it was DARK SOULS LEVEL KICK YOUR ASS GIT GUD HARD.

Some extra items included with the box: fluff, opaque cardboard sunglasses, demolition orders for your house and planet, a don't panic button, and a plastic baggie labeled "microscopic space fleet."

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 02/06/2026

My boxed PC game collection is complete! All of these games helped me become the game designer I am today, so I'm gonna go through and post one box a day and highlight some details. Lessons learned, things best left behind, the works. Today's box is The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1985).

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 30/05/2026

On NES they used completely redrawn 16 color artwork to fit the hardware. A bit more detail in some places, a bit less in others. Still very ambitious to try to get it on the platform at all. And it was possible to make good CGA four color! But you had to really put in the effort.

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 30/05/2026

So for an apples to apples comparison here's Maniac Mansion in CGA, which... yyyeaah. This was designed for more colors than that and it shows. You can run it in a composite monitor mode which improves things but that wasn't common.

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 30/05/2026

Here's a good comparison. C64 image vs. MS-DOS image. Originally Maniac Mansion had a straight C64 port, but they re-released it later with full EGA spec. Images courtesy of: lilura1.blogspot.com/2022/04/Mani...

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 07/05/2026

I was on an absolute game development rampage today, getting so much stuff done. I choose to "blame" these boxed retro PC games I've got hanging up next to my bed now. I'm finally making this bedroom into something other than a blank storage closet and the quirky game energy radiates nicely.

Box reproduction copies of maniac mansion and Zach McCracken and the alien mind benders.

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 06/05/2026

I SAID NO FURTHER QUESTIONS j/k here it is probably final probably not

Picture made entirely out of simple letters and symbols. A person sits at a counter in a diner and for some reason a skull and coffin are visible

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 13/04/2026

I did the thing. I'm guessing half of these will be headscratchers, though. I am beyond OG and into the paleolithic.

About me: Video Games meme. favorite game is monkey island, favorite story is grim fandango, favorite art style is Blippo+, biggest personal impact is space quest 3, best combat is smackdown 2, overhated is the sims 4, underrated is fallout 4, overrated is arcade spirits, needs a remake is crazy taxi, criminally overlooked is penny larceny, favorite protagonist is Q-Bert, favorite antagonist is from Douglas Adam's Bureaucracy, best soundtrack is the 7th Guest, best multiplayer is city of heroes, not usually my thing is no man's sky, turn my brain off is dragon's lair, best with friends is the TMNT arcade game, best retro game is megamania, nostalgic childhood game is the three stooges, game everyone should play is arcade spirits: the new challengers.

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 13/04/2026

For a boring gray box, the Lego NES sure is incredibly complicated to put together. The Easter egg of a hidden world 1–2 diorama is delightful but kind of a pain to put together! Still, worth it in the end.

An incredibly miniature version of world one – two from super Mario Brothers. It's tucked away inside the shell of the game console.

The completed Lego Nintendo entertainment system unit, with a super Mario Brothers cartridge on top. Looks pretty much like the real thing.

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 09/04/2026

Working on a Lego airport, complete with privacy invasive Lego homeland security checkpoint! Decided to shift things up a bit, stuff the guard into his own body scanner while what I pretend to be an international human rights inspector walks straight on through. Imagination is beautiful~

A little TSA checkpoint, with baggage scanner and sliding glass doors.

A Lego skeleton with car keys identified as a threat appears on the scanner, while a woman carrying her passport just walks through.

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 22/03/2026

Finished this freebie Lego photo frame set. I do not like doing Lego flowers! Sharp, pointy, uncomfortable, finicky. Next up is, much to my horror, the Pac-Man set. Which has no 3-D instructions, a Dostoyevsky sized book, and like 2000 almost identical pieces. This may have been a mistake.

A picture frame with some plastic flowers around it. Also pictured our Lego versions of two cameras and a telephone.

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Stefan Gagne @stefangagne.com · 20/03/2026

Forgot to post about the other big Lego set I worked on recently, the smart brick X-wing. It's interesting that they went with a generic sound chip, future proofing it. But I don't think Star Wars is the right set for this. Star Wars has an extremely specific signature sound which this can't do.

A Lego X wing from Star Wars, with a big red push button to make the fancy sound brick do a thing.

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