iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 22/08/2026

Pinball Spire is 40% off on #Steam! Grab it on its own or in a bundle with Yoku's Island Express to maximize your savings! Two different takes on a #pinball adventure, both currently on sale. 🎉✨🔮 ▶️ store.steampowered.com/bundle/84293... #indiegame #indiegames #gamedev #indiegamedev #gaming #games

Pinball Spire screenshot showing the ball rolling across a flipper with a blue line pointing up diagonally to show the ball's projected path.

Yoku's Island Express key art showing the adorable dung beetle Yoku over a lush tropical background.

Yoku's Island Express screenshot showing Yoku, tethered to a white ball, flying through a verdant green pinball space and collecting fruit.

12510

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 21/08/2026

The puppet episode of Strange New Worlds was actually really fun! It tells an existential story in a way that somehow still feels like #startrek, even if it's very silly. I especially liked Pelia's wiggly hair! I still wish SNW was the return-to-form they originally pitched but what can you do.

Frame from the episode showing puppet Pelia standing on a glossy black floor. She's wearing a puppet-sized version of her red uniform and her curly blond hair is wildly poofy, sticking it out in all directions.

070

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 18/08/2026

Pinball Spire is part of Steam's Pins & Pegs Fest! 🥳 Unfortunately, the timing didn't work out for Pinball Spire to be on sale during the fest but a new sale is Coming Soon™ if you wanna wait! 💰 You can also grab it in a bundle with Yoku's Island Express! 👀 ▶️ store.steampowered.com/bundle/84293...

182

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 17/08/2026

Oh no, that sucks. 😞 Could it be because they add that green ribbon thing to the top left corner and your title text would be just under that?

110

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 15/08/2026

I unironically like Quest 64. It's a flawed RPG with tedious combat and virtually no story or characters, but it's also an early 3rd person open-ish world game (predating Ocarina of Time, even) with a unique battle system, evocative environments (in a liminal space sort of way), and some good music!

Quest 64 screenshot of a grassy open field with a scattering of billboard trees and angular, low-poly hills.

Quest 64 screenshot of the ice cave (I think?), with strange crystal-like textures on the terrain, and an oddly out-of-place house in the distance.

Quest 64 screenshot of a dark, spartan, late-game town made of some basic blocky buildings.

Quest 64 screenshot of a castle or church sitting on a crumbling rocky cliffside. Everything is very low poly and the area has a dreamy atmosphere.

916322

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 14/08/2026

Are you participating in Steam's Pins & Pegs Fest next week? Post your game below and I'll reskeet this thread when the event starts! 🎮⚪🎳 #steam #indiegame #indiegames #gamedev #indiegamedev #gaming #games

Promo art for Steam's Pins & Pegs Fest. Aug 17-20 at 10 am PT. The art shows a vector-art style red/orange pinball table with bowling pins and balls in the background.

12378

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 14/08/2026

Email spam as an indie developer... So many definitely legit offers to buy my company!

Screenshot of my email spam folder highlighting my company's name (Apparition). Around 30 emails with subjects like "Offer to Purchase Apparition Games" and "Investment into Apparition", all clearly fake.

050

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 12/08/2026

Yes, I love the characters! My favourite is the cat just entirely stuck (?) inside a fish's mouth.

Screenshot from Yoku's Island Express showing an orange cat sitting quite happily inside the open mouth of a blue fish.

000

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 09/08/2026

My final stats, for fun... I didn't get everything but I think I did alright. Also, my playtime is inflated with a lot of time spent paused but whatever. 😄 (Image marked as graphic media to hide spoilers... Let's see if this works.)

010

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 03/07/2026

Show me a cool physical game (cursed or non-cursed) (If you played Taz Mania you know this one is very much cursed 😨)

Front side of a physical box of Taz Mania for the Genesis.

The inside of a physical box of Taz Mania for Genesis. You can see the manual and cart.

270

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 01/07/2026

I'm really feeling this... This post prompted me to think of all the anti-consumer practices the games industry has implemented over the years. It's... a lot. And so many of these have become so normalized we hardly even think about them anymore. Did I miss anything?

* Microtransactions
* Consumables
* Loot boxes
* Gambling mechanics
* Designing for "whales"
* In-game ads
* Energy mechanics
* Daily rewards
* In-game currencies
* Retailer-exclusive bonuses
* Day 0 patches
* Day 1 patches
* Early access (normalizing shipping broken/unfinished games)
* Pre-order to play early
* Subscriptions for online play
* Game-specific online passes
* DRM
* License activation limits
* Code in a box
* Game-key cards
* Battle passes
* Time-limited DLC
* Mods behind a walled garden
* NFTs
* Exploitation of user-generated content
* Digital only
* Delisting digital games
* Shutting down access to redownload digital games

9244

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 13/06/2026

People point to Expedition 33 as a game that everyone forgave for using AI, and that's true, but it's been over a year since it came out. We've had more time to see and think about the impact of AI on society. I've only become more opposed to AI and, in hindsight, I regret giving E33 a pass.

Frame from the Baby Cries sketch on I Think You Should Leave. A man with a concerned look is telling a woman: "I'm worried that the baby thinks people can't change."

1140

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 08/05/2026

I don't get the hate for the new Star Fox art style but it's kind of a shame they didn't go for something more creative. Nintendo's experimented with so many cool art styles for Zelda, Kirby, Yoshi... I'd love to see them try a faux puppets aesthetic. Put the power of the Switch 2 to good use!

Star Fox SNES promo image featuring real puppets for the Star Fox crew.

280

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 18/01/2026

Should I play it? Is it finally time? I feel like I need to know how it stacks up against the other games in the series, especially Metroid Prime 4.

Photo of a hand holding a copy of Metroid: Other M for the Wii.

350

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 03/01/2026

One of their followers, リミュー・オルゴール🜸 (@sodalite105), even posted some fan art! I think this is the first bit of fan art I've seen of Pinball Spire and I love it! 🥰 (I'll avoid linking back to it because this is from Twitter...)

Fan art by リミュー・オルゴール🜸 (@sodalite105) showing speedrunner kagetar0 holding a smiling pinball above his head.

050

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 04/11/2025

🎉 Pinball Spire is participating in the Metroidvania Fusion Festival on #Steam, featuring a whole bunch of great indie games that contain #Metroidvania mechanics! 🥳 ▶️ buff.ly/GKzmulN Big thanks to @humanqube.bsky.social for organizing this event! #indiegames #games #gamedev #indiedev #steamdeck

Promotional image for Pinball Spire in the Fusion Festival, which runs Nov 3 - 11 at 10 am Pacific.

02612

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 02/09/2025

Thanks for the opportunity, Casey! I haven't done one of these in a while. 😄 I made an atmospheric pinball adventure game called Pinball Spire! Climb a mysterious tower using the mechanics of pinball and special abilities. Available on Steam, GOG, and Switch. store.steampowered.com/app/2601940/...

Screenshot of Pinball Spire showing the ball rolling through a gate to enter the spire.

Pinball Spire screenshot showing the ball, on fire, going into a loop to collect some green gems.

Pinball Spire screenshot showing the ball dropping down a shaft into a pit of skulls. Above the skulls is a conspicuous orange crystal.

3326

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 02/09/2025

The Play for Peace: Games for Palestine charity bundle is now live! Nearly 400 games, books, comics, music, game assets, and other art from creators all around the world, with proceeds going directly to Gaza relief efforts. Includes my little musical puzzle game, Micron! #indiegames #gaming #games

"Over 300+ games from creators all over the world." Text over an atmospheric dark orange pixel art skyline.

2137

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 31/08/2025

Hey cube! I'm sorry to hear that. 🙁 I did get some early reports of choppy performance in the first room with the skulls (the one in the screenshot below) but I made some improvements. Can you confirm you have the latest version (1.02.02)? The version number is on the title screen and pause menu.

210

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 18/08/2025

Here's a rough diagram of the big picture idea:

020

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 18/08/2025

I think the first component we can work on is the definition of a common schema to define the metadata of a game. This would allow devs to describe their own games in a convenient and distributed way. Simple example based on my initial proposal:

$A JSON document with metadata describing Hollow Knight: { "schema": "game-metadata", "schema-version": "0.1", "title": "Hollow Knight", "description": "Forge your own path in Hollow Knight! An epic action adventure through a vast ruined kingdom of insects and heroes. Explore twisting caverns, battle tainted creatures and befriend bizarre bugs, all in a classic, hand-drawn 2D style.", "developer": "Team Cherry", "publisher": "Team Cherry", "links": [ "https://www.hollowknight.com/", "https://store.steampowered.com/app/367520/Hollow_Knight/", "https://www.gog.com/en/game/hollow_knight" ], "genre": [ "Metroidvania", "Platformer", "Singleplayer" ], "tags": [ "2D", "Indie", "Exploration" ] }$

120

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 31/07/2025

A bit late to this but here's "Make it Exist" Pinball Spire edition, plus a few extra screenshots from the early prototyping phase. 👀 See if you can spot all the differences from the final game! #gamedev #indiedev #indiegame #solodev

A very rough comparison of the first prototype for Pinball Spire with the final game. At the top it says "Just make it exist first" with a very crude/simple pinball table that looks like it was drawn in MS Paint (but was actually implemented and playable!). At the bottom it says "You can make it good later" showing one of the large rooms in the Overgrown Bastion area (sort of a red castle theme) with fancy lighting, glowing arrows, green gems, flying eyeball enemies, and other little elements.

A screenshot from a very early build of Pinball Spire showing a simple yellow-brownish brick room, a few bumpers (that look about the same as in the final game), extra long flippers, and a ball with eyes, but it looks weird and kinda bad.

A screenshot from an early build of Pinball Spire in a more rounded teal-coloured room. There's a sparkly icon in the middle with a tiny clock face design, green slingshots, and some very out-of-place red walls connected to the flippers. There's a simple HUD with a blue mana bar and a coin counter.

A screenshot from an early build of Pinball Spire with a slightly more elaborate table design in the castle-themed area (still yellowish-brown). The wall textures look a bit more detailed now and there are green vines along the walls. There are gold coins scattered in the room, a couple of bells, and a flying eyeball enemy in the middle.

12810

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 22/07/2025

My puzzle game Micron is part of a bundle of 81 games, TTRPGs, and books supporting communities affected by wildfires. 100% of the proceeds are going to charity. We've raised over $1,500 USD so far! ❤️ Grab the bundle and donate to a good cause: itch.io/b/3125/canad...

0127

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 19/07/2025

Pinball Spire patch 1.02.03 is now out on #Steam and #GOG! ❇️ New tutorial for cradling technique ❇️ Improved vertical display support ❇️ Speedrun timer ❇️ New (small) room to introduce breakable rocks ❇️ New hat 🧙‍♂️ ❇️ Improved Boost ▶️ store.steampowered.com/news/app/260... #pinball #gamedev #indiegame

Screenshot of a tutorial dialog in Pinball Spire. The title is Cradling Technique. The text on the bottom says: Look for opportunities to grab and hold the ball against a flipper. Starting a shot from this position makes it much easier to aim, especially combined with the Focus ability!

2258

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 15/07/2025

How about the characters in FF6? They're low resolution and there's a lot of variety in the original designs that you can use for inspiration.

110

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 14/07/2025

We made it to 300 reviews on Steam! Thanks, everyone! 🥰

Cropped screenshot of the review score for Pinball Spire on Steam. "ALL REVIEWS: Very Positive (300)."

2232

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 12/07/2025

Pinball Spire is just one review away from hitting 300 on Steam! 😍 If you've played the game recently it would mean a lot to me if you'd consider leaving a review! Reviews are a great way to support your favourite indie devs. 😄 To everyone that has already left a review, thank you so much! ❤️

Screenshot of the product summary section for Pinball Spire on Steam. It shows that the game currently has 299 reviews! 😱

0204

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 11/07/2025

Oh, I ran into this, but I don't remember exactly how I solved it. Is it the "Write Defaults" setting, maybe? You can try turning this off on your floating animation.

110

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 10/07/2025

Wouldn't it be cool if I could put Kirby in Pinball Spire somehow for the Switch version? It'd be a great nod to Kirby's Pinball Land which was a big inspiration for my game. HMU Nintendo! 😛

A screenshot of Kirby's Pinball Land next to a screenshot of Pinball Spire, both showing the ball sitting on the right flipper.

1131

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 10/07/2025

Pinball Spire is also on sale on Steam and GOG! ▶️ store.steampowered.com/app/2601940/... ▶️ www.gog.com/en/game/pinb... And the soundtrack is available on Bandcamp and streaming! ▶️ starlingoboe.bandcamp.com/album/pinbal...

030

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 10/07/2025

Have you been thinking of picking up Pinball Spire on #Switch or #Switch2? Good news, it's on sale for the first time in the indie.io publisher sale! 🎮✨🎉 Grab it now with a 20% discount for a limited time: ▶️ www.nintendo.com/us/store/pro... #nintendo #nintendoswitch #gamedev #indiedev #indiegame

Promotional image for Pinball Spire in the indie.io Publisher Sale on Nintendo Switch. The game is on sale with a 20% discount!

1215

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 01/07/2025

Happy Canada Day! 🇨🇦🎆🍁 Check out the Canadian Game Sale on #Steam featuring Pinball Spire and 300+ other awesome games by Canadian devs! ➡️ store.steampowered.com/curator/4554... #gamedev #indiegames #canada

Promotional image for the Canadian Game Sale featuring a cute cartoon beaver and red maple leaves. "300+ Games by Devs from Coast to Coast. July 1st to July 8th. Proudly Canadian."

01712

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 26/06/2025

Pinball Spire is 30% off as part of the #Steam Summer Sale! 🎉😱 ✨ Check it out: 🔗 store.steampowered.com/app/2601940/... Don't tell Gaben I said this but it's on sale at GOG as well for those who prefer a DRM-free copy! 🤫 #gamedev #indiegame #steamsale #steamsummersale #pinball #steamdeck #games

Promotional image for Pinball Spire in the Steam Summer Sale. The game is on sale with a 30% discount at $10.49 (regular price $14.99).

0185

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 25/06/2025

My picks for the 10 Best Games of the 21st Century. There are tons of other games I could sub in but this is what I've got right now! www.giantbomb.com/hey/the-10-b...

Games listed in order from 1 to 10: Rez, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Bloodborne, Final Fantasy XII, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, Metroid Prime, Resident Evil 4, Portal, Team Fortress 2, Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

040

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 20/06/2025

I'm enjoying the new Doom but what's with all the goofy story stuff? It feels like they turned it into a Call of Duty campaign, complete with non-stop radio chatter. Doom should be pure action! They had the right idea in Doom 2016. 😛

120

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 19/06/2025

(I didn't make this but it makes me chuckle.)

Photo of someone using a hose to spray water on the motherboard of an open PC case. Text at the top says Butlerian Jihad Time.

130

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 06/06/2025

Hi #PitchYaGame! I'm the developer of Pinball Spire! 🔮 Explore a mysterious spire through the mechanics of #pinball ⚙️ Use flippers, plungers, curious contraptions, and special abilities to climb to the top 🎁 Discover fun cosmetic accessories to customize your ball #indiegame #indiedev #gamedev

2464

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 05/06/2025

Pinball Spire confirmed to run great on the #Switch2! So after you get tired of Mario Kart World, maybe check out my game? 😜

Photo of Pinball Spire on a Switch 2. There's a Link amiibo next to it.

2339

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 03/06/2025

Help us celebrate the launch of Pinball Spire on Nintendo #Switch with a chance to win 1 of 4 game keys! 🥳🎁🎮 Enter the giveaway on Gleam and share/follow us on Steam and social media to increase your chances of winning: 👉 gleam.io/zawbw/pbs-sw... Ends 12 PM ET June 6! #giveaway #indiegame #games

23515

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 30/05/2025

Heads-up for Switch Pinball Spire players: You may encounter a slowdown issue in the room shown below. If you do, you should be able to wait a bit for the issue to resolve itself, but it still sucks. Sorry for the issue! A proper fix is on the way.

Screenshot of Pinball Spire showing a blue room with several narrow channels.

090

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 29/05/2025

IT'S HERE! PINBALL SPIRE IS OUT ON #SWITCH! 🥳🎉✨ Join our hero Pip on an exciting journey to uncover the secrets of a mysterious spire in a game that blends #pinball with classic action-adventure! 🎮 www.nintendo.com/us/store/pro... Please share! TY 🥰 #nintendo #indiegame #gamedev #gaming #game

916150

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 28/05/2025

Ahhhh.... Pinball Spire launches on the Nintendo Switch tomorrow! This feels like a big milestone in my indie career. 🤩 #gamedev #indiegame #indiegamedev #solodev

Photo of my Switch showing the store page for Pinball Spire. (Note that price is shown in Canadian dollars! US price is lower.)

2267

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 23/05/2025

Pinball Spire is one of today's Daily Deals on #Steam! 👀 I've also just released a new update to coincide with the deal. This update adds a New Game+ mode and various little fixes and improvements. ✨ Get it with a 30% discount: ➡️ store.steampowered.com/app/2601940/... #pinball #gamedev #indiegame

Screenshot of the Daily Deals on the Steam homepage. Pinball Spire is one of the featured games with a 30% discount!

Screenshot from Pinball Spire describing the New Game+ mode. "New Game+ will carry over unlocked abilities, player level, XP, and Gems from the existing save file."

01910

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 21/05/2025

Hello content creators and press people! If you're interested in covering Pinball Spire for the #Switch release (May 29), please get in touch and I'll see if I can get you a review key! #twitch #youtube #contentcreator #twitchstreamer #twitchgamer #vtuber #indiegames #gaming #pinball

3176

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 15/05/2025

Big news, everyone! Pinball Spire is coming to Switch! 🤩 Climb a mysterious spire using the mechanics of #pinball and special abilities like Focus that lets you slow down time! 🧙✨🎯 Pre-order now with a limited time discount: ➡️ www.nintendo.com/us/store/pro... #nintendo #switch #gamedev #indiegame

76633

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 09/05/2025

I haven't shared anything new in a little while so here's a fun behind-the-scenes look at the spire within the #Unity editor! You can see that the rooms aren't physically connected. They used to be but it made it really hard to make any changes. 😅 #gamedev #indiegame #pinball #solodev

2167

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 23/04/2025

Check out my game Pinball Spire in the indie.io publisher sale! Use fun abilities to explore a mysterious spire through the mechanics of #pinball. 🔮✨🧙 Grab it with a 20% discount on #Steam: 👉 store.steampowered.com/app/2601940/... Runs at a smooth 60 FPS on #SteamDeck! #indiegame #gamedev #games

43111

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 11/04/2025

And as it happens, Pinball Spire is currently 20% off as part of the indie.io publisher sale on #Steam! Check it out: store.steampowered.com/app/2601940/... Also on GOG: www.gog.com/en/game/pinb... And the wonderful soundtrack by @starlingoboe.itch.io: starlingoboe.bandcamp.com/album/pinbal...

041

Tom Voros @tom.voros.ca · 11/04/2025

How do people describe our game: - Kinda like Sonic Spinball where it is an adventure pinball game - The levels are very atmospheric and clever - Chill pinball game with great music and pixel-art graphics (actual quotes!) #PinballSpire #indiegame #gamedev #indiedev #pinball #games #gaming

2304