๐น๏ธ Puzzle Game Designer #boardgames #videogames
โ๏ธ Escape Industry News & The Escape Roomer
๐งฉ TERPECA & ER Champ UK Ambassador
๐ข Studio Manager @ Draknek, Director @ HEFT & others
mairispaceship.com
Hi I'm Mairi๐
I'm a puzzle designer, writer and overenthusiastic escape room enthusiast in the UK. I work on and cover things like:
๐Escape Rooms
๐ฎVideo Games
๐ฒBoard Games
๐บ๏ธTreasure Trails
And sometimes also do ambassador and mentorship stuff in the puzzle space too ๐
www.mairispaceship.com
Now that Steam Next Fest has started I want to remind everybody to not give games with AI any attention, to help you with this you can download this neat extension that will make it A LOT easier to filter through the slop! github.com/seeeeew/aiwa...
How are your season 4 dailies going? โค๏ธ
Here's the key art I did for this season ๐๏ธ Special mention to Rubik and the cubes, the most popular band in town!
New video series! Every week we're going to play a puzzle game and chat about its design - what's clever, what's surprising, and what makes a good puzzle.
First up: Chomp Garden by PawPaw Games (@chao-c.bsky.social)
Check out the full video here: youtu.be/KkJ-BNE87WY
Thrilled to announce that The Detective's Apprentice will be part of @gdocexpo.com Direct with a brand new trailer! Watch it live today at 3pm PT/6pm ET/10pm UTC here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJkG...#GDoCExpo#GDoCExpo2026#gamedev
I'm very please to announce a public release of my drag-and-drop bookmarking, game-making, and wandering tool Scrubjay!
Scrubjay is a weird website builder that lets you cobble together web elements, images, links, text fragments, etc into a series of nested rooms...
Lovely news to start the week: SOLAS 128, my game about redirecting rhythmic pulses of light, is in a Programming Puzzles Bundle alongside 6 other awesome programming-esque puzzle games.
I'm a huge fan of The Signal State and Retro Gadgets looks really cool ๐
www.humblebundle.com/games/progra...
๐ณ๏ธโ๐Have a queer or queer-made game releasing in 2027? Our Qweerty Game Dev Microgrant is accepting applications!
Recipients will receive up to $2,500 to finish funding their game.
๐๏ธ Apply by October 11th
Thanks to zPride for helping make this possible <3
The @gdocexpo.com Steam Sale is live from now till October 2 with lots of great games with discounts and demos! Check it out: store.steampowered.com/sale/gdocexp...
The Detective's Apprentice is participating with a demo you can play here: s.team/a/4159750#GDoCExpo#GDoCExpo2026#indiedev
The @gdocexpo.com Steam Sale is live from now till October 2 with lots of great games with discounts and demos! Check it out: store.steampowered.com/sale/gdocexp...
The Detective's Apprentice is participating with a demo you can play here: s.team/a/4159750#GDoCExpo#GDoCExpo2026#indiedev
Heads up: The New Voices Puzzle Grant applications close at the end of this week! If you're planning to apply - get your applications in soon :)
grants.draknek.org
As Order of the Sinking Star is coming out next month, in advance of review coverage coming in I wanted to add one thing to my last statement about the game: bsky.app/profile/drak...
(note: at that time I didnโt have a separate personal account)
So, โOrder of the Sinking Starโ by Thekla was just announced, which takes several small free games (two of which are mine) and gives them a major graphical upgrade and mashes up their rulesets. I havenโt been very involved but itโs a great concept and looks cool.
Puzzled Pint is tomorrow! Have loved going to these and solving puzzles with friends. It's a lot of fun!
If you're curious about attending one of the 80+ locations (or starting one near you!), check out this beginner's guide from
@mairispaceship.com.
thinkygames.com/features/puz...
I wrote an article in @thinkygames.com about Puzzled Pint! Which is only one of my favourite puzzle themed events every month.
thinkygames.com/features/puz...@puzzledpint.bsky.social
I set up Puzzled Pint in its third location (London) in 2013 - if you're interested by the idea of puzzles in a pub, this article will tell you all about it!
I wrote an article in @thinkygames.com about Puzzled Pint! Which is only one of my favourite puzzle themed events every month.
thinkygames.com/features/puz...@puzzledpint.bsky.social
We need only around 24 more reviews to break through and be *** Overwhelmingly Positive *** on Steam :)
Please, share and review
store.steampowered.com/app/2207440/...
I learnt about the wonders of Puzzled Pint, and now I'm running it in my city alongside some lovely peeps! If you're in Barcelona, consider coming!! :D
I wrote an article in @thinkygames.com about Puzzled Pint! Which is only one of my favourite puzzle themed events every month.
thinkygames.com/features/puz...@puzzledpint.bsky.social
LOK Digital is getting dangerously close to 500 reviews and therefore, Overwhelmingly Positive! Please if you played it, we would really appreciate a review! :) And if you haven't yet, please give it a go! There's a demo!
store.steampowered.com/app/2207440/...
He Who Watches by Danga Games is OUT NOW! ๐๏ธ๐น
To celebrate the release, we have a brand new trailer featuring solo developer Bobby Vanden explaining what the game is and why it's special. Watch below!
Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/1070500/...
itch: draknek.itch.io/he-who-watches
New episode: Gener8 Global Games
In this episode, the gang are joined by Chris Dickson of Challenge Arcades, representing the UK and competing against France for the most points in the four challenge rooms.
But as with all puzzle games, things are not quite as simple as they seem.
#podcast
Here's the August edition of Thinky Third Thursday, the monthly roundup of thinky puzzle games that have caught our eye:
thinkythirdthursday.com/august-2026
If you're working on a thinky puzzle game, you should definitely apply! I was one of the recipients last year and I can't stress enough how impactful it was for me. The incredible community support and @mairispaceship.com's mentorship really helped bring out the best in my game!
We're excited to announce that applications are open for the Draknek New Voices Puzzle Grant 2026 ๐
The grant will award $15,000 to five thinky puzzle game developers from all over the world, and a year's mentorship with genre veterans.
Deadline: September 27th
More info ๐
We're excited to announce that applications are open for the Draknek New Voices Puzzle Grant 2026 ๐
The grant will award $15,000 to five thinky puzzle game developers from all over the world, and a year's mentorship with genre veterans.
Deadline: September 27th
More info ๐
Hi folks!
I'm Alan and I run Draknek & Friends, where we make and publish lovingly crafted puzzle games.
Draknek is on Bluesky at @draknek.bsky.social and you can check out all our games at www.draknek.org
Missed a Saturday day ticket? Get yourself down to the GIGF Afterparty this Saturday !
๐ฎ๏ธ All our festival games (Plus a few extra!)
๐ต Music performances
๐๏ธ Our Best in Show Award Show
โค๏ธ BYOG (Bring your own game !!)( Laptops and handhelds only!))
๐๏ธ Tickets glasgowindiegamesfest.org
Aliens are here and for some reason the gang has been chosen as representatives of Earth to communicate with them.
Now they just need to figure out what the hell these aliens want before the trigger happy military initiates an interstellar Armageddon ...
Listen now wherever you get your podcasts!
We're really excited to announce that Dittori will be taking part in the @brilliantindietreasures.com showcase at Develop Brighton on the 15th July, 4pm - 8pm!
Tickets are available on the door for ยฃ4
I hope to see you there!
@willloughlin.bsky.social and I are TEAMING UP and forming @lockinaudio.com โจ
we can help out with sound + music + implementation for games and like working with cool teams on projects that are full of heart ๐
check out our website and if you like what you hear, honk at us ๐ชฟ
lockinaudio.com
What an awesome surprise - a wonderfully thoughtful, insightful and cool video about Wax Heads.
I love critical analysis like this cause as an artist making stuff, it's the highest compliment for someone to examine and critique your work in such depth!
(Plus gives me loads of food for thought)