Game Workers Conference May 22 - May 23, 2026 The Joy of Launch: A Post-Mortem of THE SPIRIT LIFT Miko Charbonneau | prettysmart games gameworkersconference.org

PANEL ANNOUNCEMENT📢

Miko Charbonneau | prettysmart games

In this post mortem, Miko talks about how the prettysmart team ensured healthy communication and a joyful post-launch experience between them and their players, when releasing their retro horror deckbuilder, THE SPIRIT LIFT.

It's hard out there! Your project looks really fun and interesting, a great fit for VR. Sorry there's been some challenges lately on the marketing side and I hope things get better for you.

THE SPIRIT LIFT - 100+ Reviews + Small Update for Finding Library Content! - Steam News Today's update makes it easier to find evidence, secret keys and cards in story events. Also we updated our accessibility and content info!

Minor Update to THE SPIRIT LIFT!

Increased discoverability of evidence, new cards and other secrets. Plus we added accessibility and content notes to our Steam page.

store.steampowered.com/news/app/172...

Living the dream! Congrats, we loved Minami Lane!

Thanks! We definitely had a lot of fun and laughs making the game, it was cathartic for us to design these to get through the tougher stuff!

In the game the trauma cards that are more intense are definitely more dangerous! Naive is a mild hindrance, for example!

When we asked our lead artist Audrey Twigg to design the trauma cards, she knew just what to do! After all, we were living so many of these feelings!

Check out THE SPIRIT LIFT: store.steampowered.com/app/1727590/...

#indiegame #screenshotsaturday #gamedev #horrorgames

Ha! "Sounds" like you're being hard on yourself!

We've also found that not only are the multiple sliders good for accessibility, they are useful for when we record trailers and need to turn only the music off!

Love to see multiple volume bars! Nice work!

The good news is, there's plenty of replayability and unlocks even in our demo if fr0zenunicorn wants to keep going!

You probably figured out that Mossferatu was a parody of Nosferatu, but is that the only name reference you found in THE SPIRIT LIFT? 🧐

#indiegame #withacharacternamedIndy #whoisagamer

We’re halfway through #DownloadForCharity!

Here’s streamer fr0zenunicorn realizing that The Spirit Lift demo (by @prettysmart.bsky.social) ended right when she was getting into it 😅

Still time to discover great games and support underrepresented game developers 👇
buff.ly/NBm7LX8

#IndieDev

THUNDER’s chaos? The random stops? The “what is THAT?!” energy?
Yeah… that’s all based on our dogs and cats 😄

They “help” during dev (by doing nothing 🤣) - and still shape the game the most.

#gamedev #indiegame #dog

I do this all the time, even with early prototypes. It helps me guess how big the budget and design/content needs will be.

(Comment from @catacalypto.bsky.social's amazing thread of game tips, go check it out!)

#gamedev #mathisyourfriend #evensimplemath

March Indie Game Recs and 100 Reviews Hit! | prettysmart games Get more from prettysmart games on Patreon

Our latest free blog post is up, with info about the @igdafoundation.org charity bundle on Steam and more indie game recs!

Special topic this time is figure skating games, inspired by the World Figure Skating Competition! www.patreon.com/posts/march-...

#indiegames

THE SPIRIT LIFT on Steam A retro horror deckbuilder roguelike set in a haunted hotel in the 1990s. Choose your teens, explore and fight! If you die rewind the night!

THE SPIRIT LIFT just hit 100 reviews! 🎉 🎉 🎉

Thanks everyone, we're so lucky to have such a lovely group of players!

store.steampowered.com/app/1727590/...

#horror #indiegame

Look back at this moment, some day I will release my own found footage movie

We built a physical found footage set for the release date announcement of THE SPIRIT LIFT! Check out this early camera block in. Turned out much different in the end!

store.steampowered.com/app/1727590/...

#indiegame #screenshotsaturday #gamedev #horrorgames

Best of luck in your launch, the game looks great!

Fashion forward and comfortable looking at the same time!

Save 20% on THE SPIRIT LIFT on Steam A retro horror deckbuilder roguelike set in a haunted hotel in the 1990s. Choose your teens, explore and fight! If you die rewind the night!

THE SPIRIT LIFT is 20% off in the Steam Spring Sale!
store.steampowered.com/app/1727590/...

And we've made a post of our fave games we recommend that are also discounted! www.patreon.com/posts/153461...

#indiegames

Hey #roguelike #deckbuilder devs! We'd like to build a starter pack so people can find our games easier. Other than our buddies @nozomugames.com and @arcaneeats.bsky.social who else is out there?

Reply with the bluesky account you want to add, we'll get as many as we can!

#gamedev #indiegame

Close-up portrait of Miko's face. She is half-Japanese and wearing minimal makeup. Her hair is brown with a long streak of pink transitioning to lavender at the tips. She's smiling and wearing light pink clear glasses.

Hi #WhatAGameDevLooksLike! I'm Miko, a game designer, writer and studio lead!

Started out with my Ph.D. on dance games, designed AR/VR for the launch of HoloLens, designed for Minecraft Bedrock, now I run @prettysmart.bsky.social.

I'm also available for VR/horror game design consulting!

#gamedev

And if we missed you, feel free to link to your game here in the comments! There were so many good titles, and we kept a few saved for future posts also!

Our Favorite Games in the Women's Day Sale 2026! | prettysmart games Get more from prettysmart games on Patreon

Inspired by our recent chat with @honestindies.bsky.social, we've made a free Patreon post recommending our favorite titles from the @wingsfund.me Women's Day Sale!

www.patreon.com/posts/152733...

Only a few more days to pick up these amazing games on discount!

#indiegames #gamedev #steamsale

Only a few days left in the Women's Day Sale! We've wishlisted so many titles, the selection this year is incredible! store.steampowered.com/sale/womensd...

A illustrated fantasy image of a giant spiritual blue woman floats before a warrior woman with red hair and a sword. on the ground surrounding her is a skull with horns and a couple of fantasy pink leaved trees. To the left is the logo for THE SPIRIT LIFT, a wolf with glowing eyes holding a hand of cards and the logo of the game below. The text on this image reads: -20% 15.99, 19.99 (crossed out) Women's Day Sale games by women-led studios Hosted on Steam March 6th to 15th Organized by Wings

Celebrating our women-led team with the #WomensDaySale!

Our retro ghostpunk deckbuilder is on sale, has a major update, and we're streaming the dev team playing together! store.steampowered.com/app/1727590/...

Thanks @wingsfund.me for making it happen!

#indiegame #InternationalWomensDay #IWD

We hope you love it as much as we loved playing 7th Guest many years ago!

Thanks for the shoutout and support!

Like lots of indies, we're always working on making our game easier to discover, and we're so thankful for the players we already have! Hope you enjoy!

I love our team! In the broadcast for this sale, we discuss our different play strategies, so much fun!

(And we also share behind the scenes tidbits and compare all the characters to Winnie the Pooh characters for some reason)

store.steampowered.com/app/1727590/...

#gamedev #indiegame

Save 20% on THE SPIRIT LIFT on Steam A retro horror deckbuilder roguelike set in a haunted hotel in the 1990s. Choose your teens, explore and fight! If you die rewind the night!

THE SPIRIT LIFT is 20% off for the Women's Day Sale! Thanks @wingsfund.me for running the event!

And we've just released LIFT LEVELS! An advanced difficulty mode for you thrill seekers!

Check it out here along with a live stream of our team playing the game! store.steampowered.com/app/1727590/...