New episode featuring @kimchica.bsky.social of @geeksandgrounds.bsky.social and @wholesomegames.com 🙌🏻 We talk Pokopia and more!

#pokopia #nintendoswitch2 #charizard #pokemon #videogamepodcast

BREAKING: Maryland is about to become the first state in the nation to ban the use of surveillance data and dynamic pricing at grocery stores.

The Maryland House has just passed the Protection from Predatory Pricing Act.

Governor Wes Moore plans to sign the bill.

The Indie Council: PAX Out, Mike Back to the shadows.

This week, we talk PAX East, Triple-I's Showcase, and...

Mike is leaving The Indie Council.

Come watch his farewell episode:

Dylan Williams @dylanotes This meets the threshold for intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national group as set forth in 18 US Code § 1091 prohibiting the crime of genocide. It any Iranians are killed pursuant to this threat, President Trump will be guilty of genocide, as will those assisting him. Rapid Respo... @RapidRespo... • 4h Donald J. Trump @realDonald Trump A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don't want that to happen, but it probably will. However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS? We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World. 47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!

Called my Senators and Representative, urging them to cut their recess short, show up in DC, and prepare articles of impeachment against Trump for violating "18 US Code § 1091 prohibiting the crime of genocide," as so clearly explained by my @cipolicy.bsky.social colleague @dylanwilliams.bsky.social

Fishbowl game cover with Malliumpkin's avatar

We streamed the demo and fell in love! Now we're back this Wednesday with Fishbowl created by @imissmyfriends.bsky.social Steam key provided by @kimchica.bsky.social 💙 See you all soon, bring tissues! 💙

Congratulations, Mike!! You are a powerhouse, and I can't wait to see what you do at GDQ 🥳

Trying out something that is 1/2 review 1/2 micro essay. Thoughts?

So geeked to have helped out with this trailer, plz plz lend it your eyeballs if you have a minute, I think it came out pretty good! Plus the game is seriously so good

Save 3% on Everything Is Better With Friends on Steam

FISHBOWL IS OUT!!!

ive always seen the devs @imissmyfriends.bsky.social around while I was working on ISAT, and im so glad we released a bundle together! so excited for everyone to give it a look, please go get what i call the "pandemic feelings" bundle 💖💖💖

store.steampowered.com/bundle/69871...

Save 10% on Fishbowl on Steam Fishbowl is a narrative game about dreams, grief, and hope. Rediscover your memories and find your way into the present in this intimate experience where slice-of-life meets surreal.

Fishbowl releases today.

Only just learned about it properly today.

Game made by a two-person team based in India, and is a semi-autobiographical look at navigating early quarantine/pandemic lockdowns in India.

Definitely going to be one of the most important 2026 video game releases.

PC/PS5.

Fishbowl is 💜 OUT NOW 💜 on PS5 & Steam (PC, Mac, Steam Deck)

🫧 Play at your own pace
🪞 No bad endings only different paths
🗓️ Do as much or as little as you are able to
🛏️ Remember, no matter what, you got through the day

The two of us are in tears. Our game is out today! 🥹🥹

<3 waaaah thank youuuuu

Hey! Within the next half hour or so I’m gonna be playing Fishbowl in honor of its release April 2nd on stream! The specialest of shoutouts to @kimchica.bsky.social and @imissmyfriends.bsky.social for the key, stop by as we start the game because this is one for your radar this year! Links in reply!

A selfie of Jenny at PAX East standing in front of the booth for Good Story Guild, ready to demo their game, Cat Secretary!

🥳✨ Made it!!

LMAO WHAT 🤣

but also right back atchaaa 🔥👈🏼 😎

It was SO wonderful getting to meet and chat with you (and likewise! You were so sweet and fun to chat with)! Thank you so much for stopping by 💗🙏🥳 I hope the rest of your PAX is amazing!

An amazing feeling to see Fishbowl at PAX Rising @officialpax.bsky.social 💜💜 If you’re there, stop by to play our demo! ^_^

We aren’t able to attend this one in person but we have some amazing people helping us out with the booth @kimchica.bsky.social, @minustempo.bsky.social, Jenn, Jamie! 😭😭

Lots of feelings today as Ivy Road has closed down. While I’m not looking for work at the moment, please do check out all the folks in this thread if you’re hiring: I vouch for all of them! 💜

And thank you to everyone who played and supported Wanderstop!

And don't miss our Thursday PAX panel at 3:30pm ET!

Wholesome Games' @kimchica.bsky.social will be hosting a discussion with the Grave Seasons narrative team alongside our friends from @blacksaltgames.com (Dredge) and @ironwood.bsky.social (Pacific Drive) about crafting horror in natural settings 💀

The key art for Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To. The logo is in the upper left corner, and the main image is of Samar with her hand outstretched, with five spirits hovering around them.

👀 Stay tuned for more details as we can share them!

To celebrate, we have Spirit Swap discounted at 40% off from March 19 - 26th on Steam.

(yes, it’s also technically the Steam Spring Sale, but we'd like to think Steam is celebrating with us 😘 )

store.steampowered.com/app/1592170/...

A screenshot from Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To. This is a scene from the story portion of the game. Samar is on the left and Theo, Cleo, and Dio are on the right. Cleo's dialogue box says "You might be a pro, but we're a team!"

A screenshot from Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To. This is a scene from a story mode match in the game against Leon in their tattoo shop.

A screenshot from Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To. This screenshot showcases the map in the story mode of the game. The icon is above Leon's tattoo shop, and you can see the details of visiting them in the lower right.

A screenshot from Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To. This is a scene from the story portion of the game. Samar is on the left and Pookie is on the right. Samar's dialogue box says, "They keep crashing through the city barrier. There's definitely something going on. I've been trying to get to the bottom of it for a minute, but..."

🎉QUEER JOY FOR YOUR TIMELINE!🎉

Not only are we proud to announce Spirit Swap is nominated in TWO Gayming Award categories -- Best LGBTQ+ Character (Samar) and Best LGBTQ+ Indie Game...

We’re also proud to share that Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To is coming to Nintendo Switch! 💕

Do you, small / solo dev, know if your game is in IGF this year? No, do you REALLY? Have you asked your publisher? I unfortunately must relay to you that I can name three examples this year of high-profile IGF 2025 games that were submitted either: By the indie’s publisher, without informing the developer at all By the indie’s publisher’s externally contracted PR firm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Do you want to know why this is a FUCKING BAD IDEA? Here’s an example of a thing that happened this year: Judge: Hi! I’m having some technical issues with the build. Could you help me out? PR Company who submitted: We’ll get in touch with the developer and get back to you. — *THREE WEEKS OUT OF THE 1 MONTH JUDGING PERIOD PASS* — Judge: Hello????? Judging is almost over. Is everything okay? PR Company who submitted: We’ll have an updated build for you when the game comes out [note: That’s gonna be after judging is over] Result: Your game has wasted its opportunity completely.

Now that IGF and GDC is over I finally got around to writing up my postscript on IGF submissions and some of the issues we ran into in 2025. If you plan to submit your game in 2026 I recommend reading this, tbh. auratriolo.com/blog/2026/03...

Here's a little spoiler:

😌💗 ahhh GDC was so fun!

(u guys look so goooood! I hope you had a great time!)

Where there's one member of The Indie Council, there are all the members of The Indie Council.
@kimchica.bsky.social @itsmike.town @gameonysus.bsky.social and @finruin.bsky.social all had a wild evening at the IGF Awards this week!

As part of our talk we released the FULL CONTRACT for Outersloth!!!

Give it a read! None of it so changed other than removing addresses! All our games have this deal! WHOA!

❤️🙏

📣 Submissions for Wholesome Direct 2026 are open! 🥳

If you've got a game you'd like to be considered OR if you're a content creator who's interested in co-hosting, you've got until March 20th to submit. 💛

youtube thumbnail featuring the key art from the indie game fishbowl. the colors are shades of purple/blue and pink. it features a girl with purple/blue hair holding her hand out to a fishbowl with an orange fish in it. there are a lot of sparkles around the fishbowl creating a very magical effect. added to the imagery i've included text in similar colors saying "fishbowl demo" with a white outline and a squiggly white outline around the whole thumbnail as well. in the bottom corner there's faded text that says #gifted.

first youtube video in over a year on the main channel ദ്ദി(ᵕ—ᴗ—)

heartwarming indie novel on grief ── .✦ fishbowl demo asmr longplay 🐟🫧 youtu.be/rm7__IA-SQg

thank you to @kimchica.bsky.social & @wholesomegames.com for the #gifted code 💌

🎮 Steam Next Fest kicks off today! There are so many new demos to check out, so I'll use this thread to keep track of what catches my eye.

Devs, drop your demos below! Players, let me know what you’re loving so far 👇

February Indiescovery + Introducing Kentucky Route Zero | Geeks & Grounds Podcast YouTube video by Kimchica

Good news for KRZ Fans!

I'm joining @kimchica.bsky.social this month on the Games & Grounds pod to talk all things Kentcuky Route Zero. This episode is an intro to the game and it's themes, and at the end of the month we'll be back with a spoiler cast/deep dive!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_gZ...

💜 FISHBOWL UPDATED DEMO OUT ON STEAM AND PS5 💜

In case you missed @indiefanfest.bsky.social, here is our latest gameplay trailer with voiceover by @kimchica.bsky.social 🫶🏽