Dr. Miko Charbonneau
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drmikachu.bsky.social
Dr. Miko Charbonneau
@drmikachu.bsky.social
Studio Lead of @prettysmart.bsky.social, Dr. of Dance Games, horror writer and game designer. Currently making THE SPIRIT LIFT, a deckbuilding hotel-crawler!

Talk or collaborate? https://prettysmartgames.com/contact
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Hi #PitchYaGame! Our ghostpunk roguelike deckbuilder set in a haunted hotel comes out Jan 27 2026!

Come for the 90s nostalgia and teen drama, stay for the chance to throw a rice cooker at a clown or dynamite a spider horse!

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

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxTh...
prettysmart games 👻🏨 THE SPIRIT LIFT Release Date Trailer
YouTube video by PrettySmartGames
www.youtube.com
Indies can be so hard on ourselves!

I want to spend more time thinking about the incredible feats we've created and less on where I fell short.

I'm doing like 27 different jobs to release this game and I'd never ask anyone else to do that!

#indiegame #gamedev #weareonly6people
December 12, 2025 at 9:23 PM
On the final pass of adding all narrative lore to our game. Last night LOREM IPSUM dominated my nightmares

#gamedev #writing
December 8, 2025 at 7:19 PM
You can tell a lot about a person based on how they feel about pivot tables.

So thankful to our playtesters for filling out a brief form as they play, we are making huge improvements in our progression flows!

I would love to make a video about this after launch!

#gamedev #math #playtesting #data
December 7, 2025 at 9:13 PM
This is how I binge watch Murder, She Wrote.

Whenever I get the urge to watch, I check the current time. The hour becomes the season, the minute becomes the episode. If the minutes > episodes, I restart at one and count up.

That's it. I have no idea if this is interesting! Carry on!
December 6, 2025 at 12:41 AM
Our game comes out in less than two months! I'm working every day on the final touches, can't believe this is happening!
Hi #PitchYaGame! Our ghostpunk roguelike deckbuilder set in a haunted hotel comes out Jan 27 2026!

Come for the 90s nostalgia and teen drama, stay for the chance to throw a rice cooker at a clown or dynamite a spider horse!

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

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxTh...
prettysmart games 👻🏨 THE SPIRIT LIFT Release Date Trailer
YouTube video by PrettySmartGames
www.youtube.com
December 4, 2025 at 8:28 PM
There's nothing like the live chat during a GDoC Expo. Give if you can, these incredible people are keeping the dream alive for so many talented teams!
🫶🏾 Join us this #GivingTuesday!

Today is all about giving back to communities & missions that matter.

If Game Devs of Color has inspired you, supported you, or empowered creators you admire, we’d love your support.

Even $5 can make a difference with collective action.

givebutter.com/GDoCExpo2025
Support Game Devs of Color
By Game Devs of Color
givebutter.com
December 2, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Reposted by Dr. Miko Charbonneau
my first trip to GDC was possible because of this scholarship. a truly wonderful group of people work hard to make this happen and to deliver a great experience for anyone who wins it. apply apply apply!! it can change your life!!
GDC 2026 SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS OPEN 📣

Our alumni say it best!

🗣️"This opportunity allowed me to connect with other marginalized game designers, who helped me navigate challenging experiences in AAA & continue to act as mentors for me."

✏️ www.gamedevsofcolor.org/scholarship

#GDC2026 #gamedev
December 1, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Reposted by Dr. Miko Charbonneau
sorry i'm late but shop open! finally!!!

all my new things have been added. you can find the duos and the judglings, and the usual goods. the free shipping should automatically apply if you meet the requirements!

🛒: q-iilin.myshopify.com
December 1, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Classy tip for game devs:

Sneak stupid gifs into tasks in your backlog to delight and horrify your teammates when they bubble to the surface

#indiedev #gamedev
November 30, 2025 at 9:44 PM
Hey, I'm in this article! Thanks for the opportunity to chat about roguelikes and roguelites!
November 28, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Reposted by Dr. Miko Charbonneau
We did something different with the credits for Demonschool. We used this format: name, title, lengthy description of what they did. Often you see credits in games where you don't know what the credited developer was actually responsible for. We wanted to give people proper, actual credit.
November 24, 2025 at 10:23 PM
The lifecycle of a gardenia, as witnessed by me in my house

1. Gifted by a beloved aunt
2. After watching hours of tutorials, given its own windowsill, pebble tray, auto watering system
3. Infested with 1000s of baby spiders

to be continued...
November 20, 2025 at 11:39 PM
Is a horror villain clown still a clown if they are not trained in the arts of clowning around? 🤡 Or is that clown gatekeeping?!
November 19, 2025 at 9:27 PM
What I'm going to remember the most about these last months before ship is not the tears or the 100s of tasks.

It will be the laughter as we lost our minds, the stupid songs and dances and jokes we conjured to make THE SPIRIT LIFT the best game it could be.

#gamedev #indiegame #laughsoyoudontcry
November 17, 2025 at 9:14 PM
This looks like so much fun!
HELLO FELLOW GAME DEVS - do you want to force yourself to make social media posts about your game??? Then you should try the:

🎄 12 DAYS OF #DEVMAS 🎄

Join us from December 13th-24th in making posts based on these 12 prompts~

⬇️ MORE INFO BELOW ⬇️
November 17, 2025 at 2:47 AM
Reposted by Dr. Miko Charbonneau
Button that reveals a handle for pulling down a keypad...........
November 16, 2025 at 5:18 AM
Reposted by Dr. Miko Charbonneau
It doesnt stop there. Did you know "zombies" are an African creation?

Zombie comes from the Haitian creole "zanbi," which itself comes from the Kikongo word "nzambi" that translates to "spirit of a dead person.'

It embodied the spirit of haitian slavery. Body is alive, the soul is not

short🧵
Wanna hear a scary story?

The first American vampire was Black.

Seriously.

78 years before Dracula appeared in American literature, there was "The Black Vampyre" by Uriah D'Arcy.

It was written in 1819 as an antislavery critique and the effect the Haitian Revolution had on the States
October 30, 2025 at 11:25 PM
One of best parts of making a horror game is every time we find a bug we get to yell THE GAME IS HAUNTED!

Found a nasty hydra of issues last night but don't worry, slain enemies will no longer linger invisibly in future battles! 👻Literally haunting the place!

#gamedev #horrorgames #indiegame
November 13, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Watching my lead dev tell a friend about how someone changed the color of a font and the build broke and the friend says "now let me tell YOU my best a color change broke the game story"

#gamedev
November 11, 2025 at 4:47 AM
The artist Karepango was selling a dinosaur tote with the slogan "Happy is the New Rich" and every day I regret not buying it.

That's the world I want to live in.

(Check out their other work here, I don't know if they are on bsky karepango.com)
Karepango
Karepango
karepango.com
November 10, 2025 at 9:34 PM
Reposted by Dr. Miko Charbonneau
I think we all know who actually sculpted the snow miku 🎨
#art #yakuza
September 21, 2023 at 7:21 PM
I'm going to remember this year in #horror movies as "great movies that made me gag and I have to recommend carefully"

I'm talking about you two: The Ugly Stepsister and Match. Specifically.
November 9, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Hi #PitchYaGame! Our ghostpunk roguelike deckbuilder set in a haunted hotel comes out Jan 27 2026!

Come for the 90s nostalgia and teen drama, stay for the chance to throw a rice cooker at a clown or dynamite a spider horse!

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

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxTh...
prettysmart games 👻🏨 THE SPIRIT LIFT Release Date Trailer
YouTube video by PrettySmartGames
www.youtube.com
November 7, 2025 at 6:33 PM
History used to be my least favorite subject, now I find it soothing to listen to old documentaries or niche youtube channels that are at least attempting to spread real facts
November 6, 2025 at 3:41 AM
It's astounding how much pressure we game developers put on ourselves.

It's never enough to have made a game, or a good game, or a profitable game. You'll always see someone doing 'better' than you.

And the only way to win THAT game is to not play. Make success about defeating your own best score!
November 3, 2025 at 6:25 PM