Dr. Miko Charbonneau
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drmikachu.bsky.social
Dr. Miko Charbonneau
@drmikachu.bsky.social
1.4K followers 320 following 410 posts
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
Posts Replies Media Videos
drmikachu.bsky.social
I let ghosts haunt my attic to bring you the release date for THE SPIRIT LIFT, our ghostpunk roguelike deckbuilder! Check out the full trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxTh...

Wishlist, play demo, tell friends! store.steampowered.com/app/1727590/...

#gamedev #horror #indiegame #deckbuilder
October 23, 2025 at 7:56 PM
drmikachu.bsky.social
What better way to celebrate #adalovelaceday than buying games about coding and engineering?

The Ada Lovelace Sale is live now! You can get Code Romantic at 50% off! store.steampowered.com/curator/4258...

Thanks to @ludenio.bsky.social for running this cool event!

#gamedev #indiegame #coding
Text says October 13-19 Ada Lovelace Day Sale 2025. Awesome games about coding, automation and engineering. Hosted by luden.io The image shows a workspace with a jumbled pile of wires and monitors and circuit boards. In the upper right corner is a portrait of Ada Lovelace with ADA in neon letters. There's a poster on the right wall of Alan Turing that says ALAN WAKE UP.
October 14, 2025 at 6:33 PM
drmikachu.bsky.social
All my recent pics are snapchats I send to my mother! Older and less dog-like in person #WhatAGameDevLooksLike

I'm Miko! Earned my CS PhD on dance games, designer specializing in AR/VR and horror.

I run @prettysmart.bsky.social where we consult and build THE SPIRIT LIFT, a ghostpunk deckbuilder!
It's Miko! An Asian woman with shoulder length brown hair that has red streaks. Wearing a red floral pattern and pink glasses. Visual filter is adding pink dog ears and a pink dog nose.
March 17, 2025 at 8:51 PM
drmikachu.bsky.social
I am ready! I'll be on around 3:40pm PST! Wearing my cute top by @mellow-minx.bsky.social and everything! <3

#gamedev
#indiedev
Woman in pink glasses smiles at camera. She's wearing a gold medallion necklace and a blue patterned kimono top
January 3, 2025 at 9:02 PM
drmikachu.bsky.social
As my last creative act of 2024, I published my first #horror review video!

2024 horror movies were SO GOOD I started a YouTube channel. Enjoy my favorite 20 movies in SkinamaPINK-vision!

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

#horrormovies #youtube #horrorreview
A woman with glasses is holding up a scrap of paper and smiling. Behind her, several horror movie posters are displayed but dark and hard to see. The writing says 2024 Horror Movies Ranked!
January 1, 2025 at 4:01 AM
drmikachu.bsky.social
Ok hi! Wow! Bluesky is really growing huh? If you followed me recently feel free to say hi.

Even better if you have pet photos... Here's my anxious shepherd monster Evie!
The face of a dog in a carpeted room with blue curtains. The dog is brown and black with powerfully worried eyebrows and a big nose. She is wearing a blue collar.
December 19, 2024 at 7:34 PM
drmikachu.bsky.social
My look from The Game Awards! We represented @prettysmart.bsky.social with our matching ties and met so many fun people!

And I was so warm and comfy with my blazer and five pockets. Suits rule!

#gamedev #tga #gameawards
Collage of photos of an outfit from the game awards. Top left is a close up of metallic gold shoes, top right is a woman with colored hair in a suit with a bright blue tie and gold shoes. Bottom Left is the same woman with a man, both smiling in matching blue ties with eyeglasses tie bars. Bottom right is a closeup of the glasses tie bar.
December 14, 2024 at 4:41 PM
drmikachu.bsky.social
I am PSYCHED to be playing The Crimson Diamond by @juliaminamata.bsky.social! You will not believe the love that went into the retro pixel art style of this game, the music is phenomenal (shoutout to DanTheBand!) and the writing and mystery has me hyped!!!
store.steampowered.com/app/1098770/...
A pixel art masterpiece in a limited palette of colors representing a bygone era of adventure games. Two women sit on a train seat: on the left is a woman with shoulder length blue hair and a blue top with a white collar, on the right is a woman with a bob of red hair, a green hat, a charming gray coat and a yellow bow around her neck. The dialogue reads "can you imagine?"
August 18, 2024 at 12:14 AM
drmikachu.bsky.social
crushing bugs in our upcoming game demo for THE SPIRIT LIFT! hang out and cowork with me! www.twitch.tv/drmikachu
Prettysmart games' key art for their game entitled THE SPIRIT LIFT. The game’s shopkeeper, Dorian Graywolf, has yellow glowing eyes holding a fan of navy blue cards under his wolf snout. The cards have golden accents with an eye in the center and arrows facing up and down coming from the middle of the eye. The logo for THE SPIRIT LIFT is to the left of Dorian. It says, "THE SPIRIT LIFT" in the same yellow glow as Dorian’s eyes with the first I in SPIRIT mimicking an elevator dial with a blue atmospheric outline of the elevator dial with the actual dial behind it.
April 11, 2024 at 9:32 PM
drmikachu.bsky.social
Need a break from your feed? come cowork with me. Today I'm fixing bugs in our horror game THE SPIRIT LIFT! www.twitch.tv/drmikachu
The logo for THE SPIRIT LIFT in gold and blue, next to a wolf's face with glowing gold eyes as he holds a deck of cards.
April 4, 2024 at 9:15 PM
drmikachu.bsky.social
New Patreon post, with sneak peeks of the full game art progress! Including a look at one of our announced bosses www.patreon.com/posts/spirit...

#gamedev
Blue image with a logo on the left stating "THE SPIRIT LIFT" in gold text. The outline of an elevator is painted behind in grungy blue streaks. A wolf's face glares from the right with glowing gold eyes. His muzzle tilts over a hand of cards with an elaborate backing pattern in an art deco style.
December 14, 2023 at 9:39 PM
drmikachu.bsky.social
We are at @geekgirlcon.bsky.social with our game demo! Floor 3 in the Gaming Okoye room.

I have cute giveaways for you if you come by ❤️

#gamedev #ggc23
A person's hand holding merch for THE SPIRIT LIFT a card game. One is a charm with the name and face of the character Maria. Behind the hand is a monitor showing the game being played
October 7, 2023 at 4:26 PM
drmikachu.bsky.social
Pick 20 favorite games and share!

It took me days after seeing this. I opted for 20 games that changed my life, either through escapism, inspiration, or directly being part of my career. Alt text for the names!

topsters.org
A list of game covers. The list says "Life Changing Games" at the top. The games are listed by title on the side: Persona 3 portable, Resident Evil 4: Premium Edition, Final Fantasy Tactics, Xenogears, Pikmin 2, Phantasmagoria, Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger, Shivers, The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery, Magic: The Gathering (Old PC edition from the 90s), The SIms, Karaoke Revolution, Dance Central 2, Dance Dance Revolution 3rd Mix, Elite Beat Agents, Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward, PHoenix Write: Ace Attorney - Justice For All, Minecraft, Magic: The Gathering Arena, Super Mario Bros. 3, Spiritfarer, Vamprie SUrvivors, Slay the SPire, Yakuza 0: Digital Deluxe Edition
September 25, 2023 at 1:18 AM
drmikachu.bsky.social
It's my sixth wedding anniversary which means I am allowed to post a shot of me and my best friend silhouetted against the water on our big day.
A woman and man on their wedding day standing on the beach with the ocean behind them. The sun is setting over the water and silhouetting them with the glow peaking through between their faces
September 16, 2023 at 6:53 PM
drmikachu.bsky.social
Also I am not great with plants but somehow have grown the most amazing basil?!

This is one fifth of the plant!

THAT LARGE LEAF IS BIGGER THAN MY HAND
A basil plant with hand sized leaves in a glass jar, resting precariously on the arm of a blue patio chair in a sunlit room
September 2, 2023 at 10:27 PM
drmikachu.bsky.social
Also it's totally my birthday week and I'm feeling old but heck I don't look it yet and I am so proud of what I've done so far.

Age is just a number, growing old is a blessing, live a life you're proud of without regrets <3
A cropped in shot of me, Miko, an Asian woman in a purple plaid shirt, pink glasses and big black headphones. I'm not wearing makeup and my skin is looking pretty good despite my status as a middle-aged adult.
August 31, 2023 at 7:28 PM
drmikachu.bsky.social
It's Thursday, and that means #gamedev streaming! Today I'll be updating smash particles, TV static animations and a spooky hallway for our deckbuilding hotelcrawler THE SPIRIT LIFT!
https://www.twitch.tv/drmikachu

Demo coming soon: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1727590/THE_SPIRIT_LIFT/
A screenshot of gameplay from prettysmart games’ THE SPIRIT LIFT horror adventure. The screenshot features a creature boss, Sporacula, in the middle of the frame with little ‘Shroomcake minions flanking his sides surrounded by red glowing chandeliers and a ominous red patterned stained glass window behind Sporacula’s head. In the foreground is the players cards used to defeat the creatures along with the three characters of your team with stats. In the bottom left is a tracker for your buffs
August 10, 2023 at 10:20 PM
drmikachu.bsky.social
I'm on staycation and doing much more sightseeing and exercise than I expected!

I love the color of the water here.
Landscape photo of a field and the ocean. The sky is cloudless and vast. On the horizon another piece of land can be seen. The water is a deep blue. The land is yellowed grass and ragged shrubs.
August 5, 2023 at 3:15 PM
drmikachu.bsky.social
Hey #WishlistWednesday we're making THE SPIRIT LIFT: a retro horror deckbuilder set in a haunted hotel. If you like the sound of 1990s teenage angst, scrappy equipment card battles and cute/spooky/sexy monsters, check us out! https://store.steampowered.com/app/1727590/THE_SPIRIT_LIFT/
A screenshot of gameplay from prettysmart games’ THE SPIRIT LIFT horror adventure. The screenshot features a creature boss, Sporacula, in the middle of the frame with little ‘Shroomcake minions flanking his sides surrounded by red glowing chandeliers and a ominous red patterned stained glass window behind Sporacula’s head. In the foreground is the players cards used to defeat the creatures along with the three characters of your team with stats. In the bottom left is a tracker for your buffs. A screenshot of gameplay from prettysmart games’ THE SPIRIT LIFT horror adventure. The screenshot shows the game’s 8-character dashboard (Sako, Tobias, Briar, Garnet, Quintin, Indiana, Maria, and Oliver) to battle against the boss, Sporacula, and the synergy of three characters picked to make up the COMPETITIVE CREW compromised of Sake, Tobias, and Indiana. The character featured to the right of the dashboard shows Briar, a young brown-skinned girl with braids in a half updo with two buns wearing purple fishnets on their arms and legs with a purple and black collared dress with an apron with pockets full of art-related options and black boots. Briar is a Spiritual character class dubbed “The Artist” with item cards of the palette knife, oil paints, sketchbook, and a item equipped of a brush belt. A screenshot of gameplay from prettysmart games’ THE SPIRIT LIFT horror adventure. The screenshot features the Shop in the game with the shopkeeper, Dorian Graywolf, who is a violin-playing werewolf holding a violin bow with glowing yellow eyes in a dapper 3-piece pin-striped suit. To the left of Dorian, there are cards (heavy flashlight, night vision goggles, firefighter axe) for purchase as well as items (sunglasses, rollerblades, and tactical vest). On the far left, shows your 3 character group of Garnet, Quintin, and Briar as well as their stats individually and as a group. Below the team are buttons to leave shop, max uses, destroy card, and XP meter.
July 20, 2023 at 1:12 AM
drmikachu.bsky.social
My next course is live: #Notion tips for Writers! Look I even made a happy thumbnail (which looks weird in bluesky, eep! I'm learning)

It covers all the tricks I use to accelerate my writing process: research, tasks, submissions, and word count!
https://skl.sh/3XzQKox

#author #writer
July 10, 2023 at 7:23 PM
drmikachu.bsky.social
You deserve a break from social media. Here's a picture of my dog's nostrils.
Slightly blurry, extremely closeup black nose of a dog. The nostrils are enormous.
July 9, 2023 at 12:49 AM
drmikachu.bsky.social
Game dev Thursday! This week I'll be working on particle effects and UX tweaks for THE SPIRIT LIFT, our retro horror deckbuilder: https://www.twitch.tv/drmikachu

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1727590/THE_SPIRIT_LIFT/
Dark illustration of an elevator doorway with an old fashioned dial above. The gold logo says THE SPIRIT LIFT
July 6, 2023 at 9:19 PM
drmikachu.bsky.social
I don't know what the bluesky vibe is for streaming posts, but today is special!

We're live with game dev streaming! Doing particles in Unity for our horror deckbuilder THE SPIRIT LIFT! https://www.twitch.tv/drmikachu

THEN Pride Month charity streaming at https://www.twitch.tv/plaidberrydesign
A sparkly image with art of a woman at the hot springs. The text reads "all donations to the Trevor Project matched!" and "A Year of Springs game playthrough finale with DrMikachu" with the link "twitch.tv/plaidberrydesign fundraising for the Trevor Project"
June 29, 2023 at 9:18 PM