Venicello
@venicello.bsky.social
miscreant
currently causing problems @catbirdsoft.net
currently causing problems @catbirdsoft.net
there was a upscale hipster pizza place by my college. and normally i like my pizza cheap and simple, but these folks had Bacon Clam Pizza. too expensive to buy myself but i got treated to Bacon Clam Pizza twice and those are some of my favorite food memories.
Sunday night timeline cleanse
please tell me about your favorite lost restaurant (closed for at least 5 years, like I really want you to go back into the vault), why you loved it and what you ate there
please tell me about your favorite lost restaurant (closed for at least 5 years, like I really want you to go back into the vault), why you loved it and what you ate there
January 19, 2026 at 4:13 AM
there was a upscale hipster pizza place by my college. and normally i like my pizza cheap and simple, but these folks had Bacon Clam Pizza. too expensive to buy myself but i got treated to Bacon Clam Pizza twice and those are some of my favorite food memories.
Reposted by Venicello
sometimes if i am having a really tough go at it i think about the way travis started making himself care about the shit around him while still being the same weird idiot he always was and that works just about every time
January 18, 2026 at 8:52 PM
sometimes if i am having a really tough go at it i think about the way travis started making himself care about the shit around him while still being the same weird idiot he always was and that works just about every time
a great tragedy that Spawn is a DLC character in a Mortal Kombat game and not Killer Instinct (2013). under all that fatality shit, MK11 is basically ashamed of its edgy 90s past. KI retains that Mcfarlane energy perfectly and it doesnt even have to lean on lavishly-rendered gore to do it.
January 18, 2026 at 6:01 AM
a great tragedy that Spawn is a DLC character in a Mortal Kombat game and not Killer Instinct (2013). under all that fatality shit, MK11 is basically ashamed of its edgy 90s past. KI retains that Mcfarlane energy perfectly and it doesnt even have to lean on lavishly-rendered gore to do it.
been poking around Fighting Layer (1998) lately. really fun trying to learn a game with zero real resources on the internet. you find a war crime button and it's YOUR war crime button.
January 15, 2026 at 11:29 PM
been poking around Fighting Layer (1998) lately. really fun trying to learn a game with zero real resources on the internet. you find a war crime button and it's YOUR war crime button.
Reposted by Venicello
listen bub bc im only gonna say this once, I'm not a 「Game Developer」I am a 「Game Artist」, I value only one thing, being more 「Free」than anyone else, I'm the 240p anime opening from 20 years ago, not the same opening uploaded 1 year ago upscaled to 1080p 60fps interpolated #JustFreedomMotifThings
January 15, 2026 at 10:09 PM
listen bub bc im only gonna say this once, I'm not a 「Game Developer」I am a 「Game Artist」, I value only one thing, being more 「Free」than anyone else, I'm the 240p anime opening from 20 years ago, not the same opening uploaded 1 year ago upscaled to 1080p 60fps interpolated #JustFreedomMotifThings
Taking of Pelham 123, but not in a modern style. I want like Takao Saito character designs. Urasawa is an acceptable substitute if we have to go modern era though, that man was born to caricature Walter Matthau.
January 13, 2026 at 4:42 AM
Taking of Pelham 123, but not in a modern style. I want like Takao Saito character designs. Urasawa is an acceptable substitute if we have to go modern era though, that man was born to caricature Walter Matthau.
Reposted by Venicello
Big announcement today: here's our next game, JENNY THE WITCH! This high-speed shoot-and-slasher will be out spring 2026, with a demo at the winter Next Fest in about a month.
Wishlist here (please):
store.steampowered.com/app/4180990/...
Wishlist here (please):
store.steampowered.com/app/4180990/...
January 12, 2026 at 4:34 PM
Big announcement today: here's our next game, JENNY THE WITCH! This high-speed shoot-and-slasher will be out spring 2026, with a demo at the winter Next Fest in about a month.
Wishlist here (please):
store.steampowered.com/app/4180990/...
Wishlist here (please):
store.steampowered.com/app/4180990/...
Reposted by Venicello
ICE has only existed since 2003. A Bush-era creation, it is a militarized federal secret police that has been imbued with the Supreme Court with the unconstitutional power to ignore the fourth amendment.
Abolishing it and salting the earth where it grew is the moderate stance.
Abolishing it and salting the earth where it grew is the moderate stance.
June 9, 2025 at 8:46 PM
ICE has only existed since 2003. A Bush-era creation, it is a militarized federal secret police that has been imbued with the Supreme Court with the unconstitutional power to ignore the fourth amendment.
Abolishing it and salting the earth where it grew is the moderate stance.
Abolishing it and salting the earth where it grew is the moderate stance.
social media saved again from my thoughts on "beginner friendly" fighting games by the fact that i cant cut them down to 300 character increments. but we could make them. we just don't because no FG dev actually understands what new players don't know.
January 5, 2026 at 11:02 PM
social media saved again from my thoughts on "beginner friendly" fighting games by the fact that i cant cut them down to 300 character increments. but we could make them. we just don't because no FG dev actually understands what new players don't know.
Reposted by Venicello
A lot of people are going to preface tu-tutting tweets with variants on the theme of "Maduro was no angel" and it's very important to have the moral clarity to understand that these people are the lowest form of coward imaginable
January 3, 2026 at 12:37 PM
A lot of people are going to preface tu-tutting tweets with variants on the theme of "Maduro was no angel" and it's very important to have the moral clarity to understand that these people are the lowest form of coward imaginable
(annoying voice) The Shadow as a narrator is public domain, but we won't get to make shit with the character design itself for another year, as the first Shadow pulps weren't published until 1931. Also the Golden Bat design that's public domain now is this one.
January 1, 2026 at 6:58 PM
(annoying voice) The Shadow as a narrator is public domain, but we won't get to make shit with the character design itself for another year, as the first Shadow pulps weren't published until 1931. Also the Golden Bat design that's public domain now is this one.
Reposted by Venicello
Reposted by Venicello
for me at least there's an ongoing obfuscation of workers lower in hierarchy of a project across all the arts. I can't speak for every discipline but this is definitely a conversation we've had in film and music in Jamaica at least. anecdotally, i know it happens elsewhere as well.
Honestly, why? Why take away a title that's common in music and other arts. You can have a solo expo in fine arts, you can make a solo record, or perform as a solo musician. There are stage technicians, session musicians or whatnot involved too.
But in gaming, you're basically branded a cheat?
But in gaming, you're basically branded a cheat?
2026 is the year I’m going to fight against the Solo Dev classification
December 31, 2025 at 2:09 PM
for me at least there's an ongoing obfuscation of workers lower in hierarchy of a project across all the arts. I can't speak for every discipline but this is definitely a conversation we've had in film and music in Jamaica at least. anecdotally, i know it happens elsewhere as well.
While there's nothing wrong with working on a game by yourself, the way we talk about "solo devs" is pretty toxic. It's used to discount contractor or volunteer labor, and it has this great-man-of-history stink all over it. You can be a great artist and also acknowledge collaborators.
2026 is the year I’m going to fight against the Solo Dev classification
December 31, 2025 at 1:33 PM
While there's nothing wrong with working on a game by yourself, the way we talk about "solo devs" is pretty toxic. It's used to discount contractor or volunteer labor, and it has this great-man-of-history stink all over it. You can be a great artist and also acknowledge collaborators.
Reposted by Venicello
oh hey. i missed our usual saturday post because i was traveling to visit family. i'm busy cutting an actual trailer rn so i don't have much to make up for it, but here's a clip i sent to our discord last month of a sick combo using some new moves and a new wallbounce mechanic
December 29, 2025 at 10:07 PM
oh hey. i missed our usual saturday post because i was traveling to visit family. i'm busy cutting an actual trailer rn so i don't have much to make up for it, but here's a clip i sent to our discord last month of a sick combo using some new moves and a new wallbounce mechanic
weird thing i see VF players do a lot is post gameplay like "this game is so cinematic!" and then it's two guys standing still at range 1 taking turns at each other. like no shade against VF, which is a cool game, but that's basically the opposite of a cinematic fight.
December 24, 2025 at 10:23 PM
weird thing i see VF players do a lot is post gameplay like "this game is so cinematic!" and then it's two guys standing still at range 1 taking turns at each other. like no shade against VF, which is a cool game, but that's basically the opposite of a cinematic fight.
Some of this is related to what it takes to make a game in most genres. Underground comics can be made/sold by one person as a side gig. Games require more disciplines (and more total man-hours for a sellable result) which means it's harder to build a lifestyle around being an underground gamedev.
Out of any artists, I think game devs resent being underground more than anyone - even devs of underground genres still see themselves as diet-mainstream, waiting for their big break. Contrasting shmups, which have a more proper underground culture, to beat em ups which have none is night & day
December 20, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Some of this is related to what it takes to make a game in most genres. Underground comics can be made/sold by one person as a side gig. Games require more disciplines (and more total man-hours for a sellable result) which means it's harder to build a lifestyle around being an underground gamedev.
Reposted by Venicello
Congratulations to @nicanor.bsky.social for getting nominated for a Games Journalism Award at the NY Game Awards, hosted by the New York Video Game Critic Circle! This marks the first time a No Escape contributor has been nominated; read his essay on Despelote here! noescapevg.com/despelote-re...
Despelote review: an ode to a dream
There’s relics. There’s jerseys and there’s songs. We have songs for everything. We still sing those songs.
noescapevg.com
December 15, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Congratulations to @nicanor.bsky.social for getting nominated for a Games Journalism Award at the NY Game Awards, hosted by the New York Video Game Critic Circle! This marks the first time a No Escape contributor has been nominated; read his essay on Despelote here! noescapevg.com/despelote-re...
Reposted by Venicello
Splatter came out three years ago today. I don't have much clever to say - it was a big project, it changed our lives, I'm constantly grateful for the people who have played it and appreciated it. Here are the concept sketches I did back in 2020 that turned into a whole fucked-up game.
December 15, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Splatter came out three years ago today. I don't have much clever to say - it was a big project, it changed our lives, I'm constantly grateful for the people who have played it and appreciated it. Here are the concept sketches I did back in 2020 that turned into a whole fucked-up game.
Five-year anniversary today of the release of Meat Shift. This was the first game Rat King ever finished, and it was the point at which we realized we could make video games that people wanted to play. It's pretty rough, but I'm still proud of what we did.
ratkingcollective.itch.io/meatshift
ratkingcollective.itch.io/meatshift
December 14, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Five-year anniversary today of the release of Meat Shift. This was the first game Rat King ever finished, and it was the point at which we realized we could make video games that people wanted to play. It's pretty rough, but I'm still proud of what we did.
ratkingcollective.itch.io/meatshift
ratkingcollective.itch.io/meatshift
Reposted by Venicello
Late #screenshotsaturday (had a really funny build-only bug to resolve) but we got there. Here's a pack of miniature bomb drones. These guys do a lot of damage (and they're fast too), but they've got very little health. Shoot quickly and keep your aim steady if you don't want to get blown to pieces.
December 14, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Late #screenshotsaturday (had a really funny build-only bug to resolve) but we got there. Here's a pack of miniature bomb drones. These guys do a lot of damage (and they're fast too), but they've got very little health. Shoot quickly and keep your aim steady if you don't want to get blown to pieces.
Reposted by Venicello
bounce off the windows, bounce down the hallways, we'll never stop til we're bouncing always
#3. Kitten Burst. Arcade flight racer with bullet hell elements. Explore the dead internet. Dodge through an entire apartment building. I've had Bounce2Me off the soundtrack stuck in my head for months at this point. store.steampowered.com/app/1592360/...
December 12, 2025 at 8:04 AM
bounce off the windows, bounce down the hallways, we'll never stop til we're bouncing always
Man IDK if i got 50 in me but I'm gonna do some.
#1. Escape from Terror City. Hybrid platformer / bullet hell / light-gun shooter. Bite-sized, goes down in an afternoon. Try the hard mode. This game should be an entire genre. store.steampowered.com/app/1524020/...
#1. Escape from Terror City. Hybrid platformer / bullet hell / light-gun shooter. Bite-sized, goes down in an afternoon. Try the hard mode. This game should be an entire genre. store.steampowered.com/app/1524020/...
December 12, 2025 at 4:30 AM
Man IDK if i got 50 in me but I'm gonna do some.
#1. Escape from Terror City. Hybrid platformer / bullet hell / light-gun shooter. Bite-sized, goes down in an afternoon. Try the hard mode. This game should be an entire genre. store.steampowered.com/app/1524020/...
#1. Escape from Terror City. Hybrid platformer / bullet hell / light-gun shooter. Bite-sized, goes down in an afternoon. Try the hard mode. This game should be an entire genre. store.steampowered.com/app/1524020/...
Reposted by Venicello
I keep remembering gamedevs that don't get enough love, like @renegadesector.bsky.social who makes lots of cool PS1 style action(?) games. My favorites are Thunder Kid I and II but there are lots to choose from.
Gamedevs don’t get enough appreciation for what they do, and often the biggest impact comes from people the public never hears about.
Which gamedevs would YOU give an award to, and for what?
Which gamedevs would YOU give an award to, and for what?
December 12, 2025 at 4:04 AM
I keep remembering gamedevs that don't get enough love, like @renegadesector.bsky.social who makes lots of cool PS1 style action(?) games. My favorites are Thunder Kid I and II but there are lots to choose from.