Ron Gilbert (GrumpyGamer)

https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@grumpygamer

Owner of Terrible Toybox, the designer/creator of Monkey Island, The Cave, Pajama Sam and the designer/co-creator of Maniac Mansion, DeathSpank and Thimbleweed Park. Co-designer of Return to Monkey Island.

All ideas are my own, but you'd be crazy not to agree.

Website: https://grumpygamer.com
Twitter: Fuck Dipshit Elon Musk
Home: Wellington, NZ

Public Key

npub192d05qkg605q2ug8hw2zedh2uyzsewgfucw5kq0hzpnyvgqdzy9s542vay

NIP-05 Address

grumpygamer_at_mastodon.gamedev.place@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsz4xh6qtyd86q9wyrmh9pvkm4wzpgvhyy7v82tq8m3qejxyqx3zzcpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0ds0u373k

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub192d05qkg605q2ug8hw2zedh2uyzsewgfucw5kq0hzpnyvgqdzy9s542vay

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Last Notes

2026-07-29 22:13:05 UTC

You heard it here first:
https://www.grumpygamer.com/twp2_announce/
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/117/005/558/719/284/868/original/7be64da199e3dc80.png

2026-04-16 20:56:50 UTC

Death By Scrolling is now available on Xbox, Playstation and Switch (plus a big update on Steam). And you thought today was going to be relaxing.
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/116/416/372/434/225/412/original/2783d6d0c1952d8c.jpeg

2026-04-10 22:25:04 UTC

World editor is coming along nicely. Full undo/redo. It only works with assets from @npub138v…a88x right now, but that isn't a downside. In my town of chatty extroverts, I think the game is going to be a gossip simulator. "Did you hear about the Robot and the Cowboy!?!"
#raylib #indevdev
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/116/382/732/148/746/698/original/44a3e5f743504515.png

2026-04-09 00:13:41 UTC

Giving my band of chatty extroverts a town to live in. I'm building the world editor myself. Because... it's fun.
#raylib
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/116/371/850/002/534/779/original/394a24b9f589fe4e.png

2026-03-15 22:03:11 UTC

It's sad that kids today don't know the joy of defragging a hard drive or degaussing a monitor. Maybe it's why games were better back then.

2026-03-05 03:45:20 UTC

Please don't go to GDC. They charge a lot of money when the main benefit is socializing outside the conference and add to that the danger of traveling to the U.S and GDC must end. I have a lot of problems with GDC and how they con attendees and speakers with "it's good for your career" bullshit. I haven't gone in years and won't in the future.

2026-02-19 03:47:51 UTC

66.6 - Number of the beast's nephew.
6.66 - Number of the beasts's half cousin by marriage.

2026-02-16 23:05:25 UTC

Feeling old because I've never heard of Bad Bunny before a few days ago.

2026-02-12 19:26:20 UTC

My 24 hour experiment with copilot is over. It does suggest some interesting completions but I spend too much mental energy seeing if it's right and it's a UI/hover mess that's too distracting.
I'm back to being 100% AI free.
That said, VSCode is a good c++ IDE, much better then I thought. Not as good as Xcode, but very workable. The thing I was looking for was break-points and stepping into code and it does it.

2026-02-10 03:58:51 UTC

If I walk into a bar and order a drink I expect them to ask for ID to prove my age. If I walk into a McDonalds and buy a Big Mac I would not expect them to ask for ID to check my age and if they did I would not expect them to photocopy it and give it to Fred to keep in his poorly locked file cabinet.

2026-02-10 03:10:34 UTC

The problem with ditching services like Discord or Google Docs or Dropbox isn't me, I'm happy to do it. It's everyones I need to work with. They aren't going to join my self-hosted service just to exchange work files or chat, etc. I've tried.

2026-01-30 18:14:07 UTC

No thank you. Its all part of the plan. I'm sorry if your feelings got hurt.
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/115/985/396/460/619/414/original/62ee919b10c0be9b.png

2026-01-29 07:58:07 UTC

- reply

VR is dead. Normal people don't want to put blinders on and be cut off from the world. It freaks them out. It's also makes a good number of people sick. It also make them look like fools with that gear on their heads and normal people don't like looking like a fool. AR has a future when it's part of my contact lens.

2026-01-29 07:52:05 UTC

"Mark Zuckerberg is all-in on AI as the new social media " -- He was also all in on VR being the future... how did that work out? He is the typical idiot who got lucky and now thinks it was his genius.

2026-01-28 21:21:21 UTC

RE: https://mastodon.social/@verge/115974812541701136
Hahahhahahha!
#note1ytz…kh72

2026-01-26 22:04:39 UTC

Thought I'd go though my BYTE magazine collection and read up on Artificial Intelligence. I hear it's going to be a "thing".
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/115/963/659/600/497/546/original/f69643484177a140.jpeg

2026-01-26 02:57:22 UTC

I really like @npub1n8z…jgru, but it's search is beyond horrible. It desperately need a fuzzy search, I often don't know the exact spelling. It often fails to find a word that is in the email I am searching for. Isn't search one of the "solved problems" of CS?

2026-01-10 04:54:10 UTC

Found my old S100 graphics card I got when I was 11. 128x128 resolution (64x64 if you wanted 16 colors). Made a lot of games with this in Z80 asm. I wrote a RPG game before I knew what RPG games were. Sending my old CP/M floppies to @npub1jwa…zqca to see if he get the data off them. I'm sure there is game design gold in there.
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/115/869/009/375/307/007/original/cde7df6f21974863.jpeg

2026-01-08 20:14:43 UTC

State of the art game dev tools in 1989:
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/115/861/306/236/015/927/original/86fe8ad73bf5f102.png

2026-01-08 02:26:03 UTC

Went to the Brooklyn Windmill in Wellington NZ, not to be confused with the Brooklyn Bridge which Google says it can't find a route to from my house.
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/115/857/103/962/193/898/original/e60f89ec1f0b4999.jpeg

2026-01-07 04:32:54 UTC

I really needed to stress out the comment system on my blog so I ask a Linux question.

2026-01-01 04:51:17 UTC

Companies that suffer from data breaches that could have been prevented should be required to fire the CEO and that CEO gets no compensation. Companies don't take data security seriously because a breach doesn't really effect them. They just go on.

2025-12-31 06:28:19 UTC

I have no New Year's resolutions. I'm going to be the same person on the 1st as I am on the 31st.

2025-12-30 21:11:29 UTC

I'm going to schedule a vibe-meeting where all our AI agents just talk to each other.

2025-12-24 21:09:44 UTC

Here is a free Steam key for anything they sell. Just guess the missing letters:
?????-?????-?????

2025-12-24 03:12:47 UTC

Many thanks to the people who have helped playtest the big Death by Scrolling expansion. If own the game and you want to playtest and give feedback, DM me.
#DeathByScrolling

2025-12-23 21:26:00 UTC

I'm sick of Holodeck slop.

2025-12-21 21:32:57 UTC

When Twitter collapsed, it was great to see the flood of friends, game devs and other come to Mastodon. Over the next 9 months a lot of them vanished to Threads, BlueSky or just left. I want to thank all people who are still on Mastodon and make it a wonderful place. You know who you are.

2025-12-01 02:26:29 UTC

People being amazed that AI can code is like people being amazed a chimp can ride a unicycle.

2025-11-18 07:11:18 UTC

Today is the anniversary of the Star Wars Holiday Special. I will spare you by not posting a link. You can think me later.
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/115/569/443/885/988/762/original/37a375554cb87603.jpg

2025-11-11 22:14:02 UTC

Good news everybody! The SteamDeck/Linux stutter is now fixed in Death by Scrolling, plus some other awesome quality of life changes. We continue to make improvements mostly because I can't stop working on the game.
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/3773590/view/613179230182706248
#DeathByScrolling #indiedev #pixelart

2025-11-09 21:38:52 UTC

I'm one step ahead of the 2038 Catastrophe. I've converted to using 33 bit ints.

2025-11-06 20:08:48 UTC

If you bought Death by Scrolling and are enjoying it, please give it a thumbs up on Steam. A lot of people have bought it thinking it's yet another Vampire Surviver clone and it's not so they leave crappy reviews. Death by Scrolling is a very different game for a different audience.

2025-10-28 08:58:55 UTC

#DeathByScrolling
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/115/450/959/859/028/232/original/56b92a0e37f0fa6a.png

2025-10-25 22:19:08 UTC

I wish there was some kind of global internet-wide setting that says "I don't want to you use fucking passkeys, stop asking me".

2025-10-25 08:31:55 UTC

Breaking News!
Death by Scrolling is coming out on Oct 28th at 10pm Australian time and will cost $7.99 minus a launch discount.
Buy it early to increase the chance you'll be on the high score screen.
#DeathByScrolling #pixelart #indiedev
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/115/433/861/952/458/581/original/5209d430287a44e6.png

2025-10-23 02:13:26 UTC

Always entertaining speaker Dylan Beattie gives one of the best talks on AI I've listen to.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9ZKxsPpRFk

2025-10-22 05:00:26 UTC

Real headline or The Onion: "AWS crash causes $2,000 Smart Beds to overheat and get stuck upright"
Pro-tip: It's never the Onion.

2025-10-20 23:42:52 UTC

One week until Death by Scrolling.
One. Week.
#DeathByScrolling #indiedev #pixelart
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/115/409/139/169/052/867/original/7fa7c8d1fdf4bb67.png

2025-10-20 03:48:47 UTC

Stages of hearing about a new bug:
1) Denial - That’s not a real bug!
2) Anger - What are these testers thinking!
3) Bargain - I’m sure I fixed this before? Didn’t I?
4) Depression - I’m never going to fix all these bugs.
5) Acceptance - Fine! I’ll fix the bug and it turned out to be pretty simple.

2025-10-18 20:59:53 UTC

I've been punching Nazis since 1989.
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/115/397/171/356/703/659/original/f1c9eaa902eccd41.png

2025-10-18 20:12:35 UTC

If you think video game shouldn't be political, then you haven't been paying attention while you play Battlefield.

2025-10-18 19:42:32 UTC

#FuckTrump

2025-10-15 20:00:07 UTC

Kind of frustrating that serval gaming outlets are calling the Oct 28 release of Death by Scrolling a "Windows PC" release while totally ignoring (forgetting) it also includes the native Mac and Linux. We worked hard to fully support all three platforms.

2025-10-14 09:06:53 UTC

Death by Scrolling is coming October 28th.
https://www.grumpygamer.com/dbs_release_date/

2025-10-06 18:00:43 UTC

Every politician that votes for age verification should be require to submit their personal information to the shadiest age verification services.

2025-09-29 21:34:48 UTC

I took a small vacation to the south island of NZ.
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/115/289/727/147/513/492/original/5e1367a81930fc75.jpeg

2025-09-14 21:16:51 UTC

I'm looking for a few native Japanese speakers to join the Death By Scrolling beta test. "I learned Japanese by reading Manga" isn't good enough. DM me for fun.

2025-09-02 20:22:35 UTC

I guess Sept 2nd is as close to an anniversary we have for Monkey Island. I made the gold master on the 2nd but it probably didn't appear in stores until Oct. There was no "release date" back them. It annoys we when people say Monkey Island "released" today.
https://www.grumpygamer.com/monkey25/
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/115/136/556/312/599/836/original/260b0cc2b02492c4.jpg

2025-08-19 23:44:33 UTC

They need to reshoot the scene from 2001: A Space Odyssey where he makes the video call and it's five mins of "Can you hear me? I can hear you."

2025-08-19 19:14:17 UTC

Officially announcing Death By Scrolling, of course Mastodon followers have known about it for months. It's the privilege of being on Mastodon.
https://www.grumpygamer.com/deathbyscrolling5/

2025-08-17 00:12:51 UTC

My inbox zero plan is now inbox 183,229 with hide read messages.

2025-08-16 22:51:19 UTC

I am comfortable with AI...

2025-08-12 01:20:46 UTC

If you work for a company owned by an evil and horrible company, you work for an evil and horrible company. Stop deluding yourself.

2025-08-02 05:33:24 UTC

I wish companies that offer Two Factor Authentication would use normal auth codes so I can use 1Password. I'm looking at you Steam, Apple and my Bank. This is a solved problem, quit thinking your roll-your-own is better.

2025-08-01 20:58:03 UTC

I'm looking for some good game dev blogs that have RSS feeds. Only interested in ones that have RSS feeds, so check before you suggest.

2025-07-31 23:29:59 UTC

Last night I needed to add a feature to my Dinky Regex command using a new feature of the regex lib. I thought: "Hey I'll let AI do that like all the cool kids on YouTube! What a cluster fuck. First it wouldn't compile due to including the wrong headers, then the code was just wrong and broken. After an hour I deleted it and wrote it myself. Dear Vibe Coders: Rather then spending a lot of time fixing your AI code, why not just learn to fucking program.

2025-07-29 20:52:46 UTC

Leisure Suit Larry solved the age verification problem years ago, the UK should just use that.

2025-07-10 22:19:53 UTC

Guybrush is mad his hands broke off during the move to NZ.
#monkeyisland
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/114/831/256/237/186/235/original/1875f65a36e67e46.jpeg

2025-07-10 22:04:53 UTC

Steam displays this for Death By Scrolling, but it's not true. Game works great with a controller. I can't figure out how to let Steam know the game does support a controller. Don't guess, but if you really know, let me know.
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/114/831/181/598/925/638/original/b12d87fa7f5ef58c.png

2025-06-29 00:15:24 UTC

- reply

Bought!

2025-06-20 06:16:21 UTC

I just made build 670 for testing. I need to release the game before build 999 or I'll have version naming issues.

2025-06-18 02:03:53 UTC

I watched a YouTube video of someone using Vibe coding to make a game with AI. 45 mins in and it was running but spewing out error after error. The presenter finally went in an fixed the errors by hand requiring a lot of time and knowledge. I watched the whole thing like someone staring at a traffic accident.

2025-06-10 23:32:49 UTC

American Oligarchs could be brought to their knees if everyone: a) Stopping using Facebook b) Stopped using X c) Stopped shopping on Amazon. d) Stopped using Google. Yeah, I'm not holding by breath.

2025-06-04 23:34:02 UTC

The day you've been waiting for is finally here. The Death by Scrolling sekrit beta sign up. We will randomly select a handful of people every few days to join (as to not overwhelm the team). If you're interested in joining, do not reply to this post, fill out the form below.
https://forms.gle/hpSrXvM3tuPqrGb86
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/114/627/686/528/355/570/original/8985c876beb6c9cd.png

2025-05-29 23:58:05 UTC

I had hoped to get a new playtest version of my game out for people to play, but then we decided to redo how procedural levels are made. It's much better but has delayed the playtest.
#pixelart
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/114/593/824/368/240/126/original/f7d8e64eaf02adfb.png

2025-05-23 03:24:49 UTC

Just checked with my attorney and it's still OK to eat the rich.

2025-05-07 03:38:06 UTC

I need to wear my MANGA hat more.

2025-04-22 20:55:24 UTC

No, Notion. I am not actively using your AI. I used it once when you first added it and realized (like all AI) how useless it was. No matter how many times I close this window, it always comes back. This isn't getting me to use your AI it's getting me to hate Notion.
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/114/383/599/034/875/313/original/2dd06507fcb0d8f9.png

2025-04-05 22:25:41 UTC

I'm outside the US so I can't participate in the protests, but what I can do is add a new enemy to Death by Scrolling.
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/114/287/698/512/831/248/original/8abd0c2ed007d677.png

2025-04-02 23:42:27 UTC

The problem with leaving Discord is the same problem I have leaving Google Docs or Dropbox. It's not just me, it's all the people I need to communicate with to get my job done. I can't realistically force them to sign up for a new service. I don't use any of those services except for work.

2025-04-02 23:34:26 UTC

Dear advertisers: If you force an ad on me with no way to dismiss it, it just makes me hate your brand. Discord just forced an add on me, covering my input until I watched it. I will never ever play the game they pushed on me. That game is dead to me. Good job advertisers. If Discord keeps to up, I'm done with Discord.

2025-03-30 18:25:34 UTC

Thimbleweed Park released 8 years ago today. A damn fine game, if I don't say so myself.
If you haven't played it, add it to your bucket list today. Also available on Switch, Xbox, PS, iOS and Android.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/569860/Thimbleweed_Park/
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/114/252/776/855/485/154/original/e65dfa4761afa8b9.jpg

2025-03-19 19:43:46 UTC

University kids these days need a better education:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iytrKoH0C7Q&t=690s

2025-03-06 22:35:48 UTC

I think the most fun I've had working on a game was Delores with @npub12w2…fqj4. I think it was because the game was always going to be free (as in root beer) so we didn't care and just built what we wanted using found assets from Thimbleweed Park. Check it out: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1305720/Delores_A_Thimbleweed_Park_MiniAdventure/

2025-03-02 19:31:59 UTC

One for small daily decisions, one for big life decisions. It's how I roll.
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/114/094/496/042/452/829/original/745d08eec6a91d91.jpeg

2025-02-27 00:11:40 UTC

- reply

Love that show. I don't have the DVDs anymore and it's not available anywhere I can find. 😞

2025-02-21 22:19:47 UTC

When I first started at Lucasfilm, George shaved his beard so he could go watch the rerelease of StarWars and not be recognized. So the first time I met him he didn't have his iconic beard, I felt ripped off.

2025-02-10 03:56:43 UTC

I missing printing out bug reports on paper. I think I'm going to start doing that again.
#monkeyisland
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/113/977/569/260/104/654/original/14e528c48d7ee420.jpg

2025-02-06 00:36:08 UTC

Been testing out theoldreader.com and it's been a little disappointing. It says several of my RSS feeds aren't there, but clearly they are. I can go to the url in my browser and a feed shows up. I'll play around a bit I'm going to give up and move to the next reader.

2025-02-05 19:57:09 UTC

Welcome this episode of "Ask Mastodon".
I'm looking for a good web based RSS reader.
1) Web based
2) Not Feedly
3) Not self-hosted
4) Not filled with AI bullshit
Please read criteria carefully before replying.

2025-02-04 02:16:23 UTC

I knew the idiot Elon Musk was a horrible human back when he called the guy who helped rescue those kids from the flooded cave and pedophile, simply because they wouldn't use his tech-bro solution. I wrote Musk off back then. Musk is a horrible human. Always has been. He has no redemption arc.

2025-02-03 22:03:21 UTC

Isn't it obvious what Trump/Musk are doing with Canada and tariffs? He's trying to make Canadians miserable so they elect a conservative leader who promises to fix everything. People are idiots so it will work.

2025-02-03 05:53:14 UTC

More blogging. You remember blogging?
https://www.grumpygamer.com/deathbyscrolling/

2025-02-02 03:48:02 UTC

First ever screenshot from Death by Scrolling.
#screenshotsaturday #pixelart
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/113/932/236/379/248/006/original/f35228a156363067.png

2025-01-28 20:04:47 UTC

Any sufficiently advanced pile of shit is indistinguishable from artificial intelligence.

2025-01-23 05:33:22 UTC

I'm sick of everything having rollover text. I can't move my cursor around the screen without some fucking rollover text coming up and blocking my view or distracting me. I only use Slack for a couple of friends but it is the worst. The Mastodon web client has started doing this. Knock it off!

2025-01-17 04:44:55 UTC

True story: When Twin Peaks first aired, the MI team would come to my apartment and we watched each episode.

2025-01-16 21:21:03 UTC

"After turning down an offer to direct Return of the Jedi..."
That's world I want to live in... or at lease visit.
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/jan/16/david-lynch-twin-peaks-and-muholland-drive-director-dies-aged-78

2025-01-16 18:39:53 UTC

Not good news to wake up to.
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/jan/16/david-lynch-twin-peaks-and-muholland-drive-director-dies-aged-78

2025-01-14 20:13:30 UTC

I'm not looking for a place to host a static site, I'm looking for a place that will host a static site AND pull it from Github when it changes.

2025-01-14 19:47:56 UTC

- reply

Had nothing to do with them. Haven't even played them.

2025-01-12 21:48:42 UTC

Here is the all new and just the same Grumpy Gamer website as static html done by Hugo.
https://test.grumpygamer.com/
Once I have all the kinks worked out I'll move it to the prime url.

2025-01-10 23:25:35 UTC

I'm going to call it "Eat the rich".

2025-01-10 23:15:33 UTC

What would you name a power-up that did nothing but cost a lot of gold to poke fun at the player for buying it.

2024-12-30 23:43:50 UTC

Problem solved
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/113/744/425/589/126/527/original/7a242c63acc42997.jpeg

2024-12-27 21:36:44 UTC

Every year I say: "this is a year I finally use VIM". It last about 1 day. It's the model-ness that messes me up. I'm in command mode and I start typing like I'm in insert mode and bad things happen.

2024-12-25 22:50:33 UTC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OFoUSPuByU

2024-12-15 18:30:36 UTC

I walked up these stairs yesterday and today my calves are destroyed. That's the last time I get up from my computer and "go outside".
https://cdn.masto.host/mastodongamedevplace/media_attachments/files/113/658/256/040/181/119/original/18b9a222a15b9252.jpeg

2024-12-12 22:49:55 UTC

I'm fully behind a peasant revolt. We live in a world where if you're not a billionaire, you're a peasant.