Adam McDonald
@adammcdlt.bsky.social
Game dev from the Vancouver area. Senior Game Designer at Studio MDHR. Views are my own.
Making Chronoblazer, a 2D shmup with progression and light exploration, in my spare time.
https://adammcdonald.itch.io/
https://adammcd.com
Making Chronoblazer, a 2D shmup with progression and light exploration, in my spare time.
https://adammcdonald.itch.io/
https://adammcd.com
Pinned
Adam McDonald
@adammcdlt.bsky.social
· Oct 21
Here’s my BlueSky intro thread!
I’m mostly here for game dev related stuff. As of this past September, I work full time as a designer at Studio MDHR on an unannounced project. Before that I was with The Initiative/Microsoft working as a level designer on Perfect Dark.
I’m mostly here for game dev related stuff. As of this past September, I work full time as a designer at Studio MDHR on an unannounced project. Before that I was with The Initiative/Microsoft working as a level designer on Perfect Dark.
My game is a little prickly to onboard, but whenever I make a big step to simplify it, it starts to feel off. I get feedback from lots of great designers at a local meetup, but I think some of them skew toward “maximum market appeal” and I’m more going for “game for gremlins to obsess about.”
January 18, 2026 at 6:32 PM
My game is a little prickly to onboard, but whenever I make a big step to simplify it, it starts to feel off. I get feedback from lots of great designers at a local meetup, but I think some of them skew toward “maximum market appeal” and I’m more going for “game for gremlins to obsess about.”
Reposted by Adam McDonald
if you havent cancelled spotify yet and this isnt the final nail in the coffin for you, i really dont know what else to say other than i hope some introspection finds you soon
In April 2024, Spotify implemented a new scheme: songs with less than 1k streams per year would no longer receive royalties.
The data for 2025 was just released via Luminate, and 88% of songs have been demonetized.
Read it again: 88% of songs on Spotify have been demonetized.
The data for 2025 was just released via Luminate, and 88% of songs have been demonetized.
Read it again: 88% of songs on Spotify have been demonetized.
January 16, 2026 at 8:06 AM
if you havent cancelled spotify yet and this isnt the final nail in the coffin for you, i really dont know what else to say other than i hope some introspection finds you soon
Reposted by Adam McDonald
Please enjoy this nearly three seconds of footage from the original Mother 3, newly captured off of a tape we're working with
January 17, 2026 at 12:22 AM
Please enjoy this nearly three seconds of footage from the original Mother 3, newly captured off of a tape we're working with
Reposted by Adam McDonald
There is nothing that happened in Home Alone that you couldn't easily do to those guys
January 16, 2026 at 1:28 AM
There is nothing that happened in Home Alone that you couldn't easily do to those guys
My pharmacy has a clear message: this ain’t the dentist.
January 15, 2026 at 8:43 PM
My pharmacy has a clear message: this ain’t the dentist.
Reposted by Adam McDonald
vertical shmups have names like "Understated Sadness" and sidescrolling shmups have names like "Glorbian"
January 9, 2026 at 2:56 AM
vertical shmups have names like "Understated Sadness" and sidescrolling shmups have names like "Glorbian"
Still enjoying Star Ocean: The Second Story R. I feel this may be one of the best JRPGs I've ever played.
Also, huge props to whatever localization writer came up with "Hole-y Mole-y" for the move where a character burrows underground in a drill-handed mech and then pops up underneath enemies.
Also, huge props to whatever localization writer came up with "Hole-y Mole-y" for the move where a character burrows underground in a drill-handed mech and then pops up underneath enemies.
January 14, 2026 at 11:17 PM
Still enjoying Star Ocean: The Second Story R. I feel this may be one of the best JRPGs I've ever played.
Also, huge props to whatever localization writer came up with "Hole-y Mole-y" for the move where a character burrows underground in a drill-handed mech and then pops up underneath enemies.
Also, huge props to whatever localization writer came up with "Hole-y Mole-y" for the move where a character burrows underground in a drill-handed mech and then pops up underneath enemies.
More than half of these hours are my 6 year old son playing Smash and Mario Party on my account. He can now beat me at Smash sometimes.
January 13, 2026 at 10:52 PM
More than half of these hours are my 6 year old son playing Smash and Mario Party on my account. He can now beat me at Smash sometimes.
Slightly diminish a game.
Rash Bandicoot
Rash Bandicoot
Slightly diminish a game.
Fades. (rhymes with a greek god)
Fades. (rhymes with a greek god)
Slightly diminish a game.
No Mas Effect.
No Mas Effect.
January 11, 2026 at 12:27 AM
Slightly diminish a game.
Rash Bandicoot
Rash Bandicoot
Reposted by Adam McDonald
Thousands of Minnesotans gathered last night to honor Renee Nicole Good. We will never accept that a single federal agent can be judge, jury, and executioner in our streets. ICE needs to get out of Minneapolis.
January 8, 2026 at 3:27 PM
Thousands of Minnesotans gathered last night to honor Renee Nicole Good. We will never accept that a single federal agent can be judge, jury, and executioner in our streets. ICE needs to get out of Minneapolis.
A little bit sad I’ll never make a WiiU game. Oh to be on the same platform as the original release of Scram Kitty and His Buddy On Rails…
January 10, 2026 at 3:42 AM
A little bit sad I’ll never make a WiiU game. Oh to be on the same platform as the original release of Scram Kitty and His Buddy On Rails…
The original Metroid is a special experience once you get into it. I never had an NES growing up and found Metroid a bit archaic when I played it in 2005 or so, but with a map (I believe it was just stitched together screenshots) I found it manageable. This guide looks like it would be even better.
If you enjoyed my posts about Metroid games you might like to learn that I made a fully drawn strategy guide for the original game several years ago. It's free! www.handdrawngameguides.com/free-guides/...
January 9, 2026 at 7:00 PM
The original Metroid is a special experience once you get into it. I never had an NES growing up and found Metroid a bit archaic when I played it in 2005 or so, but with a map (I believe it was just stitched together screenshots) I found it manageable. This guide looks like it would be even better.
Reposted by Adam McDonald
this is your mission. roll up to this daycare in full tactical gear to harass some kids and teachers. when you get spooked by your own shadow like a panicked horse and start shooting your gun, our pedophile president will call the person you shot a terrorist. good luck soldier
January 8, 2026 at 2:33 PM
this is your mission. roll up to this daycare in full tactical gear to harass some kids and teachers. when you get spooked by your own shadow like a panicked horse and start shooting your gun, our pedophile president will call the person you shot a terrorist. good luck soldier
I've been reading the book series The Bad Guys with my son, and it's been really great. The movies are alright but they change things just enough to lose some of the magic of the books IMO. The books are truly off-the-wall and hilarious, while the movies adapt them into kid-friendly heist stories.
January 8, 2026 at 5:27 PM
I've been reading the book series The Bad Guys with my son, and it's been really great. The movies are alright but they change things just enough to lose some of the magic of the books IMO. The books are truly off-the-wall and hilarious, while the movies adapt them into kid-friendly heist stories.
Yeah, this is messing with me currently. And the fact that lots of Americans are like "hell yeah, let's take whatever we want for whatever reason we want!"
Might be the stupidest and most "well duh" thing to say but as a Canadian, it's hard to convey my mindset shift after Venezuela
Everything I thought Trump wouldn't be stupid or brazen enough to do now feels like it's actually a far more realistic possibility than I was previously willing to accept
Everything I thought Trump wouldn't be stupid or brazen enough to do now feels like it's actually a far more realistic possibility than I was previously willing to accept
January 7, 2026 at 5:51 PM
Yeah, this is messing with me currently. And the fact that lots of Americans are like "hell yeah, let's take whatever we want for whatever reason we want!"
Star Ocean: The Second Story R adds some quality of life stuff I might have expected I'd hate. There are conversations between the party that were semi-hidden and missable in the original game, but now it tells you when and where they're available. There's also very heavy handed objective markers...
January 6, 2026 at 6:45 PM
Star Ocean: The Second Story R adds some quality of life stuff I might have expected I'd hate. There are conversations between the party that were semi-hidden and missable in the original game, but now it tells you when and where they're available. There's also very heavy handed objective markers...
Here's why I don't finish games... I got a $50 Nintendo eShop giftcard for Christmas, so I made sure to use it while a lot of stuff was on sale. I got Star Ocean Second Story R because it looked really cool (and I've heard this is the best in the series, and I was craving a "PS1 style" RPG)...
January 5, 2026 at 7:49 PM
Here's why I don't finish games... I got a $50 Nintendo eShop giftcard for Christmas, so I made sure to use it while a lot of stuff was on sale. I got Star Ocean Second Story R because it looked really cool (and I've heard this is the best in the series, and I was craving a "PS1 style" RPG)...
Secret best FE (I haven’t even nearly played them all, but I really really liked this one)
For this #ScanlineSunday I bring you LCD scanlines!
So many great games on this system, let’s go with this beauty:
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
ファイアーエムブレム エコーズ もうひとりの英雄王
IS - 2017 - Nintendo 3DS
Nintendo 2DS XL screen
So many great games on this system, let’s go with this beauty:
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
ファイアーエムブレム エコーズ もうひとりの英雄王
IS - 2017 - Nintendo 3DS
Nintendo 2DS XL screen
January 4, 2026 at 10:18 PM
Secret best FE (I haven’t even nearly played them all, but I really really liked this one)
Reposted by Adam McDonald
I guess what’s really despairing is that this feels like a litmus test of every part of the system, and every part of the system is failing. The media, the democrats, the army, international allies… pretty much everyone is willing to shrug their shoulders here.
It will only embolden them.
It will only embolden them.
January 3, 2026 at 6:23 PM
I guess what’s really despairing is that this feels like a litmus test of every part of the system, and every part of the system is failing. The media, the democrats, the army, international allies… pretty much everyone is willing to shrug their shoulders here.
It will only embolden them.
It will only embolden them.
Phrase I dreamt last night: “Don’t break real mirrors on the TV”
January 3, 2026 at 5:01 PM
Phrase I dreamt last night: “Don’t break real mirrors on the TV”
Final Stranger Things season has been fun so far. I will say the initial batch of episodes were better than the second batch. It’s a little on the “you gotta turn your brain off” side, basically accept that plot armour will save the day in the end.
December 27, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Final Stranger Things season has been fun so far. I will say the initial batch of episodes were better than the second batch. It’s a little on the “you gotta turn your brain off” side, basically accept that plot armour will save the day in the end.
Christmas with kids now is weird. I remember coveting specific gifts for months, anticipating the moment I finally get them. My kids are like “I dunno, this one” at the store/in the flyer/whatever, happy when they open it on Christmas, and then they might touch it like once every 3 months.
December 26, 2025 at 3:41 AM
Christmas with kids now is weird. I remember coveting specific gifts for months, anticipating the moment I finally get them. My kids are like “I dunno, this one” at the store/in the flyer/whatever, happy when they open it on Christmas, and then they might touch it like once every 3 months.
Reposted by Adam McDonald
The full spiked 60 Minutes CECOT package, clean & subtitled. 1/5
December 23, 2025 at 1:28 AM
The full spiked 60 Minutes CECOT package, clean & subtitled. 1/5
Reposted by Adam McDonald
Reposted by Adam McDonald
The dorks who insist AI is inevitable, especially in the games industry, deeply underestimate how much I’ll just shrug and play retro games for the rest of my life.
Like the PS1 & PS2 libraries alone are enough for multiple lifetimes.
Fuck you, make me.
Like the PS1 & PS2 libraries alone are enough for multiple lifetimes.
Fuck you, make me.
December 18, 2025 at 6:25 PM
The dorks who insist AI is inevitable, especially in the games industry, deeply underestimate how much I’ll just shrug and play retro games for the rest of my life.
Like the PS1 & PS2 libraries alone are enough for multiple lifetimes.
Fuck you, make me.
Like the PS1 & PS2 libraries alone are enough for multiple lifetimes.
Fuck you, make me.