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danctheduck.bsky.social
Daniel Cook
@danctheduck.bsky.social
3.2K followers 370 following 840 posts
Chief Creative Officer: http://Spryfox.com
Blog: http://lostgarden.home.blog
@Danc@mastodon.gamedev.place
Game Design: Triple Town, Alphabear, Road Not Taken, Cozy Grove, etc
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Daniel Cook
spryfox.bsky.social
If you let them build it, they will come.

(screenshot credits: Oof42, lobot, fefaware)
Screenshot of Spirit Crossing: A gigantic giraffe wiht trees on it in the background and a hot tub in the foreground against a bright blue sky Another spirit crossing screenshot of a pirate ship Spirit crossing screenshot featuring an enormously long fluffalo train climbing up a stairway of converyor belts through a spray of confetti Spirit crossing screenshot again; A magical-girl looking avatar points to a giant pixel-art-looking robot statue towering in the distance during sunset.
January 24, 2026 at 1:40 AM
Reposted by Daniel Cook
spryfox.bsky.social
here's a peek at something special- our improvisation system for musical instruments!

moving up\down\left\right adds improvised notes & shifts pose per instrument, expressing the deepest movements of your soul 🎵

And when accompanying others, we give like instruments varied tracks 👀
January 23, 2026 at 5:27 PM
Reposted by Daniel Cook
justinoaksford.bsky.social
honest I’m not trying to do A Marketing right now but I am still so often pleasantly surprised with what our procgen environments produce. We are always working to make it better but it creates some wonderfully evocative spaces. (ignore visual glitching 😅)
January 23, 2026 at 5:51 AM
Reposted by Daniel Cook
juliaminamata.bsky.social
Hooray! 🎉 This year's ✨@polarisgamedesign.com✨ papers are live! I'm super pumped because I got attend the retreat last year and help write one. 😊 It's about trust and wonder. Check it out here: polarisgamedesign.com/2025/rewriti...
Rewriting the Player Contract: Legibility and Trust in Game Development
Whether you mean to or not, as a game developer, you will find yourself embedded in contracts with your players, of both explicit and implicit varieties.
polarisgamedesign.com
January 21, 2026 at 8:51 PM
Reposted by Daniel Cook
polarisgamedesign.com
It's the Polaris 2025 reports! They've come! They're here! It's a bumper crop of five, count'em FIVE papers! We got comedy, we got death, we got cringe, we got trust... something for the whole team.

Piping hot game design knowledge and insight await:
polarisgamedesign.com/reports/
Screenshot of the five 2025 Polaris reports, too small to comfortably read, with image previews of 2 flow charts, a sticky note collection, a game screenshot with text interface, and a geological pattern.
January 21, 2026 at 9:42 PM
danctheduck.bsky.social
Waaaait for it....
spryfox.bsky.social Spry Fox @spryfox.bsky.social · 2d
we found that careening off cliffsides into the abyss was decidedly UN-cozy... so we introduced

☁️☁️༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ cloud-surfing ☁️☁️
January 22, 2026 at 12:54 AM
Reposted by Daniel Cook
justinoaksford.bsky.social
oh yeah, the flying alpaca are called fluffalo

you uh. you throw cookies at their face to get them to land nearby so you and others can shear their gnarly butts for wool
January 19, 2026 at 8:01 PM
Reposted by Daniel Cook
augustbelhaha.bsky.social
Hi!👋I've been leading character art on Spirit Crossing with @spryfox.bsky.social for the last few years and, as I'm new to BlueSky, I thought I'd try sharing some of the work that's gone into making characters for an MMO over the next few months! Follow if you like characters and lil tech details 😊
January 18, 2026 at 11:13 PM
danctheduck.bsky.social
OMG. It is another sunny day 🌞
January 18, 2026 at 7:17 PM
Reposted by Daniel Cook
kitfoxgames.com
Want to dedicate a lifetime to making a single game? Read this article by @tanyaxshort.bsky.social first!

kitfoxgames.medium.com/e9b916491afe
A quote from the article "The Unique Concerns of Lifetime Game Projects" by Tanya X. Short: Most game developers aren’t in the business of lifetime game projects. But in case you are one of those few, or just curious about the constraints, I thought I’d share a few lessons and observations Kitfox has encountered from our work with Dwarf Fortress, and to a lesser extent, Caves of Qud and Streets of Fortuna.
January 16, 2026 at 3:00 PM
danctheduck.bsky.social
I had a good sleep for the first time in weeks.

Wow. The future is bright! Feeling 10 years younger. Leapt down the stairs.

Outside? Seattle, in the dead gloom of winter and the sun is shining like it got confused, "Oh, is this summer?"
January 16, 2026 at 8:09 PM
Reposted by Daniel Cook
spryfox.bsky.social
at Spry Fox, we're interested in designing games that answer meaningful questions and inspire conversation.

..and sometimes that conversation is: what if there were little guys everywhere??
a screenshot from the game Spirit Crossing by Spry Fox, in which a number of tiny little blue spirits with large white eyes and small pupils are nesting inside a tunnel. they're staring straight ahead at the viewer while sitting on green grass. a screenshot from the game Spirit Crossing by Spry Fox, in which a number of tiny little blue spirits with large white eyes and small pupils are hanging out inside a red trolley car. the trolley car rests on lush green grass surrounded by green shrubbery. a screenshot from the game Spirit Crossing by Spry Fox, in which a number of tiny little blue spirits with large white eyes and small pupils are sitting inside of a tiny grey box truck with moss on it. the truck rests beneath an open garage door, headlights on but not moving. a screenshot from the game Spirit Crossing by Spry Fox, in which a number of tiny little blue spirits with large white eyes and small pupils are hanging on the wooden boards surrounding an outdoor hot spring.
January 14, 2026 at 10:18 PM
Reposted by Daniel Cook
greyalien.bsky.social
Announcement: STEAM DEMO OUT NOW!

The early dungeons of Forbidden Solitaire are now open to those bold - or foolish - enough to explore them.

How badly do you wish to live forever? 👁️🩸
👇👇👇

store.steampowered.com/app/3414580/...

Please wishlist and share - thank you!
#indiedev
January 16, 2026 at 4:27 PM
Reposted by Daniel Cook
pentapod.bsky.social
As of today, I no longer work for Netflix. 😮 Check out today's blog from Spry Fox, and then please...

✅ Wishlist / Follow on us Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/2321960/...
✅ Sign up for our newsletter for beta info: playspiritcrossing.com
✅ Wish us the best of luck!!! #SpiritCrossing #GameDev🤞
A version of the "disaster girl" meme, but instead of the young girl smiling as the house in the background burns, she has been replaced by the character Nibbit from Spirit Crossing. Nibbit is a squarish bear with large round gold glasses, dark hair, and business casual attire. She is smiling, with her (tiny stubby) arms flung wide as the house behind her burns to the ground. The caption on the meme reads: HEADING INTO 2026 NOW INDIE
January 16, 2026 at 4:20 AM
Reposted by Daniel Cook
spryfox.bsky.social
Surprise, delight, and bewilder your fuzzy-eared friends with your OWN set of fuzzy ears. 🐺

Are you more partial to a set of horns or feathered antennae? Good news - we've got those too! 🦋

Express yourself with a variety of mythic animal accessories in Spirit Crossing. 🐾

→ playspiritcrossing.com
December 18, 2025 at 6:48 PM
danctheduck.bsky.social
Ever gotten kudos from a pigeon baker?
January 16, 2026 at 1:32 AM
Reposted by Daniel Cook
spryfox.bsky.social
SURPRISE. 🥰

We just revealed a brand new trailer with an exciting announcement inside..

Spirit Crossing will be coming to Steam! 🎉

We’re SO excited to share this journey with you all, and we’d greatly appreciate it if you could give us a wishlist to help us spread the word. 🧡 s.team/a/2321960
wholesomegames.com Wholesome Games @wholesomegames.com · Dec 9
EXCLUSIVE: Befriend small bears, mingle with spirits, ride fluffalo, and join a bustling community in Spirit Crossing, a cooperative life-sim from the makers of Cozy Grove. Currently in open Alpha and coming soon to Steam. s.team/a/2321960 #WholesomeSnack2025
December 9, 2025 at 8:26 PM
danctheduck.bsky.social
This bit gets lost in the news. What if the people making your favorite game shared in any success? Wouldn't that be nice?
justinoaksford.bsky.social Justin Oaksford @justinoaksford.bsky.social · 8d
In case you've been like "wow justin sure is posting about Spirit Crossing a lot"- it's because the spinout from Netflix means we are indie once more, and not only that- but are now joining the ranks of employee-owned indie studios! A very big step.
danctheduck.bsky.social Daniel Cook @danctheduck.bsky.social · 8d
Something positive: Spry Fox is spinning out of Netflix. We are independent (once again!) and preparing to launch Spirit Crossing.

We wrote up a little blog post musing about this wild adventure. Worth sharing the good news.
spryfox.com/a-16-year-ol...
January 15, 2026 at 8:33 PM
Reposted by Daniel Cook
massivelyop.bsky.social
Spry Fox bosses slashed their salaries to buy out the studio and launch cozy MMO Spirit Crossing later this year
Spry Fox bosses slashed their salaries to buy out the studio and launch cozy MMO Spirit Crossing later this year
massivelyop.com
January 15, 2026 at 5:35 PM
Reposted by Daniel Cook
follovver.bsky.social
It's a cozy game, but without the aspect of infantilizing the player. The stories hit deep, and have even brought me to tears a few times. The graphics are beautiful, unlike any other game I've played before. The core community on the discord server is a great group of people ❤️ 3/4
January 15, 2026 at 5:46 PM
Reposted by Daniel Cook
follovver.bsky.social
Hey pals, I know I've been away for a good while now, but I wanted to tell you about a game I'm playing called Spirit Crossing, by @spryfox.bsky.social. It's a MMORPG currently in Alpha testing, free for anyone with a Netflix account and a smartphone/tablet. 1/4
January 15, 2026 at 5:46 PM
danctheduck.bsky.social
Something positive: Spry Fox is spinning out of Netflix. We are independent (once again!) and preparing to launch Spirit Crossing.

We wrote up a little blog post musing about this wild adventure. Worth sharing the good news.
spryfox.com/a-16-year-ol...
A 16-year-old baby is born! Miracles do happen.
After three years under the Netflix umbrella, Spry Fox is once again a fully independent studio. As a studio, we’ve managed to somehow survive countless industry upheavals and release a whole lot o…
spryfox.com
January 15, 2026 at 5:34 PM
Reposted by Daniel Cook
rosemarymosco.com
Nature valentines. This comic is now available as a set of 6 Valentines cards: topatoco.com/collections/...
A group of six nature valentines. A picture of a bog with pitcher plants, with text saying "Our love is like a bog. Built up over time, resistant to decay, deeply interesting to just a small number of people." A yellow slime mold stretching out and exploring. "Our love is like a slime mold. Collaborative, complex, at times unnerving to behold." A piece of limestone with a small trilobite in the corner. "Our love is like limestone. Layered, useful for many purposes, shaped by the friends we met along the way." A ring-billed gull with a french fry on a beach. "Our love is like a ring-billed gull. Abundant, found in North America, sometimes sustained by french fries." An Atlantic horseshoe crab walking on the sand. "Our love is like a horseshoe crab. Tough, timeless, unrelated to true crabs." A drawing of the phosphorus cycle, with arrows connecting various parts of a scene, including algae and fish and a farm and a river and a forest. "Our love is like the phosphorus cycle. Important, really hard to draw."
January 15, 2026 at 2:00 PM
Reposted by Daniel Cook
justinoaksford.bsky.social
A piece of Spirit Crossing "key moment" concept art from about a year and a half ago; trying to capture the cozy contrast of storms, which push players together around bonfires
illustration of people in a variety of cozy modern wear huddled around a campfire as a supernatural storm rages in the background with gigantic shadows looming. Around the campfire they are telling stories and playing instruments, with a spirit and some tiny little mini-spirit blobs looking in from the periphery
January 15, 2026 at 4:03 PM
Reposted by Daniel Cook
justinoaksford.bsky.social
One thing I've always been fond of is our windows.

Having contiguous exterior\interior spaces was important to us- but early on we realized interiors needed different ambient light from the exterior to feel properly cozy
January 15, 2026 at 2:01 AM