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zerofiftyone.bsky.social
Ben Wilson
@zerofiftyone.bsky.social
1.2K followers 120 following 150 posts
Game Developer - Saltsea Chronicles, Team Sonic Racing, EVADER, TV Trouble, Concentric, ████. Crossword constructor. Hobbyist potter. He/him.

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zerofiftyone.bsky.social
Ben Wilson @zerofiftyone.bsky.social · Oct 21
Hey what's up bsky. I'm Ben Wilson, an award winning indie turned AAA turned indie again game maker from the UK, formally of @gutefabrik.bsky.social and Sumo Digital, currently doing game design freelancing and teaching. 👋🏾✨
zerofiftyone.bsky.social
whenever i make a cup of tea i’m unable to shake the thought that the tetley tea mascots were just british mario and luigi
Picture of the (now discontinued i think?) Tetley tea mascot characters
May 3, 2025 at 9:10 AM
zerofiftyone.bsky.social
around the launch of my last shipped game, i put on a presentation for the team where i dug up old builds from the last 3 years and played them in chronological order

on a long project you forget all the small (and big!) changes that get made over time and it’s rewarding to see how far you’ve come!
May 1, 2025 at 11:59 PM
zerofiftyone.bsky.social
this is great, and a reminder that it’s always valuable as a dev to keep hold of stuff that tells the story of how your game was made
binarypartitioned.space suzanne @binarypartitioned.space · Apr 30
Follow-up with a little extra something...

For those of you who'd like to peek behind the curtain a bit, I've uploaded one of my unreleased early maps from the game as a Steam workshop level, complete with little 'commentary' stations where I go into the process. steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/...
Steam Workshop::BEHIND THE SCENES: Test_Scout
steamcommunity.com
May 1, 2025 at 11:59 PM
zerofiftyone.bsky.social
skin deep has such a cool approach to crediting individual level designers. nobody does tongue-in-cheek diegetic stuff quite like @blendogames.bsky.social. truly the best to ever do it.
May 1, 2025 at 3:08 PM
zerofiftyone.bsky.social
New crossword is out. This week's puzzle features Cluedo, Mortal Kombat, and breaking into "the mainframe".

I took a break from constructing because things have been 🎢 lately but I'm glad I was able to put something out this week.

Happy solving ✏

www.zerofiftyone.net/currant-affairs/
Crossword with 23 Down highlighted. The clue is 😂 (or 💀, depending on your age bracket) (4)
April 18, 2025 at 6:04 PM
zerofiftyone.bsky.social
crossword will be late again this week. i've been pretty stacked lately so i might have to switch from a weekly to a weekly-ish cadence at this rate
April 3, 2025 at 4:11 PM
zerofiftyone.bsky.social
New crossword is out. This week's puzzle features Daniel Kaluuya, cubist art, and gummy bears.

Happy solving ✏

www.zerofiftyone.net/mental-notes/
Crossword with 8 Down highlighted. The clue is styled like a Windows XP error message, and says [crossword.___ has encountered a problem and needs to close (3)]
March 28, 2025 at 5:50 PM
zerofiftyone.bsky.social
took a short break from mug making to throw this set of little plates (and garlic grater)
March 27, 2025 at 7:07 PM
zerofiftyone.bsky.social
New crossword is out. This week's puzzle features Yoshi, Nina Simone, and that one guy from The Matrix.

Happy solving ✏

www.zerofiftyone.net/pet-theory/
Crossword with 9 Down highlighted. The clue is [Type of establishment which *checks notes* apparently has nothing at all to do with scuba-themed cocktails (4, 3)]
March 20, 2025 at 6:23 PM
zerofiftyone.bsky.social
i was unsure about how this one would go but it turned out well!

i did go a little overboard w the glaze chips but i do kinda like the drippy effect
stoneware mug with multicoloured confetti style glazing (before firing) stoneware mug with multicoloured confetti style glazing (after firing)
March 17, 2025 at 8:31 PM
zerofiftyone.bsky.social
New crossword is out. This week's puzzle features Babybel, tree frogs, and Animal Crossing.

Happy solving ✏

www.zerofiftyone.net/weird-flex/
Crossword with 6 Down highlighted. The clue is [Afro-Surrealist comedy series starring Donald Glover and Brian Tyree Henry (7)]
March 13, 2025 at 7:52 PM
zerofiftyone.bsky.social
New crossword is out. This week's puzzle features doomscrolling, microdosing and uhh.. Zootopia.

Happy solving ✏

www.zerofiftyone.net/scorched-earth/
Crossword with 19 Down highlighted. The clue is [Sea ___ (animal which likes to hold hands with a friend while it sleeps) (5)]
March 6, 2025 at 6:27 PM
zerofiftyone.bsky.social
Today’s @puzzmo.com crossword is my first for the site (!!) and a collab with the excellent @e-a-rly.bsky.social

www.puzzmo.com/today
The front page of puzzmo.com for March 4th 2025
March 4, 2025 at 10:02 AM
Reposted by Ben Wilson
annabellreads.bsky.social
I do these every Thursday and they're always delightful, definitely recommend.
zerofiftyone.bsky.social Ben Wilson @zerofiftyone.bsky.social · Feb 27
New crossword is out. This week's puzzle features bats, afros, and a whole lot of moons.

Happy solving ✏

www.zerofiftyone.net/flash-drive/
Crossword with 42 Across highlighted. The clue is [Algorithmically generated picture with way too many fingers, for example (6)]
February 27, 2025 at 5:09 PM
zerofiftyone.bsky.social
New crossword is out. This week's puzzle features bats, afros, and a whole lot of moons.

Happy solving ✏

www.zerofiftyone.net/flash-drive/
Crossword with 42 Across highlighted. The clue is [Algorithmically generated picture with way too many fingers, for example (6)]
February 27, 2025 at 4:51 PM
zerofiftyone.bsky.social
another pair of mugs glazed and ready for final firing. hopefully i’ll get to take them home next week
A bisque fired stoneware mug, glazed with a white and green checkerboard pattern A bisque fired stoneware mug, glazed with a white and orange checkerboard pattern
February 27, 2025 at 4:46 PM
zerofiftyone.bsky.social
suuuper excited at the prospect of making puzzles with these folks!
lilavcx.bsky.social Lil AVCX @lilavcx.bsky.social · Feb 24
Lil AVCX is thrilled to announce our 2025 Roster! We are excited to bring you puzzles by these constructors 🥳

Alex Rossell Hayes @alxrh.bsky.social
Alisya Reza @alisyareza.bsky.social
Ben Wilson @zerofiftyone.bsky.social
Carina da Rosa @carinadarosa.bsky.social
K. J. Sarr
Katie Hoody
Terry Sun
Lil AVCX 2025 Roster: Alex Rossell Hayes, Alisya Reza, Ben Wilson, Carina da Rosa, K. J. Sarr, Katie Hoody, Terry Sun (a grid of very smiley pictures on a colored gradient background)
February 25, 2025 at 12:34 AM
zerofiftyone.bsky.social
New crossword is out. This week's puzzle features Doechii, cassette tapes, and my favourite Yorgos Lanthimos film.

Happy solving ✏

www.zerofiftyone.net/balloon-animals/
Crossword with 47 Across highlighted. The clue is [Typical starting location for a Dungeons & Dragons campaign (6)]
February 20, 2025 at 6:03 PM
zerofiftyone.bsky.social
tired: posting every thought into the void of social media
wired: hiding posts behind meticulously crafted puzzles
February 13, 2025 at 5:31 PM
zerofiftyone.bsky.social
New crossword is out! This week's puzzle features ghosts, David Lynch and "the cool S".

Happy solving ✏

www.zerofiftyone.net/speed-metal/
Crossword with 15 Across highlighted. The clue is [“seriously? you’re really gonna break up with me on international talk like a ___ day?? [he sighs, dejected]: yarr” (6)]
February 13, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Reposted by Ben Wilson
doougle.net
My favorite tune of the last few months is still @zerofiftyone.bsky.social's piano cover of the Mooncat "Forest A" theme. We play it at the end of the episode here
bsky.app/profile/eggp...
February 8, 2025 at 2:20 AM
zerofiftyone.bsky.social
Jurying this year’s batch of IGFs was a delight. Lots of really great entries that are all attempting v different things.

Making a shortlist is so hard but on the plus side it does fill you with a renewed sense of hope and enthusiasm for the medium!
February 7, 2025 at 10:27 PM
zerofiftyone.bsky.social
New crossword is out. This week's puzzle features Street Fighter, internet grifts and the Coen brothers.

Happy solving ✏

www.zerofiftyone.net/pearly-gate/
Crossword with 27 Across highlighted. The clue is ["omg soooo cute!!!", or alternatively, a pretty good name for a novelty bag store (5, 6)]
February 6, 2025 at 4:36 PM
zerofiftyone.bsky.social
my big ol face is on the front page of @puzzmo.com today. they invited me to set today’s bongo puzzle :)

puzzmo.com/puzzle/2025-...
screenshot of today’s bongo puzzle on puzzmo.com
February 5, 2025 at 1:23 PM
zerofiftyone.bsky.social
really pleased with how these mugs came out!

i’m gonna experiment with more handle shapes in the future but i do like the feel of the checkerboard one a lot
A fired and glazed stoneware mug with an oversized handle, glazed with a white and blue checkerboard pattern A fired and glazed stoneware mug with an oversized handle, glazed in a glossy black/blue colour Both mugs pictured side by side
February 4, 2025 at 2:15 PM