Welcome to Ninja Sparks! This is the first issue of what used to be the Brush Ninja newsletter. Over the past few months, I’ve been busy exploring creative projects, experimenting with tools, and figuring out how to share them in a way that inspires and excites you.
One big update: Ninja Sparks now has its own website! It’s a dedicated space where I’ll gather all the apps, tools, and resources I feature. Think of it as a growing hub of creativity—a mix of recommendations, personal insights, and handy resources to spark your imagination.
Recently, I’ve been juggling a few projects, and one of the most exciting is a game-making library. With my background in gaming, I’ve always wanted to get back into making games, but I also wanted a faster way to bring ideas to life. This library is my solution—a tool to help create retro-styled games with a modern twist. If you’re curious, you can check out some screenshots of my progress on Bluesky.
This issue is a bit of an experiment as I settle on a format, but I hope you’ll enjoy what I’ve put together. Inside, you’ll find a fun tool for making music (even if you’re as musically challenged as I am), a video about tiny living that got me thinking about storage solutions, and a few musings on creativity. I’d love to hear your thoughts, so feel free to hit reply and let me know what you think or what you’d like to see in future issues.
Let’s dive in!
Petaporon
PETAPORON is a minimalistic piano roll sequencer that keeps things simple and fun. Its chunky pixel art interface is perfect for beginners who want to dabble in music creation without feeling overwhelmed. You can create a song, tweak it to your liking, and export it to MP3.
I’ll be honest: I’ve got no sense of rhythm and can’t hold a tune (just ask my son), but I’ve had a blast playing with Petaporon. There’s something oddly satisfying about putting together simple patterns and hearing them come to life.
The SNES-inspired aesthetic reminds me of old-school video games, and it’s similar to another tool I love, Aseprite (which I’ll cover in a future issue). I’ve also been dabbling in procedural music for my game-making library, so playing with Petaporon has been a fun way to learn some basics of music composition.
Using Petaporon
The basics of Petaporon are straightforward. You can click and drag to place notes on the grid, and adjust their length. Other actions are made with the right click.
Deleting a note involves right clicking. Right click and drag to select multiple notes then you can delete them all, or cut, copy and paste them using the normal keyboard shortcuts.
The different coloured tiles represent different instruments, so you can combine then to create a full song.
Opening files is not as intuitive as I think it could be. You have to first save the file you want to open, then when you want to reopen it you have to drag and drop the file onto the Petaporon app.
Composition Tips
Here are a few tips if, like me, you’re not naturally musical but want to create something that sounds vaguely musical:
- Start with simple patterns and repeat them.
- Stick to a small range of harmonious notes.
- Add small variations to keep things interesting, like tweaking the rhythm or introducing a new note.
- Layer sounds—a bassline or background harmony can make a world of difference.
For anyone technically inclined, I’ve found a Petaporon to MIDI converter. This handy tool runs on the command line and lets you turn your saved Petaporon files into MIDI files. Perfect if you want to take your creations to the next level or integrate them with other music software. Of course the app always has the option to export to MP3 as well.
Video Spotlight: Creative Living in Tiny Spaces
Every issue, I’ll share a video that’s caught my eye. I’ve got a soft spot for watching people do creative things—whether it’s building, crafting, or solving puzzles. This week’s pick is all about tiny living. It features a couple who’ve built a gorgeous tiny home, filled with clever storage solutions and thoughtful design.
I’ve always been fascinated by small spaces and the ingenious ways people make them work. This house has it all: collapsing stairs, hidden spice racks in the ceiling, and even spaces for the family cat. It’s inspiring and makes me question how much stuff I really need (spoiler: probably not as much as I have).
If you’re into creative design or just love seeing what’s possible in tiny spaces, this video is worth a watch.
Sparked Discoveries
Here are a few interesting things I’ve come across recently:
- Stimulation Clicker: Neal (from Neal.fun) has a knack for creating fascinating experiences, and this time it’s a clicker game about our online habits. It’s surprisingly accurate and family-friendly (aside from the true crime podcast upgrade, which is a bit dark). The game puts things into perspective and might even inspire you to step outside. It’s quick too—I finished it in about half an hour.
- Thumby: The Thumby is a tiny, thumb-sized console inspired by the classic Game Boy. It’s fun to play with, though the buttons can be tricky if you’ve got big fingers like me. You can even code your own games for it using Lua via the Thumby Code website. They’ve recently launched the Thumby Color, inspired by the Game Boy Advance—it looks great, but I haven’t tried it yet!
- The Creator of PlayerUnkown's Battlegrounds Wants to Build a True Metaverse: When Mark Zuckerberg announced his vision for the Metaverse, it felt dull and overly corporate—focused on making work virtual, which hardly sparks excitement. But now Brendan Greene, the creator of PUBG, has revealed his own Metaverse project, and it’s far more intriguing. His approach aims to be open and free from the control of a single company—a refreshing contrast to Big Tech’s usual playbook. I’m curious to see how this evolves and whether it gains traction. The fact that he’s using it to build multiple products suggests it’s designed to be practical and long-lasting, which makes it all the more exciting.
Your Turn
What’s your go-to creative tool? Hit reply and let me know—I’m always on the lookout for new things to experiment with and feature. 😄
Thank you for joining me on this creative adventure. If you enjoyed this issue, share it with your friends, and stay tuned for the next edition at the start of February.
Till next time, keep creating! Ben