Making Games is its Own Reward
My whole life, I've always had a passion for creating games. When I was young, I would often take items from around the house, and try to make a game out of it, using coins or paper clips as tokens or currency. In the Summer, I would often create different versions of popular outdoor games such as Ghost in the Graveyard or Kick the Can.
In high school, I created For Your Eyes Only, a live game played over the course of days using cards for combat. A few weeks later, many other groups of students were playing it with their friends, all with their own spin on the rules.
When I first heard of UW-Whitewater's Media Arts and Game Development (MAGD) program, I knew that I would fit right in. I joined the Game Developer club right away, and had the opportunity to work alongside many talented developers on some very enjoyable games. A few years later, I became the President of the club, and organized multiple game jams and small group projects for the many talented programmers, artists, sound designers, and story writers.
In January 2018, I was given the opportunity to work alongside Pioneer Game Developer Scott Adams of Clopas, a small independent game studio founded in my hometown of Platteville, Wisconsin. While there, I designed and implemented puzzles for the release of Escape the Gloomer, a conversational adventure game set in the universe of the Redwall novels. In addition to this, I worked on developing Adventureland XL, the 40th anniversary remake of Scott's first game, which some cite as the grandfather of adventure gaming. Escape the Gloomer launched on Steam in November of 2018, and has allowed me and the other developers to travel and present at many events, including GDC and the Midwest Gaming Classic.
I have always enjoyed developing games, and I particularly enjoy games with new and unique mechanics. For me, the reward for all of the hard work of developing a game, is simply seeing others enjoy it. If they are having fun, then you've made a great game.