Me and My Work
4th Wall Games is my company with Dr. Mark Baumann. Our innagural game, Harrowing Adventures is sadly no longer in production. It was fun while it lasted and our demo got a great reception where we showed it, but we are no longer working on that project. But, we keep kicking around ideas for carving it up and using its bones in other projects, because there was a lot of cool stuff there. I make make a post about this.
The Chronicle covered the return of Staple! and yours truly was mentioned.
The Lindenbaum Prize Competition is an annual competition for short gamebook fiction generously hosted by Stuart Lloyd. Here are links to my official entries for the 2022, 2023, and 2024 competitions. Stay tuned for 2025.
One of my early mods, Even Stranger Adventures in Infinite Space, which is a mod for Strange Adventures in Infinite Space, is still downloadable! Working on this is what kept me going through my undergraduate physcis degree (with a side order of translating ancient Greek). If I were a little smarter, I probably would have realized that this is what I should be doing. It was met with a glowing reception by the developers, and some of the ideas I came up with showed up in their next game, Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space. I also made a mod for that, can you guess what it was called? That game was more complex and interesting, but was pretty limited in terms of modding.
Current Obsessions
Video Games: I'm still on the indie darling of the summer, Balatro, but probably not for much longer. I'm looking for my next addiction. I finally got around to playing Inscryption over the summer, and I was sad that I hadn't played it sooner. It took me about 26 hours of play, and when I beat it, I saw that 43% of others also get that achievement. That blew me away. That's all I'll say about it. Don't look up anything, just play it.
Board Games: My current favorite is The Lost Ruins of Arnak, which is just insanely cool, and only gets cooler with the expansions. It feels simple when you're trying to figure out what to do, but it doesn't feel simplistic. It also lets me feel like whatever kind of archaeologist I'm in the mood for: reckless, bookish, cautious, meticulous. Even my wife will play it with me!
TV/Film: I've been watching Psychodyssey, which a documentary about the making of Psychonauts 2. I'm not done yet, but it feels like something really special.
Links for Students
If you're in Austin, you should be keeping a close eye on @atxgamedevcal on *cough*Twitter*cough* or atxgamedevcal on Facebook to know what's happening. They're both maintained by John Henderson, so you can pick your poison!
IGDA Austin has been an incredible help to me in my career. They host events and sometimes even provide booth space at local events. I can't begin to express how helpful that was to me early on.
Game Worlds is an awesome local business and summer job opportunity for students. They also host Portfolio Posse North.
The Museum of Human Achievement is a "community-driven space grounded in affordability, inclusivity and access for artists." Importantly, they filled the role of local indie developer event host after the dissolution of Juegos Rancheros. Games Y'all is their monthly indie game event, and they've even brought Fantastic Arcade back.
Just to round out the Austin links, check out ATX Game Makers, Austin Glitch State, and Austin Game Dev Beer Night. Beer drinking is not required for that last one.