ME (IN WORDS)
Born and raised in London, England, I’ve been playing as long as I can remember.
An early gift of a Playstation 2 kickstarted my love of digital games, and it wasn’t much longer till I began crafting my own games, even just by changing the rules of a board game or using virtual game spaces as a sandbox. By the time I was a teen I was actively writing games criticism for my own amusement and understanding, and by grabbing every occasional extra-curricular course in programming and game development I could, I learned to bring my ideas to the digital realm.
Both my digital creations and writing led me to study Game Design at the NYU Game Center, where I was able to hone my understanding of all aspects of game development and the industry at large, and in turn produce work that was both personal and boundary pushing.
Core to my approach of games is the concept that “Every game is a simulation of some aspect, or aspects, of reality”. In truth, I learned so much through play.
Sometimes, it was because the simulated aspect of reality was one I had no other access to, or even more important to me is when games would touch on an aspect of reality I knew, but would present that aspect from a different perspective from my own. Playing Life is Strange 1 as a teen was an incredibly powerful experience, with its depictions of mental health prompting me to enter therapy, and its depictions of queerness helped me flourish into my own.
These experiences were powerful as they were because I played them, because they were my own to enter into, control and interpret, and it is these experiences that I hope to bring forward to others.
I make games that engage players to push further:
To explore concepts beyond their understanding, or seek out viewpoints distinct from their own;
To validate player perspectives and to push back against them;
To imagine better worlds, no matter how utopic or dystopic the game’s vision may be.
Play is powerful, and a game designer must design carefully to ensure the outcome of play is a positive one. My life was built by this truth, and in turn it what I dedicate my life to doing.
