The Start of Crafty Guppy

So here we are: Crafty Guppy. Nice to meet you.

Crafty Guppy is an independent game studio based in Zoetermeer, The Netherlands.

I founded this game studio yesterday and today I am setting up a blog.

The name and logo are nostalgic for me, because in school I used to draw these funny guppies all the time. And the word ‘crafty’ translates into ‘listig’ in Dutch, which is a word I use a lot. It also has the word ‘craft’ in it, which I believe game design is, a craft.

I aim to create at least one great game under this inspiring new label. I am very excited. Not because I am sure it will be a success, but because I can almost start doing what I like most: creating fun games!

Since 15 years I work at the previous game studio I founded, Gamebasics. Its game Online Soccer Manager was once my attic room project. It will always remain dear to me. It was an honor and a privilege to be the Gamebasics CEO. But in the end I found out that running a company with more than 40 employees was not really my cup of tea anymore.

It has not been easy stepping out of this role though. At the writing of the post, I am still working on it. But there is a very talented and capable team now, that will manage just fine without me.

So what are you going to do once you have your hands free?
Many people asked me.
The answer may surprise you: I don’t really know.

I’m going back to my roots for starters. I have a passion for programming and social casual games. Games for ordinary people or “mere mortals” as Steve Jobs used to say. For me this translates into games for mobile.

The mobile ecosystem has become more mature over the years, but it is still a platform where I feel I can make a contribution. Some experiences that I would like to see there, are not created yet. I have one or two ideas for new games, that I would like to try.

But first, I have to get back on track with my skills.

Being a boss for so long (including the occasional boss fight) has eroded my programming knowledge severely. Therefore, I intended to start simple. A few months ago, I created a small game for my 2-year old son. Now I want to go one step further, and recreate the first game I ever made for the MSX computer, called Airplane. This won’t be a very ambitious game, but I will release it under the Crafty Guppy label in the stores, so I can learn how to do that. By then, I expect to be able to start working on a ‘real’ project.

Along the way I will blog about my progress and share code and insights. I have always found game development to be very rewarding and non-competitive. So I’m not reluctant to share anything. Also feel free to contact me if you need help. As long as I am not too much distracted from my own projects, I’d love to get in touch.