I first came into contact with video games in the late 1970s. Some of my older brothers’ friends owned one of those early Pong consoles, like the Interton Video 2000—or even the Interton VC4000. As a five- or six-year-old, I was absolutely thrilled by the idea of playing tennis or racing games all by myself on a TV screen. Where else could you experience something like that?
Much to my dismay, my parents weren’t at all enthusiastic about me spending time on “television games” (as video games were still called back then). They flat-out refused to buy me one of those new and super cool Atari VCS 2600 consoles. My dad used to say, “Buy yourself one of those monkey boxes with your own money, once you’ve got some!” So I started saving every penny I could get my hands on. A few years later, I finally managed to buy a used console, along with a small TV and four or five games.
For a while, I was on cloud nine—finally able to play those games! But after a time, I had beaten most of them, and they started to feel boring. Pocket money was always tight, so even used games were a rare treat. I started thinking, If only I could make my own games!
Not long after, a friend of mine got one of those brand-new home computers—a “Commodore 64.” He was super proud of his high-tech machine and wouldn’t stop talking about the amazing games he could play on it, and how he was learning to write his own programs in BASIC through an evening class. I borrowed the BASIC manual from him and taught myself how to code. Without a computer of my own, it wasn’t easy—I had to write my first games on paper. But my friend invited me over to punch them into his C64 and try them out. And guess what? They worked—and they were fun!
That settled it: I needed a computer of my own. Unfortunately, my parents were still against all things electronic. So once again, I scrimped and saved every cent I could until I could finally afford a computer of my own. With persistence and determination, I eventually managed to turn my passion into a profession and found my place in the world of IT. Sadly, that left less and less time for developing games.
But hold on—you make your own luck, as the saying goes. A few years ago, I decided to return to game development. With all my experience in database and web development, project management, IT training, and content creation, surely I had what it takes to make some cool games, right?
Since then, I’ve spent a lot of time experimenting with the tools available. I’ve built prototypes for various game ideas—and scrapped many of them. Along the way, I also discovered the kind of games I actually want to create. That’s how I ended up with interactive fiction. I want to tell engaging, exciting stories that put you in charge of the outcome through the choices you make. I want to spark your curiosity. Maybe I’ll even challenge your thinking or introduce you to topics you’ve never considered before. And hopefully, you’ll have just as much fun playing my games as I do making them!