Where it started
My most cherished memories are the gaming experiences of my youth. Button mashers and strategy games are great, but when I look back, point and click, role playing games, and choose your own adventure books are what stayed with me.
I entered this world in 1974, right at the beginning of the renaissance of gaming. I was born alongside the early days of video games and the birth of Dungeons and Dragons. I still remember the first time my uncle showed me Pong. Soon after, my neighbor’s older brother showed me his D&D character sheet. My mind was blown. I needed all of it.
Over the years we laughed, we cried, and we stayed up far too late playing games. I remember that Atari 800 sitting there on Christmas morning, loading games from cassette tapes like States and Capitals with my little brother. The soundtrack still rocks by the way. We stayed up all night playing Congo Bongo. I fumbled around inside Zork. The only thing I managed to do was pick up a lantern and it was awesome.
Choosing a Path
I called the Space Quest hint hotline and paid real money to talk to a live person for help. I got stuck again moments later, but I still loved it. When Guybrush Threepwood said, “Wow… a whole bucket o’ mud… and it’s mine. All mine!” I was hooked.
I spent countless afternoons in my local bookstore searching for the next Fighting Fantasy book, Choose Your Own Adventure, or issue of Dragon Magazine. These games and stories captured my imagination. Some of them told truly marvelous stories. Maybe not Pong or States and Capitals, but King’s Quest certainly did.
Do I have a point to this rambling? Sort of.
Through all of those years of playing games there was always one game I never quite found. I had an idea in my head for something different. Something that blended storytelling and tabletop play in a way I had not seen before.
With a background in design and art direction I eventually decided to try building it myself.
After three years of writing, design, and development I launched a Kickstarter campaign for Spire’s End on October 17, 2019.
My expectations were modest. I figured maybe a hundred people would humor me and give it a try.
It funded in under 24 hours.
One Guy and a Garage
Spire’s End was successfully completed and delivered on time, and the response from players was incredible.
Since then the world of Spire’s End has continued to grow. What began as a single strange little project has expanded into a series of games including Spire’s End, Hildegard, Rangitaki, and the continuing Volume Two storyline.
Spire’s End is still a very small operation. There is no large studio behind it. No corporate machine. It is one guy in a garage building strange little games.
Each project is developed with a small team of collaborators from around the world. I try to seek out eclectic and unique creative voices. Artists and developers who bring something different to the table and help shape each game into its own distinct experience.
The goal has never been to follow trends or build something that looks like everything else on the shelf. I want these games to beat to their own drum. Something unusual. Something memorable. Something you simply will not find anywhere else.
