FWD: Spent the last year learning to make games, and it’s finally here! (pic) : IndieGaming

Dear Reddit, Here’s the story: After a lifetime of listening to what others told me to do, I got my MBA degree, went to work for one of the largest electronic companies in the world in Tokyo, had a great salary, lots of employee benefits, job security, and countless meetings with top executives in fancy meeting rooms in this gorgeous building (link to image). I worked/played with the latest gadgets during the day, and spent the nights exploring the extraordinary city of Tokyo. Life was great.

And then I realized I was turning 30.

I panicked. Do I really want to spend the rest of my life sitting at a desk, analyzing, researching, strategizing, and juggling spreadsheets and powerpoints? I would look out the window and thought to myself, why was I sitting inside this office building when there’s so much life outside? I also realized how much I love design and the creative industry, and I needed to be creating instead of analyzing if I want to really enjoy working.

So I quit my secure high-paying job in 2010. Moved back to my parents house with my wife, and started a video game studio to create narrative casual games.

I didn’t have enough savings to hire people to make the game for me. So I picked up a few books and started learning how to program, how to make 3D models, how to create sound effects. Lack of funding means I had to do everything myself. The first few months were hard, really hard. I was used to talking financial figures, and getting my head around programming just … well it was messy. But day after day, I got a little bit better, and the game started to look a bit better as well. But it was a long process. I wanted the game to be done in August. It was pushed back to October. Then December… Finally after countless delays, I submitted it to Apple App Store and it was approved two days ago. And in about ten days it will be available on iPhone App Store on Feb 1st! It has been a long journey, and not having income for a whole year was brutal. But it’s finally here and I can’t wait to tell the world about it. “Megan and the Giant” is a stealth adventure game for the whole family. I’d like to think of it as Pac-Man + Metal Gear Solid. You can find out more about the game here (website) . I’ve also created a trailer here

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You can say this game, “Megan and the Giant”, is the product of my quarter-life crisis. I’d like to think it’s a beginning of something big. :) Just thought to share with the Reddit community (especially /r/pics, which has kept me sane during the hardest times). Thanks!

tl:dr – quit corporate job, moved back to parents’ house, jumped into indie game development, made this thing ( website )