There is no team, there is only me...

And honestly, I'm perfectly fine with that!

SquigglyFrog Studios (SFS) is a one-man independent game development studio based in Caldwell, Idaho, right here in the Treasure Valley.

I've been making games and writing software for decades, and while the technology, platforms, and tools have changed more times than I can count, the reason I do it hasn't. I enjoy creating things, figuring out how they work, and turning ideas into something people can actually play.

These days, SquigglyFrog Studios develops games for a variety of platforms, including Android, WoWCube, and other gaming devices. My projects range from casual and puzzle games to fantasy strategy games, dungeon crawlers, and whatever other strange ideas happen to find their way into my head.

Some are simple. Some are considerably more ambitious than I originally intended. That's usually how it goes.

It All Started a Long, Long Time Ago...

My dad wasn't into cars. He wasn't into sports. What he was into was electronics and ham radios.

So, from the moment I was old enough to understand the basics, he had me tinkering with things.

My first computer was a Timex Sinclair 1000, and I also spent plenty of time with his Commodore VIC-20 back in the early 1980s. As he upgraded his computers, I inherited the old ones. Over the years, that included the Commodore 16, 64, and 128, the Atari 800XL and 130XE, and even a Texas Instruments TI-99/4A.

I taught myself to program on those machines, and I've never really stopped learning.

There were no YouTube tutorials, no AI coding assistants, and certainly no convenient search engines to explain why something wasn't working. There were books, magazines, documentation, and a whole lot of trial and error.

And I loved every minute of it.

Well, maybe not every minute. Anyone who's spent hours tracking down a bug caused by a single character knows exactly what I'm talking about.

Fast Forward Many, Many Years...

What eventually became SquigglyFrog Studios got its start back in 2004, originally under a different name.

Back then, most of my development was done in C++. I experimented with different libraries, engines, and frameworks, creating a collection of small games and projects that, unfortunately, have mostly been lost to time.

Some were finished. Some were experiments. Some probably shouldn't have seen the light of day anyway.

But every single one taught me something.

Eventually, I discovered Microsoft's XNA framework, and that changed quite a bit. Suddenly, developing and publishing games became considerably more accessible.

Using XNA, I released games for the Xbox 360, Windows, Windows Phone, and even the Microsoft Zune. That was my first real venture into mobile and portable game development.

Of course, technology never stands still. XNA eventually went away, and newer tools and engines took its place.

I moved on to Unity and other development environments, continuing to experiment with different platforms and types of games.

And that's pretty much been the story ever since. Learn something new, build something interesting, discover a better way to do it, and start the process all over again.

So, What Am I Working On These Days?

Quite a few things, actually. Probably more than I should be working on at once.

One of the things I enjoy most about independent game development is the freedom to experiment. I'm not locked into a particular genre, platform, or style of game. If an idea sounds interesting, there's a pretty good chance I'll eventually try to turn it into something playable.

Over the years, I've worked on everything from simple casual and puzzle games to more involved strategy games, role-playing adventures, and other projects that don't always fit neatly into a particular category.

I enjoy exploring different platforms and experimenting with unusual hardware, especially devices that offer something beyond traditional mouse, keyboard, or touchscreen controls. Sometimes the hardware itself inspires an entirely new game concept.

While Unity has been one of my primary development tools for years, I'm certainly not tied to a single engine, programming language, or framework. I've always believed in using whatever tools make the most sense for the project, and I'm not afraid to learn something completely new along the way.

Of course, having the freedom to experiment also means I tend to have more ideas than I have time to finish. My development folders are full of prototypes, experiments, and projects in various stages of completion.

Some eventually become finished games. Others never make it beyond the proof-of-concept stage. And occasionally, something that started as a quick weekend experiment turns into a project considerably larger than I ever intended.

That's part of what keeps game development interesting to me. There's always another idea to explore, another problem to solve, or another opportunity to learn something new.

If you're curious about what I'm currently building, you can follow along through the development updates and articles here on the website. I try to share not just the finished results, but also some of the challenges, discoveries, and occasional frustrations that happen along the way.

Still Just One Guy...

Despite having been around for more than two decades, SquigglyFrog Studios is still a one-man operation.

I handle the programming, game design, testing, website development, publishing, and pretty much everything else that goes into running an independent game studio.

That doesn't mean I create every single asset myself. I use properly licensed artwork, models, sound effects, music, and other resources where appropriate. I've also worked with artists and composers over the years, and I'm always interested in hearing from creative people who might want to collaborate.

I'm not operating with a massive development budget, and I certainly don't have a team of artists, designers, programmers, and marketing specialists sitting around waiting for instructions.

It's just me, my computers, a collection of development tools, and an ever-growing list of things I want to create.

SquigglyFrog Studios is also part of Willow Peak Digital LLC, the company I established to support my software development projects and other technology ventures.

While I work professionally as a software developer, game development remains something I pursue because I genuinely enjoy it.

Real Life Has a Habit of Getting in the Way

One of the realities of being a solo developer is that development takes time.

Between working full-time, spending time with my family, helping my wife with her in-home daycare, and everything else life throws at us, there are only so many hours available for making games.

Fortunately, the daycare has occasionally provided a rather enthusiastic group of playtesters.

Kids have a wonderful way of letting you know when something isn't fun. They don't care how many hours you spent writing the code or how clever you think a particular mechanic is.

If they're bored, they're bored.

And sometimes that's exactly the feedback you need.

Long development cycles aren't always a bad thing, either. They give me time to revisit ideas, improve mechanics, and decide whether a project is actually worth finishing.

I'm also my own worst critic. There are plenty of projects that never get released because they don't meet my expectations.

Others exist simply because I wanted to find out whether an idea would work.

Not everything needs to become a commercial product to be worth creating.

Gameplay First. Always.

I've never set out to compete with the enormous AAA studios and their multimillion-dollar budgets.

That's not what SquigglyFrog Studios is about.

I grew up during an era when games had to be fun because they couldn't rely on photorealistic graphics, cinematic storytelling, or hundreds of hours of content to keep people interested.

Some of the games I remember most fondly were built around incredibly simple ideas.

But those ideas worked.

That's the feeling I try to capture in my own projects.

That doesn't mean graphics, sound, presentation, and polish aren't important. They absolutely are. But I believe they should support the gameplay rather than replace it.

Whether it's a simple puzzle game, a tactical strategy game, or a dungeon crawler, my goal is to create something that's enjoyable to play and gives people a reason to come back.

Building Games Is Only Half the Battle

For years, I spent most of my time doing what I enjoy most: developing games.

What I didn't spend nearly enough time doing was telling people about them.

It turns out that making a game and getting people to discover it are two entirely different challenges.

I've recently been putting more effort into sharing development updates, posting about projects, and connecting with players and other developers through social media and the SquigglyFrog Studios website.

I'm also trying to do a better job of documenting the development process, including the successes, the frustrations, and the occasional spectacular failure.

After all these years, I'm still learning. That applies just as much to running a studio and building an audience as it does to writing code.

Interested in Collaborating?

I'm always happy to hear from artists, composers, developers, and other creative people who are interested in independent game development.

While I can't promise paid opportunities or partnerships, I'm open to discussing potential collaborations when there's a good fit for a project.

If you'd like to get in touch, please use the contact page.

And Finally... Thank You!

SquigglyFrog Studios has never been about getting rich or building the next massive gaming franchise.

It's about creating things I enjoy, challenging myself to learn something new, and hopefully making games that other people enjoy playing.

Every download, purchase, comment, review, and message from someone who has played one of my games means something to me.

Knowing that someone, somewhere, spent a little of their free time enjoying something I created is an incredibly rewarding feeling.

So whether you've been playing my games for years, just discovered SquigglyFrog Studios, or somehow stumbled onto this page while looking for something completely different...

Thank you for being here, and thank you for playing!