I got my first laptop in mid 2021. It was an incredibly cheap and low-end one, but it was enough to get me started on making games. I downloaded Unity for the first time, followed the official Roll-a-Ball course, and got started following other tutorials for the absolute most basic functions you can use within the game engine.
I've always been fascinated by how games are made. I used to watch a lot of Boundary Break from Shesez and Son of a Glitch from A+Start back in 4th-5th grade, and was always intrigued by how the developers handled things behind the scenes that the player couldn't see.
This was also when I started watching game dev youtubers like Dani and Sam Hogan (pls come back), whom are both a massive inspiration for both my non-existant career in game dev and my entire YouTube channel.
Over the years, I've participated in many game jams, such as GMTK, Brackeys, etc. Some of the games I've made for them were genuinely mid, but am rather proud of some others. In 2022, around 10 months after I got that first laptop, I spent my entire life savings (like $800) to upgrade to the Lenovo one I'm using now, allowing me to take on a wider range of projects such as VR games.
However, I would ditch Unity another year later and switch to Unreal Engine 5 after Unity announced the Runtime Fee, forcing developers to pay for each time a player installs their game. I've somewhat already came back to using Unity, mostly because I didn't want to have to deal with the Epic Games Store.
I do eventually want to try to get a career in game dev or animation. That has been my dream job since I even thought about pursuing this, and I think now (the big 26) is a great time to start actually building my portfolio and maybe even applying for jobs? I know the gaming industry really isn't in the best spot right now with mass layoffs, crunch culture, and AI, but I still think it'll be worth at the very least trying.
If you have a studio and are in need of an animator or anything else, hit me up :)
Every single game I have made in however long I've been doing game development, starting from the first game I've ever made to the latest project I've decided to take on.
If you'd like, you can look at my itch.io page as well:
Anyway, here's my entire portfolio for you to look at!
The first game I've ever made in 8th grade as a joke for me and my friends to laugh at. Fun fact, the game was originally gonna be all 3D but I lost the entire project somehow, forcing me to remake the whole game from scratch.
The game I made for the very first game jam I participated in, appropiately named "My First Game Jam". Some sort of speedrunning game seemed fun to make, so here's my first attempt at one.
The submission for my first GMTK Game Jam, with the theme "Roll of the Dice". This placed rather low, around top 3000, and would stay like that for the GMTK jam I would participate in next year.
My first submission for the Brackeys Game Jams. The theme for this jam was "You're Not Alone". Because I couldn't think of a good idea, I chose to make a character that's literally named "ALONE" and make him "not alone."
My first shot at a VR game. I worked on this for around a year before eventually losing motivation and getting burnt out. As a result, I just uploaded the demo, called it quits, and moved on to my next project.
Yes, I used ChatGPT to generate the title cause I was completely out of ideas. This was made for the Brackeys Game Jam 2023.1. I ended up placing quite high, with 17th place in the Audio category and 35th in Graphics.
My second go at the GMTK Game Jam. I really like tennis as a sport, so that's what I went for for the jam. The theme was "Roles Reversed". Instead of playing as the player as usual, you have to control the ball instead.
This was for yet another Brackeys Game Jam, and this time the theme was "Diving Deeper." As a result of the surreal theme choice this competition would be revolved around, I went for a game where you have to dive deeper.
A game I decided to make in the span of around a month meant for me to learn the ins-and-outs of Unreal Engine 5. Switched to using that in protest of the Unity Runtime Fee. I didn't trust them as a company anymore, so I found UE5 to be the next best option for me.
An idea so laughably absurd I couldn't not make a game out of it. This was my second game made in Unreal Engine, made for the Brackeys Game Jam 2024.1.
A game I made with one of my friends (I did most of the work) in a game design class I took at my school. We ended up going back to using Unity for this one since I wasn't sure if we were allowed to download a 50GB+ software onto the school computers.
For the Brackeys Game Jam 2024.2, I developed PACK IT UP!, a game revoled around the theme "Calm Before the Storm". I managed to place 6th place in the Fun category and 12th place overall, and even got featured in Brackeys' video of games from the jam that he found noteworthy. My life is complete.
Probably the biggest game I've ever made that I actually finished. Even though I didn't place that high on the game jam, I'm still really proud of it and I'm glad I didn't give up on it right after the jam ended. The game jam started in January, ended in Feburary, and took me until June to fully finish it.