18-02-26 | Greetings my friends. I’ve made a game! And now you can play it! For FREE! Earlier this week I published The Secret of Dragonwelt on Itch.io. A humble fantasy adventure in the spirit of the classic point and click games of the 1980s and 1990s. Considering how little I know about videogames and programming, launching this (admittedly low-key) online game is something of a personal triumph for me.
As some of you might recall I’m professionally involved with the creation of characters and mascots for theme parks and holiday resorts. In 2024 my previous employer was contacted by a gentleman who was actively involved with eSports. I met up with him early in the year, when he told me that he considered building a cast of sci-fi characters to promote his brand, which was growing in popularity.
Now I love creating theme park characters for young children. And I am told my ideas shifted a lot of merchandising. But despite adoring my work for toddlers, the thought of working for young adults, for nerds … for people like me … I couldn’t let it pass me by. Getting paid to dream up dancing vegetables and talking teddy bears is fun. But to build a true fantasy brand like the ones that I had grown up with. Yes please! Where do I sign up?!
Despite getting on terribly well with my eSports client, the project never got off the ground. Which is quite common, actually. Out of every twenty projects you pitch only one tends to be realised. It’s the way the business works. No hard feelings. But this project was different. I had never been this close to shaping my own Star Wars, if only in a small way.
Let me take a step back. The Netherlands, where I am based, is a great place to work and live. But it has no tradition of creating fantasy entertainment. Sure, there are some exceptions. The odd horror film here, a sci fi comic there. But for someone who dreamed of directing James Bond movies or Batman TV series, having been born in the Netherlands was something of a disadvantage.
And now for the first time ever a legitimate opportunity to reinvent myself as a fantasy worldbuilder offered itself to me! This was no compromise like my kiddy characters or spoof comics (no offense guys), but the real thing. Undiluted, straight faced, straightlaced cult entertainment. And it passed me by. Now that I had tasted blood, if only one drop, I was inspired to delve into this mystical world of games and digital entertainment.
What luck! As It turns out a highly regarded videogame writer lived quite nearby! Having never spoken to a single videogame professional I had now met up with two of them in one month. During our talk it became quite clear to me that approaching videogame publishers without industry experience was quite hopeless. Something I had expected, having worked in filmmaking and comics books. But this local hero gave me some great tips to remedy this. And very concrete ones too.
‘Ren’Py –’ he told me ‘ – is a great place to start. Especially if you want to showcase your talent for storytelling.’ And so for the first time since high school I found myself writing code. At first the results were not pretty. But eventually I got the hang of the Ren’Py coding language. Slowly the fictional world of Dragonwelt started to take shape. With the help of artist Ticiana Luna (known for Pip & Jane) and programmer Sontse, of course, without whom I would have been hopelessly lost.
The Secret of Dragonwelt is quite rough around the edges. I can think of twenty things I should have done differently. But these aspects are overshadowed by the realisation that, finally, I’ve produced a long-form fantasy yarn. I’ve tried to make feature films, experimented with fantasy comics and creating theme park mascots. And then there was Dragonwelt! A fairy tale with a middle, a beginning and an end! And it works! It’s crude and flawed, but it delivers what it promises. It twists and turns and resolves itself near the end. Who would have thought?!
I love comics and I intend to keep on making them for years to come. But I think I’ve found my artform. At 37 I’ve finally found an outlet for all the colourful, silly and disturbing ideas mulling around in my brain. I’ve already started work on the next videogame. And I’ve got ideas for the third! And the one after that! Want to come along for the ride? Then take the first step and play The Secret of Dragonwelt for free at Itch.io. And don’t forget to enjoy yourself! Hail Verdugo!