Will Fowler
About Me
I have always had a fascination with computers and specifically video games. From a very early age, gaming was one of my favorite hobbies. By the fifth grade, I was building and maintaining my own web pages and hosting them on Geocities.com. I had a thirst for knowledge and the resources to learn about more powerful and unique web design tools.
This obsession with web design inevitably lead me to learn about JavaScript, and the powerful interactivity it brought to a web page. This was my first true experience in programming. By the sixth grade, I had programmed a simple countdown script which ran in a webpage, which was used by my family on New Year's Eve. I also wrote scripts to help me with math homework several times. Creating these simple tools helped me discover my talent for step-by-step logical thinking and programming.
Throughout my middle and high school careers I was signing up for whatever Computer Science classes I could. In high school, I had my first experience with a real programming language with Java. Over time, I became more familiar with the concepts behind Object-Oriented Programming and the common data structures that arose out of it. Other classes included a semester in Visual Basic and a semester of vocational schooling in presentation and game design in Flash using ActionScript. My study of Computer Science continued into college.
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Today, I am a programmer and gameplay engineer specializing in the Unity3D engine. I enjoy facing and overcoming new challenges in my work, and I'm always learning new things about game design. I feel very privileged to have a profession that challenges and interests me. I love what I do and I have a lot of fun doing it, and in my work I hope to create fun experiences for others as well.
Leveled Games, LLC
In April of 2013, I began working with Zebralightning Studios on Marble Droid 2. As my first experience with Unity3D, it was an amazing learning experience and a great introduction to the game design industry. I was impressed how quickly a high-quality game could be produced by a small team of developers.
This also became my introduction to programming on the .NET framework through Unity's implementation of the open source Mono platform. While Unity has a custom implementation of JavaScript (dubbed "UnityScript") available for programmers to use, I felt that C# was more useful for application development outside of Unity. For this reason, I quickly grew to prefer writing game code in C# over UnityScript.
My time at Zebralightning was a productive one, playing a major role in the production of three major titles, as well as large contributions to two preexisting ones (see the Games page for more information). There were also many minor projects I contributed to as well. Alas, in late 2014 all the games were taken off of Google Play (and later iTunes), and the company was dissolved soon after.
However, a few of the developers continued working together, and in February of 2016 a new company was formed, called Leveled Games. We went on to republish one of the existing ZebraLightning projects on Steam and the Xbox One.
Bolder Games, LLC
In June of 2014, at the Denver Comic Con, I met the Bolder Games folks at their booth. I let them know I'd be interested in working with them on projects using Unity3D. They were very receptive and friendly, and I worked with them on and off for several years. I still chat with them from time to time.
Many of the projects I've worked on with Bolder Games have been contracts for larger studios, including Microsoft, Sony and Disney. I have also contributed to a couple of their original games, including Star Balls (née Astro Golf) and RoboShark Rampage.
Backflip Studios
From July through November of 2015 I worked at Backflip Studios, a studio in Boulder, Colorado well known for its Dragonvale game. My tasks while working there were primarily implementing gameplay features and fixing bugs on their in-progress "Dragonvale World" project. The game was essentially a sequel to Dragonvale, primarily data-driven and built on the Unity engine.
Deck Nine Games
Starting in August 2018 until May 2023 I had the privilege of working with the folks at Deck Nine Games. Originally known as Idol Minds, they recently rebranded themselves as Deck Nine, wishing to build a new identity for themselves as a developer of narrative-driven adventure games. I was brought on board to finish the last remaining tasks on Life is Strange: Before the Storm for Android and iOS. After that, I also worked on Life Is Strange: True Colors and the Life Is Strange Remastered collection.