Ryan has been a joy to work with.

He's the youngest on our team and he brought with him a deep desire to learn and a fiery passion to take action.

When I brought him on and we started work- I quickly realized I needed to figure out how to focus his energy. He wanted to do as much as he could, wherever he could.

The gap in experience and skillset was bridged by his unbridled ambition. I wasn't prepared to take on a volunteer who would be that dedicated to the project. In fact, I was worried I wouldn't be able to keep team members engaged at all. Ryan alleviated those worries. Then made me concerned I wouldn't be able to put enough on his plate. I firmly believe that's a good challenge to have.

He's actually the heart and soul of the project. All of the initial ideas came from him.

The rest of the team worked on refining his vision and ensuring what he talked about would come to life.

The bean, the blocks, the perspective. That's all him.

I tried my best to clumsily translate his thoughts onto our initial Game Design Document.   He was our initial Creative Director until I brought Heriam on to properly articulate and hone the ideas.

Together, we worked on our first Game Jam. A student and a 20-year operational leader. Both passionate for games and ready to learn as much as we could.

I asked him a couple of questions to figure out his mindset during the project:

[Why Game Development?]

Games is something I've always loved playing but the joy that comes from creating one is so much more rewarding, this is my first time doing a game jam and its been an incredible experience as it allows me to put all my skills and hobbies together and create something awesome.

[What did you learn from the project?]

I have learnt alot especially when it comes to starting a project, the way ive seen the team plan and collaborate has tought me so much and my skills in blender, unreal engine, aseprite and so on have all improved.

[What was it like volunteering your time in the middle of everything else you had to do?]

Currently I'm a year 12 student from Australia and i love anything design and art, now joining a game jam a few days before graduation isn't always the best idea but for me it couldn't have been a better end to my schooling career. i appreciate how much effort the rest of the team has also put in and its been an amazing entry to the world of game dev.

[Will you be participating in more Game Jams in the future?]

OFCOURSE!!! I cant wait to do more

[What's next for you?]

currently I'm about to go to UNI hopefully to do a bachelors in Architecture, but ill be doing game dev and a bunch of other hobbies along the side.