About

About Eight Arm Games; Or, How a Middle Aged Software Engineer Might Find Some Youthful Exhuberance

Eight Arm Games is a YouTube channel, Blog, and game design project where Isaac will try to finally achieve a lifetime goal of designing and building his own video games.

Over the years there have been several false starts; projects that got off the ground but died before completion. This time Isaac is going all-in. The design, art, programming, etc. will all be captured on video and uploaded to the YouTube channel. The blog will be updated regularly with new content.

About Isaac; Or, A Short Biography of our Hero

Isaac likes video games.

In first grade, his parents bought a Nintendo Entertainment System for his brothers and him. Isaac, by far, go the most use. Video games became a central theme of his young life. Isaac and his friend Robert would design platform-style games on huge sheets of newsprint. The designs included multiple levels that increased in difficulty, secret doors and passageways, and puzzles for players to solve.

Over the years video game consoles came and went. Designing games lost its appeal, but playing games never did. And Isaac burned a lot of hours playing games.

In seventh grade, Isaac’s family got their first home PC. Of course, he made good use of it. It was on that computer that he got a taste of programming. Isaac’s friend Ben knew C and C++ and had the Borland compiler on floppy disk. Together, they built a tool for solving puzzle chests in Betrayal at Krondor.

High school happened.

Then Isaac went to college. As video games were still a huge part of his life, Isaac remembered back to the fun he had making games. Isaac was an artistic kid, so it made sense that he would study in an artistic field. He decided to learn 3D Modeling and Animation. That would certainly get him into the industry.

Isaac flunked out … three times. Deciding that school wasn’t for him, he worked in various manufacturing and construction jobs for a few year. Eventually, he got back into school, this time in a different state of the union and a different state of mind.

In 2006, as a student in Graphic Design, Isaac taught himself web development in order to build a portfolio site to send to prospective employers. An internship was a requirement of his degree program, and graduation was on the line. Unfortunately, Isaac is a shitty graphic designer.

After months of contacting design studios and receiving zero replies, Tim, the owner of a small web development contractor called Isaac in for an interview. It was a normal interview, Tim asked Isaac several questions about design philosophy and career goals. At the end of the 45-minute process, Tim stated, matter-of-factly: “I’m not going to hire you as a designer.”

Thanks for the waste of time and gas, Tim …

But… If you want to come work for me as a programmer, I’d love to have you.

And, with those words, Isaac’s career as a software engineer began in a small office with only four employees. That career has carried Isaac, for more than 15 years, through multiple employers and industries. He’s worked on projects with budgets ranging from a tens of hundreds of dollars to tens of millions. He has followed great leaders and led teams of his own.

Now, after all these years, he is returning to his first goals: to design and build video games.

Isaac might be an octopus in a human suit.