Game Informer, Oregon Trail, GLITCH Gaming. Minnesota is home to some serious talent and major organizations when it comes to game design. But even with these resources Minnesota still struggles with one thing — retaining talent. How do we keep young designers engaged, and more importantly, here?

Meet Charles McGregor. Independent game developer at Tribe Games. Junior at the University of Minnesota Duluth. He also designed the rad game at the end of our newest feature (play it now!). We turned to Charles to hear his thoughts on video game design and what it will take to keep people like him here.

INTERVIEW: CHARLES McGREGOR

Let’s keep him here. 

Pollen: Do you think you will stay in Minnesota after you graduate college? 

Charles McGregor: Currently I am of two mindsets: following wherever the opportunities lie or staying to build an independent video game company. I have started laying the foundation for both paths through my indie studio, Tribe Games. I’m using it to build up my portfolio and experience as well as putting out some solid games to help build Tribe Games as a brand. I know that most video game opportunities tend to happen outside of Minnesota, but people such as Evva and her organization Glitch Gaming are helping foster a community here, so I am not opposed to staying.

CM: You find quite a few game studios on the coasts, such as in Seattle or New York City. But it’s becoming easier to be anywhere in the world and work with people all over the world on projects.

CM: Starting up a company, more than likely out of Tribe Games. But if there are opportunities at other game companies, I would definitely consider staying.

CM: I love that I am able to blend my three most prominent passions together: games, art, and music. All of these things helped define me and shape my life. Video games are one of the best ways to mix those three things together. I’m able to create experiences and worlds that others can inhabit and interact with, and fully express myself. That in itself is exciting. Recently after releasing my first game, “Glitch in the System,” I was able to show it off to fair-goers at the Minnesota State Fair. Showing my game to people directly and seeing their reactions is worth all of the hard work, especially when it sparks a flame in them to strive to achieve their goals and fulfill their passions. It is indescribable how humbling that feels.

CM: From a demographic standpoint, I would love to see more women and minorities represented fairly in both video games and in the workplace. Recently I was inspired to come up with five black characters who weren’t stereotypical. I found it extremely difficult to come up with three off the top of my head. If feel like that needs to change and it’s sad to think about. Same goes for the workplace; I can count on my hands the number of black individuals who work in the video game industry.

 

From a “indie developer” perspective, I’d like to see the negative stigma indie developers get when they are brought into the conversation go away. When people saying things such as, “… for an indie game” or “I don’t play indie games,” it’s frustrating. Both perspectives are slowly changing, but I hope it comes sooner rather than later.

CM: If you’ve never played a game in your life, try playing “Idle games,” or games where you can just leave the game running without you actively needing to play. When you become comfortable with the basic concepts of those games try branching out to other games like puzzle games or small mobile games. Remember play games that look interesting to you, and enjoy yourself.

CM: Every time this question is brought up I always fail to give a title of a game. I believe that’s because I hold video games so close to my heart that I can’t just choose a favorite game outright (I am sentimental in that way, among others).

CM: Studying art helps me approach development and ideas from both a mechanics driven side and an artistic side. I can appreciate both styles of development and feel I can adapt and change how I look at things when coming up with designs and concepts. Not only that, but being able to communicate through almost all aspects of video games is a huge benefit. I can talk with programmers as well as character artists and musicians, and help relay their vision of the game to the rest of the team. And if someone needs a hand, I can help out as well!

CM: Glitch Gaming represents the Twin Cities video game community to me. It introduced me to various events, people, and organizations. Not only that, but it helps immensely when it comes to finding opportunities — from showing off my game to finding contract work. I’ve also found some of my best friends through their events. I can’t thank them enough for all of the support over the years.

 

…Now if we were talking about Glitch in the System, that is a different story…