JOHN STARDUCK: THE GAME

We are beyond excited having announced John Starduck: The Game, a new 2D platformer that I with zero exaggeration call the peak of my gamedev career. The game is at its early development stage and you can follow our journey on Johnstarduck-thegame.com
At this stage, we’re open to conversations with potential publishing partners or investors who share our enthusiasm for supporting unique ideas from the very beginning. We’re looking for collaboration that respects the creative vision while providing the resources to bring this project to its full potential. If you’re interested in joining us on this journey, we’d love to connect and explore what’s possible together.

And if you’d like to dive deeper, we’ve put together a Pitchduck—yes, you read that right. It’s our playful take on a pitch document (because, well, we couldn’t resist). The Pitchduck goes beyond what we can share here and offers a closer look at the project, our plans, and our goals. If your curiosity is piqued, that’s the perfect place to start quacking… I mean, asking questions.
Official Website

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As soon as we shipped Helskate and shut down Phantom Coast, I knew it's time. A new indie in the works! I personally am very, very excited about this one and cannot wait to share more about it as it evolves. Stay tuned and check NorseCode Games for updates!

HELSKATE

Helskate is a skateboarding action roguelite that is currently released on Steam Early Access. I worked on Helskate as the producer, manager and publisher. I built and managed the team, production, budget and timeline as well as marketing and publish on Steam. 

THE GAME

Helskate is a THPS-inspired skating game with a layer of fast-paced combat, in a roguelike structure set in an underworld of monsters and skating gods and titans. The game is currently in Early Access. This video is the early access release date trailer. I captured and edited this trailer, and helped with the vision for direction with my colleagues Sam (marketing) and Steve (game director).

THE TEAM

I was lucky to be able to assemble a dream team for this project. Trusted by Jordi, the founder and CEO, I managed to put together a team and together we produced Helskate. It started from the core team based in Amsterdam, to some of the best people I've known and always wanted to work with. At some point 24 people worked on this project, and I'm truly grateful that I get to work with these talented group.
This image is an early day concept by the game's concept artist, that includes a few members from the pre-production phase. The full list of all the incredible talent that worked on Helskate can be found in Phantom Coast games and the game's credits.

PRODUCTION

Pre-production started in January 2020. We spent 8 months on prototyping and building a pitch. We then as Phantom Coast partnered up with Kowloon Nights to bring Helskate to reality. My work as a producer includes:
  • Team development (hiring the core team members and most of the freelancers for this project)
  • Production management (roadmap, milestones, delivery, day-to-day operation, timing and budgeting)
  • Steam store management, producing the marketing assets and trailers and running marketing campaigns
  • Community management and feedback in-take, organizing playtesting sessions and analyzing playtesting data
  • QAing on a daily basis, recognizing the product's quality and status in different layers and from different aspects

MARKETING

I helped with the marketing of Helskate by contributing to:
  • Marketing asset production (trailers, posters, videos and promotional material)
  • Social media management (Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Discord)
  • Content Creator relations (establishing relationships with streamers)
  • Producing music for the ending trailer and tattooshop experience
  • Producing merch and running fun online events (giveaways, puzzles,..)
  • Submitting the game to the events (managed to get a spot in PAX and SxSw)
  • Working closely with a PR partner (Popagenda) pre and post release

THE ART

From the amazing character designs to the stylized 3D models done by the talented character artists, to the environment concept arts and procedural paradise of the levels all the way to the graffiti, UI and key arts. Coming from an art background myself, I find it a duty to put together all the amazing work of these artists and friends. I hope I've managed to do justice! 

CARDINAL LEGACY

Cardinal Legacy is a non-commercial tribute video game dedicated to celebrating the brilliant life and work of Iranian mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani. This math-based puzzle adventure invites players to solve intricate geometrical challenges that gradually unveil the story of each chapter through a beautifully crafted visual and musical experience. (Please check Cardinal-Legacy.com for updates!)

HAVOCADO

Havocado was a project I worked in 2018 and 2019. Havocado is a physics-based online multiplayer rag-doll fighting couch game that we producer together with the team as Webble Games. I was the game's producer and helped building the team, managing the production and operation as well as marketing and release.

LONA: REALM OF COLORS

Lona: Realm of Colors was an adventure point and click project I worked on with a group of friends that was successfully funded on Kickstarter by September 2017. For this project, I helped with:
  • Assembling the development team
  • Managing the Kickstarter page and running the campaign
  • Production for the first two years
  • Helping with design and direction