Cosmic Misfit Studio was revealed to the world on April 8, 2014, now over 10 years ago! Let’s take a trip down memory lane to revisit some inspirations that led to the formation of Cosmic Misfit Studio. I’ve dug deep and found 10 games, teams, and particular individuals in the video game industry. Some are from deep in the past and others are recent influences, even ongoing friendships.
The Beginning: The 1980’s
1. Galaga & Video Arcades
For me, this is the beginning. Video arcades have taken over the world and little Drew finds them all dazzling and delightful. Each delivers fun lights, sounds, and action. While all the girls of the time seem to just want to have fun, this kid just wants quarters for every game cabinet he can find.
Namco, the same company that infected the world with Pac-Man fever, had released the space shooter Galaga in 1981. Midway quickly brought it to arcades in my corner of the globe. I enjoyed endless rounds of this popular classic as a child, thanks to a cabinet that was set to “free play” mode, and this early memory was a key influence on the game REVO that Cosmic Misfit Studio released precisely 40 years later.
Click above to watch a sample of Galaga gameplay from 1981. Click below for a look back into the golden age of video arcades and the origin story of Galaga.
2. Mario & Zelda & Nintendo
Huddled around a brand new NES just a couple doors down from my grandparent’s house with a few kids from the neighborhood, I witnessed a little dude named Mario run and jump under a sparsely clouded blue sky and then step through a big green pipe that led into the darkness of the underground. In that moment, I was immediately ready for whatever adventures this home video game stuff has to offer. Soon after, I am handed a virtual sword, an actual folded paper map, and sent on my way across the land of Hyrule to slay monsters and conquer dungeons. Is there no end to the worlds I can explore?
Nintendo’s game designers/directors Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka, and music composer Koji Kondo, collaborated in the mid eighties to produce these worlds for me to explore in Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda games. They began on the NES and kept it up for the Game Boy, Super Nintendo, and beyond. Modern examples like Zelda: Breath Of The Wild and Super Mario Wonder continue to lose me in their action, adventure, aesthetic, and atmosphere.
Click above to watch samples of Mario and Zelda gameplay from the mid 80’s. Click below for a look back into the intertwined origin stories of Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda. The first 30 minutes are a history while the remaining is a deep analysis of the Zelda game design.
▶️ Watch some Super Mario Bros. (1985)
▶️ Watch some The Legend of Zelda (1986)
▶️ Detailed history of Mario & Zelda
Beyond The Horizon: The 1990’s
3. Wing Commander & Star Citizen
Wing Commander III: Heart of the Tiger (1994) burned up countless hours for me on the PC in the mid nineties as I would dog fight in spaceships and defend humanity against aggressive aliens that looked like big, fluffy kitty cats (which, yes, definitely seemed weird at first but I clearly got used to it). Series creator Chris Roberts, now infamous for his ambitious new project Star Citizen, still finds a way to draw me in with his grand visions for space adventures.
Outer space has always been a wonder to me and floating within that void from a tiny fighter ship became so much more immersive as games went 3D. While I still love the classic top down view of Galaga and others, and I also appreciate Nintendo’s Star Fox series that gives you a down range cooridor perspective, it is a very different and special experience to have a fully realized infinite space in all directions from a first person point of view.
I think Wing Commander helped solidify my love for outer space, but Star Citizen, even while still many years away from being completed, is reaching an even deeper desire inside me for the adventure of exploring other worlds around alien stars.
Click above to watch a sample of Wing Commander III gameplay from 1994 and a brief look back into the history of the series. Click below for a quick run down of the upcoming Star Citizen, plus take a leisurely stroll through the StarEngine technology that makes such an ambitious game possible.
▶️ What is Star Citizen? (Dec 2024 Edition)
▶️ Star Citizen’s StarEngine Technology
4. Myst & Riven & Cyan
Rand and Robyn Miller’s series of Myst games instantly intrigued me from store shelves back in 1993, but it wasn’t until I finally got my hands on 1997’s Riven: The Sequel To Myst that I was irrevocably transformed both creatively and as a fully engaged superfan of the series and of the people behind it. I went as far as to travel thousands of miles to participate in both the first and second Myst Con, which was life changing and motivating all on its own.
Important to highlight is the magical atmosphere and world building that can be attributed to a few key individuals. Firstly, Robyn Miller’s soundtrack for Riven, which glued the whole experience together, still transports me back to those serene islands and Ages. Extra special magic, however, was achieved in that second game thanks to Director Richard Vander Wende, whose vision and push for an intense level of lived-in detail, coupled with Richard Watson’s thoughtfully crafted D’ni language, elevated the series forever. Gladly, the Riven 2024, VR-ready remake, now 27 years later, was once again under the direction of this dream team of creative visionaries, namely both Millers and both Richards.
Ever since my Myst series fandom set in, I was fully determined to be a video game world builder using whatever tools and techniques I could get ahold of. I have always envisioned building a game studio much like Cyan. To this day, I feel a deep, emotional tug every time I get a peek behind the scenes of any game studio. My time visiting their headquarters in Spokane and meeting various directors, producers, programmers, and artists is a priceless treasure.
Click above to watch samples of Myst and Riven gameplay along with a little commentary from those who played them for the first time in recent years. Click below for a behind the scenes look at the makings of both Myst and Riven.
The Dark Ages: circa 2005 – 2012
It is at this point, I should mention my personal dark ages of video games, when I found myself preoccupied with other creative avenues as the world of games passed me by. While I played a ton of Halo: Combat Evolved and Tekken Tag with friends, and enjoyed much of the original Fable and the Splinter Cell series, my Xbox suddenly died on me around 2005. This is when the notion of making games and investing heavily into playing new titles faded into the background. I still dabbled in 80’s and 90’s Nintendo and finally discovered classic Atari, but then the year 2013 rolled around and I returned to this old love for new games with a vengeance.
The Renaissance: 2013
5. Skyrim & Todd Howard
Skyrim is the fifth title in the deep and expansive Elder Scrolls series. I was a little late to the party: Skyrim released in 2011, and I finally jumped in exactly two years later but was instantly hooked. It delightfully consumed literally hundreds of hours of my life starting in 2013 as I took on the role of a wandering viking in a land of giants, dragons, and magic. Its rich atmosphere remains quite alluring for me even more than a decade later. I’m far from alone in my enchantment with this game as well as in my appreciation for one of the minds behind it. Clearly, this studio struck a perfect tone at a perfect time.
It would be misleading to pin full credit to a single individual for all the creativity or success of a project upon which hundreds of people collaborated for years, but there is a reality that someone ultimately glues that team together creatively, technically, and on a schedule. In this case, I’d like to highlight Bethesda Game Studios’ now executive producer Todd Howard who directed Skyrim.
Click below for a quick recap of director/producer Todd Howard’s career in games as well as an atmospheric showcase of what the rich and beautiful fantasy world of Skyrim feels like in enhanced 4K.
My reflection would be incomplete to exclude music composer Jeremy Soule as a significant reason for the deep emotional tie I feel with that world and my own personal pilgrimage through it. The music and atmosphere are spellbinding.
When I learn about the people and place that comprises Bethesda Game Studios, I’m inspired once again by what appears to be a wonderful place to work and an ambitious model for the kind of creative space I might one day carve out for Cosmic Misfit Studio should the stars so align. There’s something magical about having a dedicated physical space and the idea of a team getting paid to do what they love most.
Click below for a guided tour of Bethesda Game Studios just prior to the release of Skyrim, as well as the 10th anniversary concert performance of the game’s soundtrack by the London Symphony Orchestra and London Voices.
Now what has the team at Bethesda Game Studios done lately? They released Starfield, an action-adventure game that has you journey to new worlds across space. How did they know of my love for outer space and beautiful science fiction? It’s no Star Citizen, but it still works that inspirational magic.
6. Race The Sun & Flippfly
When I first encountered Flippfly, their studio was solely the two-man team of brothers Aaron and Forest. They welcomed me with open arms as I played their game, then I won their contest, and eventually I had the pleasure of working with them directly behind the scenes for nearly two and a half years. In some ways, they showed me the ropes.
Back in 2013, I beta tested their then upcoming title Race The Sun. This game is both a white-knuckle challenge and a zen-like experience. You blast at high speed in your solar powered craft on an endless glide toward the sunset of an abstract landscape that is littered with obstacles. To survive you must keep up with the sun and avoid crashing.
Their visual style is minimalist and atmospheric. The brothers both poured themselves into this game and the result was an artful and mesmerizing trip toward an otherworldly horizon. And if you’ve been keeping up, you’ll recall that this is not the first time a pair of brothers have inspired me with their imaginative work.
▶️ Race The Sun
When they held a level design contest, I created my own obstacle course for Race The Sun called DLV Fast Future. I gave it my own style and introduced some unique concepts only using the tools they made available to everyone. I won first place in that competition, got some cool prizes, and even appeared as a guest on one of their live streams.
A little while later in 2015, I was looking for work and they took me under their wing. They generously allowed me to get some hands on training in customer support, newsletters and social media, and even video production (see prototype videos below). These were all things I was already learning and interested in, especially since, by this time, I had started my own game studio and was in early stages of REVO development, but my time with them surely sharpened my skills and provided me with invaluable experience.
Now their studio has grown, changed, and grown again, and they’ve released a few more games along the way. They’ve even helped to publish games for other developers. Everyone can now get excited for their upcoming release of Whisker Squadron: Survivor, which is available now to play in early access.
▶️ Whisker Squadron: Survivor – Go wishlist on Steam!
Back To School: 2016
This is where a light bulb about game design finally clicked on for me and I put myself through an intense YouTube education on all aspects of the subject. In the years since, I’ve continued to absorb topics related to gameplay, software architecture, online marketing, and anything that helps a game studio tick. Certain new games also taught me a thing or two and I began to build a community of other solo game developers around me who to this day pull me forward.
7. DOOM & id Software
DOOM, both classic and modern, remains a definitive first person shooter series. Back in the nineties, I was thoroughly entertained simply looking over the shoulders of friends who played. When the series was rebooted in 2016 and I upgraded my PC to join in the fun, I was not disappointed. Not only did I discover some of the most engaging, chess-like combat I’ve ever played in my life, but my face was delightfully melted right off by its phenomenal, electronicly juiced heavy metal soundtrack. This game sets a high bar for action and style.
▶️ DOOM History & Remake Documentary Series (Recommended!)
▶️ DOOM (1993) Gameplay Sample
▶️ DOOM (2016) Launch Trailer
And it only gets wilder:
▶️ DOOM Eternal (2020) Launch Trailer
▶️ DOOM: The Dark Ages (Coming 2025) Teaser Trailer
Strength In Numbers: 2019
The number of talented people I have met has only grown, and that community of fellow creatives is ever more shoulder to shoulder and encouraging. Every time I see their projects, I’m motivated afresh into my own. And we’ve helped one other through game testing, technical support, and creative ideas. It has been a mutual win in all directions (but mostly for me). Here are a few more key players that have inspired me.
8. Why Kev? Here’s why…
Kevin Andersson strolled into my Twitch chat one day to catch me in the early stages of building my first big game project, REVO, live on stream. We were instantly friends from afar who could encourage one another’s similar pursuits. We’ve followed each other’s projects ever since and he inspires me to keep chasing the dream that started Cosmic Misfit Studio. Back then he had side projects and team built games he was a part of such as Cuberot and Alwa’s Awakening. Nowadays, he’s self publishing to PC and Nintendo Switch cute and clever games like TaniNani, Hoplegs, and the currently in production crafty collectathon PaperKlay, under the name of his one-man studio WhyKev.
▶️ Kevin live on Twitch
▶️ WhyKev Website
▶️ Alwa’s Awakening (2017)
▶️ TaniNani (2020)
▶️ PaperKlay (Coming 2025) – Go wishlist on Steam!
9. Cheese Time
Cheese, also known as Cheeseness or Valiant Cheese, is fellow game developer and friend from way Down Under, Josh Bush, who I first learned about while I was assisting Flippfly. He’s an ambassador of goodwill and effective contributor to video game literacy especially when it comes to the free or open source software paradigm and ecosystem. He’s been a great help and encouragement to me whenever I’ve faced game development challenges. His tireless work ethic, genius, and consistent artistry motivates me to take on challenging and often underappreciated tasks within my own projects for the good of all. You should take a look at his bee hive management simulator Hive Time, challenge yourself with the adorable Bat Egg, and prepare for his upcoming dig ’em up game Fossil Sweeper.
▶️ Cheese live on Twitch
▶️ Cheese’s Articles & Projects
▶️ Hive Time (2019)
▶️ Bat Egg (2021)
▶️ Fossil Sweeper (Coming Soon)
10. Cuddle Monster
Hannes Rahm of Cuddle Monster Games has been a huge inspiration to me since I first landed on his Twitch stream. Another fellow solo developer at the time, he has since enlisted his brother Alfred who is contributing amazing sound and music to their newest projects. When we first met, he was cranking out a tough jump and shoot game called Hell Is Other Demons which he soon released. After that, I enjoyed his cozy raft ride down a Pink River. Since then, however, he’s worked on many promising new games, including the now launched Lone Ruin, and his latest ball of hot pink accented chaos under development, Ocean Mirror. He’s hands down the fastest and most thoroughly skilled game developer I know and I am always in awe of his ability to instantly make something and make it awesome.
▶️ Cuddle Monster live on Twitch
▶️ Hell Is Other Demons (2019)
▶️ Pink River (2020 jam game)
▶️ Lone Ruin (2023)
▶️ Ocean Mirror (Coming Soon) – Go wishlist on Steam!
Conclusion
While the 10th year of Cosmic Misfit Studio doesn’t feature a big game release or represent the fulfilment of all the big dreams I’ve carried with me since my youth, it does stand as a significant mile marker in the continued pursuit of making games because I love to do it.
Thank you for walking down memory lane with me and I’ll see you again soon somewhere in the expansive gaming universe where we all love to play.
— Drew Van Camp
Cosmic Misfit Studio LLC
Explore Strange Neon Worlds™
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