Associate Producer

DnD Class: Druid

Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw

Pokemon Go Team: Mystic

Empire or Rebellion: Rebellion

Turtle: Donatello

When did you first get started in games and how?
My experience started when I was really young – maybe 3 or 4 – and I would always watch my brother play games on his Nintendo or Super Nintendo. As I got a little bit older, I always went up to him asking to “play games together”, which meant him playing games and I watched him play. You could say I’ve been enjoying Let’s Play content even before the Internet. Progressively, this dynamic has shifted as I started to play newer games in the same room as my brother and he started to watch me play instead.

What has been your favorite project to work on?
My favourite project to work on has been Desert Child, though probably because it was the only project I’ve worked on so far – that has been announced. 😉 I got involved in it towards the tail end of the campaign, but it was really interesting to learn about all the work that went into it and see it come to life. As I continue my work at Akupara Games, I look forward to seeing what new projects lie ahead and the ones I feel extremely passionate about.

Where do you draw inspiration from?
I draw inspiration from reality, my life, and life in general. I think it’s very easy to get stuck in the monotony of life and not be able to see the greater designs that are front and center, each and every day. But also, there is something to be said in its simultaneous simplicity. I believe that’s why some indie games are so special; they take snippets of aspects that are so real and relatable and portray them in ways for people to understand it differently.

What is your favorite video game or series?
Definitely a tough one, but I would say the Persona series has really shot up in my top list of games over the years. I think the games are incredibly stylish, but they’re not using that to hide poor storytelling, bad design, or throwaway characters. If they stripped it down and just told the stories of human life and their fallacies, these games would still be incredibly impacting in the messages being conveyed. Plus, who doesn’t love reminders from a game that you too can be better friends with people or do better in school by just investing time?

What is your favorite tabletop game?
Pokemon Sorry. It was my first board game that I ever owned. My brother and sister bought it for me as a present, played with me once, and never again. I ended up playing the game by myself at times since I enjoyed it so much. More recently, I’ve really loved the Resident Evil Deck Building Game. I love that it’s self-contained and the fact that it is competitive, but not antagonistic towards the other players. Plus, I love that there’s many different strategies to approach the game based on which Resident Evil character you end up playing as.

If Akupara could partner with any person, who would you want to work with?
I would want to work with MatPat of Game Theory. He’s an interesting dude with a mind that’s just always on the go. Having watched his content and see where he pokes holes into current and relevant games, I’m curious to see the kind of content he would provide. I would absolutely love to see people looking into his game and write their own theories.

What is your proudest accomplishment with Akupara?
Being fairly new to Akupara, I can really only say my proudest accomplishment is having the opportunity to work on games, considering the big impact it has had on my life and outlook. I’ve been learning a lot in the way of skills I’ve never had to touch before, but I know they are going to be helpful wherever I go in the future.