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May FableFriday: Erik Laats, Junior Developer

Erik's Headshot

Erik Laats’ keen eye for design and game-building background provide him with the perfect combination of skills to develop FableVision’s projects. After working for a startup in Boston and an advertising agency across the globe in Sydney, he came back to the east coast with revived gusto to pursue his passion of creating games and interactives. Erik approaches his projects with accessibility in mind, to ensure that all users have a fun experience. 

“Everyone has a unique perspective, and I love designing and developing to accommodate ranging technical backgrounds, generational differences, and cognitive and physical disabilities,” says Erik. “The best designed experiences are ones that transcend these divisions.”

Read on to learn more about Erik’s typical day as a junior developer, his TikTok-famous pet, and his range of active and calming hobbies.

Erik Sydney

What’s your “journey to FableVision” story?
I have long been interested in animation and illustration and I was immediately drawn to FableVision’s clear affinity for beautiful, hand-drawn artwork during my senior year at UC Davis. Digging deeper, I was thrilled to find the company primarily built games and interactives with an educational bent – another interest of mine.

After a few months of email badgering, former Technical Director Brian Grossman agreed to speak with me. While I had an interest in developing games and websites, my experience was primarily in design, so FableVision decided to go with Nathan Wentworth, and I was left to continue my job search.

With a little luck, I found myself as the designer in a tiny software startup (then SYRG, now HourWork) in Boston. At such a small company, I had plenty of opportunities to help the developer team, so I pitched in whenever I could. Between these moments and a few personal game projects, I grew my confidence in technical work.

In 2019, my partner and I moved to Australia, and I found a position as a “creative technologist” at a trendy advertising agency in Sydney. It was the perfect hybrid of technical and creative work, providing me with a great chance to expand my technical abilities with my design background.

Upon returning to the United States once the pandemic began, Brian put me in touch with Jordan Bach, our current technical director, who was looking for new freelancers. After freelancing for about six months, I joined FableVision as a full-time junior developer!

What’s a typical day like for a junior developer?
I like to start the day by taking the cat for a walk and doing The Mini Crossword. Once that’s taken care of, I’ll dive right in on my current project. I am usually scheduled for one or two projects over the course of a week, so I’ll spend my morning crunching through new features or handling thoughtful client feedback.

Most days are broken up by a few client meetings, which are a nice break from the code editor. I’ll work closely with the producer or other team members to make a development plan to accommodate client requests. In the quiet moments, I like to investigate new technologies and fiddle with prototypes. If I can, I try to sneak any interesting things I’ve learned into current projects.

How does your experience in design help you create projects at FableVision?
Design and development form a symbiotic circle – one cannot exist without the other. While designing, it is useful to consider the limitations of the technology you’ll be using so you can make informed decisions. Conversely, when developing based on a design, it’s common to stumble across an edge case or some design question that wasn’t caught in the design phase. I do my best to solve these problems on my own, keep the development moving forward, and ensure the project stays on track.

Screenshot from Michael’s Flowers, a game created by Erik.

How have you approached accessibility in games and why is doing so important?
While technical accessibility – which includes things like screen reader and keyboard usability – is super important, I am also interested in exploring accessibility in a broader sense. Is this generally easy to use? Is it easy to find? Will someone with no prior knowledge be able to enjoy and understand this? I try to keep different perspectives in mind to create the most effective experiences.

What have been some of your favorite FableVision projects?
I loved working on Keenville, created in partnership with the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) and Georgia Center for Assessment, because it was exciting to be on a team with developers for a large, technical project. Keenville closely embodies why I was drawn to FableVision – beyond the technical challenge, it strives to build its own imaginative universe, complete with a comprehensive world, dozens of games, and a sense of agency. I would love to see this package expand.

I also like the GASHA GO! World games from Georgia Public Broadcasting. I worked on Claw Control, which was a perfectly sized project that allowed me to take ownership of it. The huge emphasis on art and creative design led to clever interfaces that joined them together successfully in the program.

What do you hope to work on in the future at the studio?
I would love to work on a larger-scale, narrative-driven Unity game, with an emphasis on storytelling and relevant player decisions. I find these types of games very compelling, and I enjoy the challenge of building a game that accounts for player agency. These are fun to create from both a development and design perspective, especially if the game needs to be educational, too. The last FableVision project like this that comes to mind is Wanderlight.

You enjoy creating your own games and comics! What’s a side project you’re currently working on and from where do you draw your inspiration?
In my college days, one of my biggest hobbies was playing Super Smash Bros. Melee competitively. My school had a big tournament scene and people met weekly to host brackets, watch events, and hang out. It was amazing to be a part of a passionate community and inspiring to see the positive effect an old video game could have on people. While I still play for fun and go to the occasional tournament, Melee is more on the back burner these days. It will always be important to me and a foundational part of why I love making games. 

Recently, I've been drawing inspiration from my cat, Winston. He’s so ridiculous that it’s hard not to imagine him as a silly protagonist in a comic or a game. Since he loves cinnamon, in my latest project, players use their fingers to draw lines of cinnamon in the sky. Winston follows those lines on a skateboard and the goal is to reunite him with his three best friends – cow, ham bone, and donut (his favorite toys). It’s a prototype right now, but someday I hope to finish it. A while back, I made an idle game where Winston fishes and then stops to play his Nintendo Switch. The player has to tell him to fish again.

As a present for my partner, I wrote a dozen or so comics about Winston. They depict some key moments, including his adoption, our daily interactions, and when he gets too hot.

Speaking of Winston – tell us more about him!
When we adopted him from a shelter in 2020, he was a skinny and scrawny 6-month-old kitten with a biting problem. He’s since filled out nicely into a full-grown adult menace! Like all cats, he’s got some quirks, and my partner built a big following on TikTok around his love for cinnamon. I don’t want to out Winston, but he’ll snuggle anything… although cinnamon is definitely his favorite! 

He’s not the brightest bulb, but he loves to play and go on walks and nature hikes. It’s hard to get him out of the door sometimes, but he’s great at coming home to the food – he’ll run all the way back with his ears down. 

What are some of your hobbies?
When I started working, I took up rock climbing to combat sitting in an office. It’s fun to risk life and limb, jumping from rock to rock, feeling alive! I’m unable to think about anything else at that time, so I have no choice but to stop worrying and being stressed out. It’s a fun escape.

Since the pandemic, I’ve also started paying more attention to birds. While birding may have a lame reputation, it’s a useful way to stay present. No matter where you are, you can step outside and listen to the birds. I’ve slowly learned how different birds look and sound, and it is so satisfying when something flies by that you recognize. 

More About Erik

Bird

A picture of a cardinal taken by Erik.

Favorite game? Super Smash Bros. Melee – I’ve been playing it since I was six. A close second would be Undertale. 

Favorite Pokémon? That’s tough. The child in me says Lugia, but I also like Surskit, he’s a cutie.

Favorite bird? The green heron. They don’t look like your typical herons – they’re still hunters, they hide in the weeds, and wait for hours. It’s my goal this summer to get a nice picture of one.

An Erik fun fact that most people don’t know? When I was 10 years old, I jumped off the swing and “obliterated both of my arms at once,” as my doctor said. That was a defining moment for me and it took me about a year to recover. I had to serve spaghetti at a school fundraiser with my two enormous casts.

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February FableFriday: Laura Evans, Director of Education, Georgia Public Broadcasting

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Laura Evans is no stranger to the world of education. With a well-rounded background in journalism and classroom teaching experience, she brings unique perspective to her work as Director of Education at Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB), Georgia’s digital media content provider for the classroom. GPB offers locally produced, Georgia-specific content and digital streaming services across all subject areas to teachers and students. GPB recently teamed up with FableVision Studios to develop Georgia Race Through Time and GASHA GO!, two interactive games that strike the right balance between educational content and entertainment, embodying Laura’s belief in the power and potential of game-based learning.

“I think game-based learning is effective because it makes learning fun. We cannot underestimate the power of fun, especially with young learners,” Laura shares. “Students today are digital natives and are extremely comfortable in this environment; it’s the ‘language’ they speak. We are seeing that the more traditional approaches to learning are no longer working and game-based learning allows for a more individualized, student-centered approach that meets all students where they are.”

Join us in learning more about Laura’s educational philosophies, her creative collaborations with FableVision Studios, and her vision for the future of GPB Education – as well as her recommendations for your next movie night!

As a former educator of 11 years, your passion for education enables you to bring a teacher’s perspective to the development and implementation of GPB’s educational resources. How does your time in front of the classroom enrich and inform your work? 
The time I spent in the classroom gives me better insight into what works and what does not work from an implementation standpoint. Sometimes, education resources are created without seeing them through the lens of a teacher and that can be counterproductive. When we approach new projects, I always try to put my teacher hat on and think about practicality and usefulness.

To bring history to life, GPB and FableVision created Georgia Race Through Time, a new history adventure game for 8th grade students. What inspired the making of this game featuring the time-travelling, antique-collecting Savannah and her trusty sidekick, Peaches? 
Since this game is aligned to Georgia standards, we knew it would be heavy on content. However, we also wanted to make sure it was fun and engaging for students. We collaborated with FableVision to come up with a great storyline and characters that would help students connect to the game. We also wanted to capture elements of Georgia, which influenced the names of the characters, Savannah and Peaches. Savannah is, of course, a city in Georgia, and the peach is Georgia’s official state fruit.

Math just got a new musical makeover! GPB recently released a new suite of games and activities to teach number sense, numeracy, and literacy to children in grades K-3. Tell us about GASHA GO! and what this game aims to accomplish.
We continue to hear from Georgia teachers that foundational math skills are critical for kids’ success in school later on. If young learners do not start off with a good understanding of numbers and their relationships to one another, they have difficulty when they get to more abstract mathematical concepts. GASHA GO! is designed for kids in kindergarten through third grade and was developed with input from Georgia elementary math teachers. It helps children build those foundational numeracy skills through fun math challenges and engaging characters.

What has your experience been like working with the FableVision team?
Working with the FableVision team has been such a positive, creative experience for us. We knew they had a reputation as a leader in game-based learning, but we didn’t quite know what to expect when we started our first project (Georgia Race Through Time). After our first “FabLab”—FableVision’s creative brainstorming / kickoff meeting—we knew we had picked the right partner based on the level of professionalism and energy with which they approached our project. They have helped us develop two great educational games, Georgia Race Through Time and GASHA GO!, from the beginning to the final touches. We look forward to working with them again soon.

Word on the street is that GPB and FableVision are taking a special trip to Austin, Texas this March. What's the occasion? 
Yes, our trip to SXSW EDU is coming up soon. We were selected from thousands of applicants to host a panel along with the team from FableVision. Our session is called Immersive Learning: Teaching History through GBL and we will share our process for creating a story-rich, standards-based game that positively impacts middle school students’ learning. As a public broadcasting station, we are constantly looking for ways to engage the adolescent audience, which sometimes dwindles when they grow out of kids’ programming. By specifically targeting this age group with our digital resources, we keep them interacting with our GPB brand.

Your team is always cooking up new tools! What's next for GPB Education? 
We are always looking for ways to innovate in the digital learning space. In addition to working on several new virtual field trips to different locations in Georgia, we are also working on our next Live Exploration. Live Explorations bring exciting locations to life via live streaming, stunning footage, field experts, live interactions, and supplemental resources. We had great success with our first trip to Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary—we had over 45,000 students and teachers watch and interact live.  This time we are working to bring the Okefenokee Swamp live to classrooms across Georgia (and the nation). We also continue to have great success with our new digital series, Things Explained. Our next episode will examine the mathematics of the Winter Olympics.

As a self-professed film, television, and literature geek, please share:

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Catch GPB and FableVision at SXSW EDU! 

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Immersive Learning: Teaching History through GBL
When: March 5 at 12:30 p.m.
Where: Room 17B, Austin Convention Center
Public broadcasting stations are positioned to connect and engage educators, students, and families. However, there's a significant decline in viewership among adolescents. Media developers and educators pioneered a game-based learning tool that tackles subject matter difficulty with Georgia Race Through Time, a supplemental history game. See how education experts addressed the challenges of producing a story-enriched, standards-based game to positively impact middle school students' learning. Register to attend!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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April FableFriday: Christopher Spivey, Director of Production at Classroom, Inc.

Game-based learning: for Classroom, Inc. it’s more than a buzzword or trending topic on Twitter—it’s a mission worth believing in. Based in New York but with national reach, Classroom, Inc. is a nonprofit that helps students in high-needs communities develop literacy and leadership skills. They’re gearing up for their 25th anniversary celebration, and for the past four and a half years Christopher Spivey has led Classroom, Inc.’s game development efforts as Director of Production. He works every day with a talented team dedicated to improving the lives of students.

FableVision and Classroom, Inc. have collaborated on award-winning literacy games for the classroom, After the Storm and Community in Crisis. From day one, it was a mission-match.

“The core pillars of Classroom, Inc.’s mission are literacy and leadership so that students have the opportunity to connect school to career, because when students make this connection they begin to understand how success in school sets them up for success in life,” shares Christopher. “We create digital learning games and curriculum set in the professional world that foster students’ literacy and leadership skills and connect what they do in school to life in the workplace.”

Spend some time with Christopher, and it’s clear he embodies the passion and mission resident in Classroom, Inc. both in and outside the company. Hear about his empowering approach to pedagogy, instilling life skills through game play and development, and his globetrotting adventures through Europe—from the fortresses of Granada to the rolling streets of Lisbon.

"It’s important to note that we don’t try to trick the students into learning by hiding the learning objectives. Rather, we give the student agency and autonomy to control their own learning experience and in doing so we see a profound increase in engagement."

How do Classroom, Inc.’s guiding principles stand out as distinctive? How is that reflected in how you approach your work?
Our learning environments are based on our commitment to an immersion-based pedagogical model. We have the belief that hands-on project-based learning enhances students’ skills and prepares them for the workplace. We also believe that when students are given meaningful tasks with realistic consequences they are proud to own their learning.

Those principles carry through all of our work, we immerse students in all aspects of management, decision-making, and office policies. We empower them to “Be The Boss,” and to think critically and make decisions that influence the story portions of the game.

Classroom, Inc.’s learning games are used in school, extended day, after school, and summer school environments. How do you think gaming improves the way that students are learning in classrooms and informal learning settings?  
Game-based learning addresses engagement in a really elegant way, as engagement is probably the most difficult challenge that young struggling readers face. When a book is placed in the hands of a struggling reader the response is very different than when they are presented with agency and choice within an interactive experience, something which games are particularly great at doing! Our games engage the student, and while we have their attention and focus we address literacy and career-awareness simultaneously.

FableVision's Gary Goldberger and Classroom, Inc.'s Anne Richards at the After the Storm launch party in New York City.

How did Classroom, Inc. come to cross paths with FableVision’s?
That credit goes to our former VP of Product Development, the incredible Anne Richards. Four years ago when we were looking for a developer to help us create the particular type of experience we needed we looked at a lot of studios. FableVision’s motto “stories that matter, stories that move” really hooked us, because at the core of our games are stories. FableVision’s focus on storytelling and their long history of crafting beautiful experiences for kids made them the perfect partner to help us bring our stories to life.

What has your experience been like working with FableVision on After the Storm and Community in Crisis?
It’s been an incredible experience! Honestly we could not have hoped to have a better partner than FableVision. Games are an art form, and they should be seen as such by the teams who make them. All you need to do is look at FableVision’s portfolio to see that they know that better than anyone.

But more than just having an incredible aesthetic, a learning game has the additional challenge of efficacy. The game needs be easy to use, technically stable, and easy to support and maintain, then on top of all that a learning game also has to reinforce the learning outcomes. Those are tough challenges to solve, and FableVision has been there to help us to successfully navigate them every step of the way.

After the Storm and Community in Crisis put students in a rare decision-making role. Why is this leadership role so important, and how is it seamlessly tied to the literacy content?
We want students to have a first-hand experience as leaders in a professional environment. To tie the literacy content to leadership, we tap into one of the oldest learning modalities—that human beings learn through story. We do that by creating a narrative that immerses the student in the role of “the boss” such as the editor-in-chief of an online news magazine or the executive director of a community organization. In each game the students see themselves as in control and as a leader responsible for negotiating real-world challenges, and because these activities are created in the format of interactive fiction they are applying literacy skills in a way that doesn’t feel like a normal reading lesson. It’s important to note that we don’t try to trick the students into learning by hiding the learning objectives. Rather, we give the student agency and autonomy to control their own learning experience and in doing so we see a profound increase in engagement.

"Our students live in the real world and they and their families face real world challenges every day that are reflected in our games, and kids really respond positively to that kind of authenticity."

Classroom, Inc. provides resources for educators to empower students to take charge of their learning. What changes or reactions have you seen from students and educators since using the Read to Lead suite of games?
Visiting a classroom that’s using one of our games is always a treat. Seeing the kids’ responses when they play our games is rewarding and inspiring. I’m encouraged each time I see these young struggling readers lean close to the computer screen, parsing out the words of a piece of dialogue between their character and a virtual co-worker in order to consider and choose a response that they feel will best move the story forward.

For most of these kids, reading is a challenging, a sometimes embarrassing activity but when you put reading in context of an activity that kids want to pursue that’s when magic can happen and you see non-readers get excited about reading.

What are you currently working on that you’re excited about?
This summer we’re going to launch our third game made in partnership with FableVision. It’s called Vital Signs and focuses on health care. The game places the player into the role of a Medical Director of a community health clinic. They’ll encounter challenges such as patient care decisions as well as operational questions about how to keep the clinic running smoothly.

"FableVision’s focus on storytelling and their long history of crafting beautiful experiences for kids made them the perfect partner to help us bring our stories to life."

For instance, in one situation a student might need to decide whether or not the clinic should accept patients who do not have health insurance but have urgent medical needs. This would require them to speak to a needy patient about possible choices for their care, consult with their administrative director on risks to treating the uninsured, review clinic budget guidelines, and then determine what the clinic’s policy should be.

Classroom, Inc. has never shied away from representing the real world in our games in an age-appropriate way. Our students live in the real world and they and their families face real world challenges every day that are reflected in our games, and kids really respond positively to that kind of authenticity.

You were a mentor for the International Game Developers Association (IGDA), helping expand the global community of game developers. Can you tell us a little about that work?
I’ve been a member of the IGDA for almost 10 years now. When I noticed a call for mentors I jumped at the chance to give back. I most recently participated at the IGDA Mentor Café at GaymerX last fall, which is an annual LGBTQ-focused gaming convention. I was able to sit down with aspiring artists, designers, programmers, and producers about their interests in joining the game industry.

I’ve been in the game industry for over a decade and as I listened to their questions I reflected upon my own experience to offer support, advice, and encouragement. I spoke about my career as a game developer, and I spoke about my experience of being gay in the game industry. I’ve been in the industry for so long at this point that it’s difficult to recall the trepidation and anxiety I had about how I might be accepted and received when I first started my career in games. I wanted to take the opportunity to share what I’ve learned with these aspiring young developers who are just starting their own journey into games.

We hear you take an international trip every New Year – what an adventure! Where would you recommend for someone who has three days to travel? How about seven days? How about ten?
There’s a running joke in our office that if there’s a long weekend coming up, I’m headed out of the country. For the past five years, a small group of friends and I choose a city in Europe to meet in for ringing in the New Year. This year it was Venice, and in previous years it’s included Berlin, Vienna, and Madrid. Here are my recommendations:

  • Three days: Lisbon – Walk up and down the rolling streets, ride the cable cars, and enjoy views of a red suspension bridge that stretches across the bay all while reminding yourself you didn’t take a wrong turn to end up in San Francisco. Also don’t miss the opportunity to visit a Fado café while the staff serenades you with their mournful tunes, and take a day trip out to Sintra to see the summer palace of the Royal Family.
  • Seven days: Madrid – Spend three days in Madrid exploring the city and eating your bodyweight worth of tapas, then take one day and a bullet train to see an ancient city set on a hill, Toledo. And for the remaining days travel south to Granada and wander the grounds of the grandest palace and fortress of the Moorish monarchs, the Alhambra.
  • Ten days: Rome – The Eternal City demands a week at a minimum. See masterworks of art and architecture in galleries and museums as well as in tiny churches tucked away down quiet streets. Eat every meal in this city like it’s your last meal. Walk the cobblestones of a city that the Romans thought would go on forever.

Christopher Spivey leads the development teams and game production efforts for Classroom, Inc.’s online products and services. He is a producer and designer for innovative and accessible games and services for the web and mobile. Prior to joining Classroom, Inc., Christopher led production efforts for Callaway Digital Arts, social games developer Zynga, as well as Area/Code Entertainment and Large Animal Games. Learn more about Classroom, Inc. and the work they do on their website.

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