With his upbeat demeanor, signature smile, and twinkle in his eye when given the opportunity to build a new game, Junior Developer Owen Hey makes one thought come to mind – "O-wen will we learn more about him?" The answer is simple: right now.
FableVision scored a goal when the freelancer joined the company as a full-time staff member in July. His passion for games combined with his love of art, creativity, and overall aesthetics in programming help Owen build unique interactives that further FableVision’s mission in developing meaningful, educational projects.
“In college, studying both game design and computer science reaffirmed the feeling that I like the creative avenue of programming,” said Owen. “I understood the cybersecurity and low-level computing classes, but they didn't hold a candle to the cool games I was making.”
Owen brings not only his game development knowledge and desire to grow his coding skills, but also his positivity and ability to put everyone in a good mood, which brightens the studio. Read more to learn about Owen’s methods for finding the best feasible solution on a project, his original game Polygunners, his love of wizards, and the activity that brings him the most joy per minute.
What’s your “journey to FableVision” story?
I knew I was interested in educational kids’ games after I worked with Eco Resilience Games in college to create a VR experience that helps kids learn about different eras of Earth. For example, they could look at Lake George in New York now, in the 1800s, in the Cretaceous period, and so on. With this organization, we play tested various games with kids at the science museum and it warmed my heart seeing them enjoying the games we worked so hard to make. I knew that I liked the children’s gaming industry, so FableVision appealed to me even more once I discovered it.
After I graduated from Rensselaer (RPI) in December 2021, I went to GDC – the Game Developers Conference – with my resume, business cards, and a great smile on my face. I left with no job, but I met a connection who works as a programmer in educational media. We set up a call and he listed several companies in that industry on the east coast, telling me which ones he respects, which to avoid, and other information. He had great things to say about FableVision, and within two days of speaking to him, I applied for a freelance Unity developer position, spoke to Technical Director Jordan Bach, and was assigned to a FableVision project.
What do you like about computer science?
Growing up, I really admired and looked up to my older brother, who’s five years older than me. He did computer science, so following in his footsteps was a no-brainer. Very quickly I learned to love it, and not just because of my brother. My high school offered an awesome Unity development course that sparked my interest in this field and really shaped my future. That class and my RPI courses made me realize that game development and creativity specifically were both aspects of computer science that I enjoyed and wanted to pursue. And it all started because of my brother.
What types of projects do you like to work on?
I definitely like games and interactives. I grew up playing lots of games, so it was always one of my goals to create them. It’s fun to work on projects that you have a lot of experience in, which for me is Unity, but I want to expand my palate to other frameworks, libraries, and game engines.
I prefer working on smaller games because it’s always a new experience; you can learn from something you worked on in the past but also try something new. There’s quicker iteration with a cleaner process. On a bigger project, while the end-product may be more impressive, you get stuck with the code you wrote a while ago. I enjoy splitting the work into mini projects, like mini games within the larger game, so that each game is a breath of fresh air and I can create things from scratch.
How did your previous experience prepare you for your role at FableVision?
In RPI’s game design program, our projects were structured in small groups of four-to-five people, with a person from each field – designer, writer, programmer. From a programming standpoint, I worked on half a dozen projects with a similar group size and structure as FableVision. The biggest thing that was missing were the producers. At FableVision, they make the whole process so much easier and great, I love them! On my own time in college, one of my main hobbies was going into a game engine I was learning at the time and playing around. I worked on a lot of small projects to dive deep into a certain visual effect or style.
My previous internships were closer to traditional software development, which helped reiterate that I want to be a game developer as opposed to a software engineer, but I also had an IT support position that taught me communication skills. The job was 20% knowing how to fix the problem and 80% being able to explain the solution to those who needed help. Growing my people skills was really beneficial, especially for a company like FableVision that values interpersonal relationships, and where I have to communicate with different members of a project.
Owen and his decade-long best friend Caleb.
Speaking of communicating with different folks, how do you work with producers, artists, and designers to create the best possible games and interactives?
Not everything can be built exactly the way people might want it, so there is some back and forth between the teams where we work to find the best feasible solution. To help with this, I’m good at giving these roles different options for what they can do. I prototype or mock up multiple variations and send them to the designers, artists, and producers to see what sticks.
What advice do you have for aspiring game developers?
Something that I’ve found to be invaluable is separating what is good from what is easy – you don’t want to create something only because you know how to build it. Instead, focus on the design and what is right for the experience, even if it’s challenging. You will create a better game and learn new techniques, which will help you build new games in the future. You don’t want to get stuck and do the same thing over and over again. It’s also valuable to be very clear with what is doable, especially in the time and budget parameters that you’re given.
Tell us more about Polygunners!
In college, I worked on many small, narrative, puzzle-based games, but I wanted to create something closer to the type of games I personally enjoy playing. I also hoped to expand my skill set and develop a project by myself. For about six months, I worked on Polygunners, a cooperative action game where players fight evil shapes. I was really, really passionate about it and it eventually turned into my capstone project.
I did the game design, art, programming, and sound creation, which was a lot of fun, sitting in my bedroom, recording “pew, pew, pew!” I paid a friend to create the music and trailer. It’s called Polygunners because everything in the game is composed of basic geometric shapes, including the evil, scary Polyqueen. I published it on Steam, and while it’s not the most popular game, over 40,000 people have played it! It’s definitely the project that I’m most proud of making.
It seems like soccer is a huge part of your life.
Soccer is really important to me. Growing up, I played it like every kid plays a sport, but in middle and high school, I became very serious about it, traveling every weekend to play in tournaments. At one point, I was on the “Maine team” as part of the Olympic Development Program. I took a step back in my junior year of high school after a severe back injury, but I continued to play intramural in college. To this day, I watch a lot of professional soccer and play in intramural leagues throughout Boston. It’s my favorite thing to do – definitely my highest fun had per minute.
You also love drawing?
Even though I’m a developer, I’ve always liked the visual parts of game development, like graphics programming and procedural animation – it’s all about making stuff look pretty. I like doing artsy, creative things in code, which extends to drawing, because I see that as the most pure form of creativity. You can make something look cool in code or you can just draw it. I’m not very good at it yet, but I’m getting there, and I’m having lots of fun, especially drawing wizards and clouds.
More About Owen
Favorite game: Starcraft II.
Favorite wizard: Septimus Sylvaria – he’s my D&D character, a 12-year-old boy who thinks he’s the best, greatest wizard that ever lived. My red wizard hat is his hat, that unfortunately for him got burnt, so now it’s black.
Favorite movie: Game Night.
Favorite sports player: Marco Asensio. And my favorite soccer team is Tottenham Hotspur.
Favorite snack: Oreos!
Favorite place you’ve traveled: Perú – Machu Picchu, Lima, Cusco.
An Owen fun fact that most people don’t know: As an 8-year-old kid, I lived in Edinburgh, Scotland in a flat and I went to school in a castle!
