Rhythm Doctor was honored with an "Excellence in Audio" award at this year's IGF Awards.
I don't really make it a habit of writing about our own games. So instead I wanted to share a bit about our lead designer and original creator of (flash games) Rhythm Doctor and A Dance of Fire and Ice: Hafiz.
Our games are a team effort in every possible way. But I couldn't imagine them existing, at least in the form we know now, without Hafiz's guiding hand.
I'm really happy when these games, which I played on Kongregate.com and Newgrounds just after graduating high school, get recognized. I'm happy that Hafiz had those avenues, on flash game sites, to share these little free prototypes with thousands of people around the world. I know that I'm not the only one they resonated with. This week so many people have shared their love and enthusiasm for Rhythm Doctor, even if they last played it years ago. Players and developers alike have been touched by it, it seems.
In the decade since, Hafiz has carried forward that sense of playful creativity, intuitive simplicity, and woah-this-is-smarter-than-it-looks game design. Even as the scope has ballooned out of control and the production flow has spiraled into a million moving parts, he has always bent the game back into its original welcoming shape.
More than admire him as a game designer, I value him as a friend, mentor, and person. He is consistently a light of kindness, patience, and humility. If he finds this blog post he will probably cringe and be mad that I posted it. Sorry.
One thing about him that stands out the most to me is that he is always so open and receptive to the creativity of others. Whether thats his fellow teammates, or the creators in our game's custom level communities, or to the way he honors and is inspired by the work of all of our fellow rhythm game developers making their own games. He seems endlesssly charmed and excited about what others are making.
Over this past decade or so I've learned a lot from him. What it means to be kind, understanding, and a good teammate. What it means to have values, beliefs, and integrity. His games are not auteur games or solo dev games. They are the usual sprawling team efforts, made easier by his vision and all of his continued day-to-day work.
I'm excited to see everything he works on in the future, game or otherwise.
He's occasionally on Cohost, @fizzd.
and im not mad at all because i love all your words any time, yum yum!!!!