[Utopia (Intellivision)]

I'm one of the old dudes who remembers playing Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt when it was brand new (and actually, Intellivision for a few years before that!)  My two biggest interests are math and games, so that puts me firmly in the nerd camp.

I'm starting a PhD mathematics program in the fall, but I hope to carve out a few hours a week for a couple of Python/Pyglet projects I have going.  


A couple of my more successful games:

• Squarez, a Windows puzzle game done in Game Maker
  
• Drifter, a tunnel-racing game (yeah, I know, those suck...but this one is different) for the TI-89 calculator, programmed in C.

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Games that influenced me:
Utopia (Intellivision)

I don't know how many hours I spent fishing, harvesting crops, avoiding hurricanes, sinking my friend's fishing boats, fomenting insurrection on my neighbor's isle.  

Super Mario Bros. (NES)
'Nuff said.

Wasteland (PC)

Simply the best RPG of its time.  Fantastic storyline, great graphics for its day, interesting enemies, plenty of equipment, and lots of different skills, all of which were useful.  

Larn

The first Roguelike I ever played, in all its monochrome glory.  Other, better ones came later, but I had more pure fun with Larn than anything since.

Dwarf Fortress

SimCity and The Sims, on crack, minus the graphics, plus lots of beer.  

Spelunky

The most recent game to really have an influence on me, and the reason I found and registered with this site.  Really well done on all fronts.

[FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC!!]

This game is just FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC!!

I love it because it engages my brain so much.  You have to be THINKING to do well in Spelunky.  I've found myself making rules, like "don't take any risk if it's only money", "don't throw pots unless killing a spider or tripping a trap", etc.  Every time I lose a heart I think about why it happened (it's ALWAYS my fault, which is awesome).  If it was because I broke one of my own rules, I take a break to let my brain rest.  Otherwise, I consider how I will avoid getting hurt that way in the future.  I've never played a game that I can engage with in such a complex way, outside of roguelikes. 

My wife saw me playing it and asked, "could you make this game, sweetie?"  I told her, "Well, I could program it, but the game design is an absolute masterpiece".  I can't praise this game enough!