About

Welcome to the homepage of Top Secret Studios, a software developer and publisher from the U.S.A.. We represent the next step for Falling Ninja Productions, an independent ("indie") video game and software developer.

Mission Statement

Our mission is to produce games that are simple, creative, and fun.

Biography

We are a solo dev meaning that most of the programming, graphics, and other work is done by one individual as a personal interest.

More recently we have incorporated additional work, particularly art, created by freelancers.

Our games are developed in the Unreal Engine and Game Maker: Studio. We distribute our programs on PC, console, and mobile.

History

Our first game, the infinite runner platform game Cave Escape, was programmed in Game Maker 5.3a and published on the old Game Maker Showcase around 2006. During this time, we participated in some contests and collaborated with fellow pixel artists in the community.

We began focusing on mobile apps in 2013 and formed an official publishing company called Top Secret Studios in 2015. The transition from minigames to more full featured game design began with the Croquet Pro series between 2016-2017. In 2022, we began development of our most ambitious game ever - Ruler of the Waves 1916 - in Unreal Engine 5.

Other Experiences

Software Analyst

Past experiences include credits on games by D3 Publisher, PlayFirst Studios, and Armor Games, where we served as a 3rd-party analyst on games featuring popular IPs like DASH, Marvel, Magic: The Gathering, and Adventure Time. One such project was designed by one of the original creators of DOOM™.

Game Jam

As the lead coder in a team of five, we won two categories (Best Game Mechanic, Best Graphics) in a space-themed game jam judged by Fallout: New Vegas developer Obsidian Entertainment for the survival horror "Breathe and Count to 2018".

We hope that you will give our games a try.

Check out the News page for the latest developments.

Parting Thoughts Rambling Drivel

We strive to be original and creative, and also take inspiration from games that we enjoy. Our top influences include the simple stylings of the Atari 2600, the homebrew Palm Pilot game scene, the App Store circa 2010, and generations of Nintendo and PC games. We think small and retro games are great; even without all the trappings modern games can offer.

Nevertheless, we are interested in exploring the latest technologies in art, design, 3D modelling, music production, and game programming. As incredible software is developed, and computer chips continue to become more efficient, the tools for game development have never been more powerful, intuitive, and sophisticated.

Thus, we come to video games as a form of art and media which can truly reinterpret categories of thought imperatives. The definition of a video game, summarized from its definition in various books, is that a game is interactive, there are goals, and conflict. This distinguishes games from competitions, toys, and puzzles. Not included in this simple definition of a game is story or anything to do with narrative structure. However, with most games, there is still a definitive beginning and end. Even an endless, wave after wave, type game - including arcade classics like Pacman and Space Invaders - has an ending contingent on the player losing. So what happens if there is no ending? Unlike a movie or a book, a video game, a computer program, can continue forever without stopping.

So with video games we see a unique opportunity to expand the narrative tradition. A game can continue in any number of infinite ways through procedural generation, user input, and gameplay loops.