fbpx

May 29, 2019 dev

Meet the Team: Mike Shanks

Art Lead
DnD Class: Warrior
Hogwarts House: Hufflepuff
Pokemon Go Team: Valor
Empire or Rebellion: Empire
Turtle: Raphael

 

 

When did you first get started in games and how?
Probably around 1st grade or so. My parents would drop me off at my grandparents for the weekend occasionally, and my Grandmother and I would play her NES collection all the time. She knew all the secrets to the first Zelda and Mario 3 and taught me exactly which bushes to burn and where all the magic whistle were hidden.

 

How did you first get started in the game industry?
Got together with a few good friends I went to college with and decided we wanted to make a game. It was a passion project as most of us could only work on it during the weekend. But we kept at it, and finally released Whispering Willows which has now been ported to about 8 different systems.

 

Where do you draw inspiration from?
EVERYWHERE. Movies, tv shows, music, comics, manga, browsing art sites, talking with my girlfriend, working out at the gym- the list goes on and on.

 

What is your favorite video game or series?
Man that’s a tough one… But I guess I’d have to say Chrono Trigger. The pixel art is beautiful. The music still sounds amazing. It really sticks out to me too because it was the first game I played that had consequences for your earlier actions and multiple endings depending on when you fight the final boss.

 

What is your favorite tabletop game?
Betrayal at house on the hill. My friends and I have played this game so many times, and yet we still haven’t encountered all the story lines. And man do I love being the betrayer.   >: )

 

If Akupara could partner with any person, who would you want to work with?
Hmmmm. Working with the guys from the Youtube channel Super Beard Bros seems like it would be really fun! Jirard, Alex and Bret are are all so funny and professional that any project seems like it would be a blast to work on.

 

What is your proudest accomplishment with Akupara?
All the projects that I have personally made art for (Whispering Willows, The Weaponographist , Markiplier’s animated Damien video, etc.) always get a lot of praise for the art. It’s quite rewarding when you put so much of yourself into a project to know that it was all worth it.