Why Hello There ~ Sam Graham

I will start off by saying game design was not my initial plan for when I grew up, but I am overjoyed with how it turned out. Originally, I thought of becoming a teacher, veterinarian, or architect, because I had a wide variety of interests growing up that include Shakespeare, chemistry, psychology, and 3D building modelling. Then one day at the Ontario University Fair and I kind of stumbled across game design as a profession. From there my entire world shifted because I could continue each one of my passions without having to choose one over the other.

While I did play some games as a child it was not something that my parents actively sought after so I did not experience my true game until I was around 8. Up until then, I played preschool education games and Barbie Horse Adventures: Wild Horse Rescue. When I did get my first test of games it was a tie between Super Smash Bros Brawl and Super Mario Galaxy which I played with my brother, and then later on Skyrim when it was released. From this, I learned I love playing games where you get to explore and be immersed in a fictional world. I began to pick up more games from here but nothing like I experienced when I began my undergraduate.

Last school year I completed my final year at Wilfrid Laurier University for a Bachelor of Fine and Applied Arts in Game Design and Development with a specialization in User Experience Design, and a minor in Criminology. Throughout this time, I continued exploring my passions and finding new ones through making games and getting to teach others about them too. The games that I most often create are either escape rooms or puzzle-based analog games that each play with a different subset of human society, as well as exploration. As an example, one project I have been working on is an escape room based on forensic principles, which is something I never thought I would be able to create, so be on the lookout on the games page for when I release information on this idea.

My current adventure is to complete the Digital Humanities graduate program at the University of Alberta with a specialization in Fim and English. This program will allow me to gain more experience researching how games can change the world and continue expanding my knowledge on my passions. From there I am not sure where I might end up, but the possibilities are endless, and I am looking forward to the journey.