Nationality American Name Derek Yu | Role Video Game Designer Organizations founded Bit Blot | |
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Occupation Game designer, artist, blogger Education University of California, Berkeley | ||
Spelunky creator derek yu builds a super mario maker level devs make mario
Derek Yu (born July 2, 1982) is an American indie game designer, artist, and blogger.
Contents
- Spelunky creator derek yu builds a super mario maker level devs make mario
- Design3 interview with derek yu of mossmouth
- Blackeye software
- Eternal Daughter
- Im OK
- For profit games
- Aquaria
- Spelunky
- Other games
- References
Yu is best known for his games Spelunky, Aquaria, and Eternal Daughter.
Design3 interview with derek yu of mossmouth
Blackeye software
Early in his game-creating career he was associated with a freeware game website solely distributing its own wares, including Diabolika and Eternal Daughter.
Eternal Daughter
Eternal Daughter (2002) is a platform game that was developed over a two-year period.
I'm O.K.
A platformer that Yu helped create, I'm O.K - A Murder Simulator, was a response to Jack Thompson's open letter "A Modest Video Game Proposal".
For-profit games
Yu has worked on several indie games, games sold outside of traditional distribution channels.
Aquaria
A collaboration between Yu and Alec Holowka, Aquaria is a side-scrolling video game that takes place underwater. It won the Independent Games Festival's 2007 Seumas McNally Grand Prize, was available as a download, and was also sold in a Humble Indie Bundle.
According to Yu, "Not only did Aquaria sell well enough that [Alec Holowka and I] could continue making games full time, but the positive feedback we received from players and critics also validated us as artists and helped to put to rest our doubts about whether we were making something worthwhile." However, Bit Blot has yet to produce another title, and the last update to the company's website occurred in 2011. Yu and Holowka live in separate countries, and Holowka cited the long distance nature of the collaboration as a source of tension during a 2008 interview.
Spelunky
Spelunky is a platform game with randomized level generation similar to roguelike games. It is reminiscent of the 1983 game Spelunker. It was released as a freeware game in 2008 and was remade for Xbox 360 in 2012. PC Gamer UK chose the remake of Spelunky as its 2013 game of the year.
Other games
Yu created the graphical tileset for DoomRL and has designed a level in Super Mario Maker for Polygon's "Devs Make Mario" series.