Now

The idea behind this page is to give you an idea of what I'm up to and working on at the moment, with the aim to update every few months.

Game Development 👾

In 2024, I stepped away from my role as Chief Product Officer at SweepSouth to explore a long-held passion for game development. A former collaborator from Tropical Tower Wars (2008) had reached out about building a standalone sequel and asked me to help bring the vision to life.

What pushed me to say yes was simple: if I didn’t give it a real shot, I’d regret it.

Over the next year, we built a prototype, formed a small team, raised investment, and pitched at Africa Games Week. Eventually, I realised that my goals for the game and company no longer aligned with those of my co-founder, so we parted ways.

That year taught me more than I ever expected. The games industry is full of people who genuinely want to help — to share ideas, playtest builds, and support each other. And I was blown away by the talent right here in South Africa. I truly believe this industry is on the edge of something big here.

Career Growth 🌱

I've more recently had the opportunity to start working with the team at Aurora Punks, which has allowed me to gain further experience in the game development space. This opportunity has given me valuable time to reflect on what truly matters to me in my career.

Through this reflection, I've discovered that I'm most passionate about working with dedicated, people-centric teams who tackle challenging problems and create delightful solutions. This period of introspection has provided me with a clearer sense of purpose and direction for my future endeavours.

What I'm Watching 📺

Shrinking - This feels like an indirect successor to Ted Lasso. It tackles deep matters, but does so with a touch of comedy. It gives a glimpse into a world where people fail, hold one another accountable, and care. I'm honestly enthralled by it.

Tracker - This has been a good "whodunnit" itch scratcher. It remains interesting by virtue of showing the watcher how the main character sees things which others don't, all while keeping a pretty light tone to it.

Elementary - When this originally aired I was watching the BBC's Sherlock, and thought that Elementary could only fail to compare. I was very mistaken. Elementary stands as my favorite adaptation. It treats the characters with respect, shows how they grow, deals with complex issues, all while being thoroughly entertaining. I'm on my 4-5th watch.

The Rookie - I put this one off for a long time, but got drawn in by the Cop Cuties shenanigans. While the show does feel extremely American, it keeps me watching by promoting a main character who's most notable "super power" is empathy.

Honourable ongoing watches

• Taskmaster
• Gold Rush
• Reacher
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

What I am Playing 🎮

Hades - This is my first rogue-like game and I can finally see the appeal of the genre. This game is an absolute masterpiece, largely because it is just so clear that the team behind it cared to create a game they loved. The gameplay is massive fun, the story is very cool, and the art incredible.

Factorio: Space Age - This was my first playthrough of the new expansion, and it was incredible fun. I love the feeling one gets when a planned out factory just comes together and everything just feels optimal and efficient.

Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor - I've always loved bullet heaven type games, but on the back of many hours in Deep Rock Galactic, this has fast become my favorite. Early access games where the studio is committed to open development will always draw me in. 

Inspired by /now from Slash pages