TL;DR : 

• My calling, my dream,  my niche, is to make other's dreams come true.

• I don't need the money and would rather collaborate for credit alone  or a % on the back end.

• I want to ride the coattails of aspiring artists to glory!

The long version:

I've been coding and making games as a hobby since 1980, starting on the TRS-80. While I've spent decades working on my own game ideas, I eventually found more fulfillment in helping others bring their ideas to life. In 1990, I became a high school science teacher and made extensive use of computers in the classroom to run simulations.

In 2002, my school needed to add more electives, and I proposed a game design class. That decision shaped my career. Although I love to code, I chose to focus on supporting artists by using rapid prototyping tools like Games Factory and RPG Maker, which are more visual, easier to learn, less frustrating, and provide quicker feedback. After a few years, I was teaching 300 students a year how to create video games.

Over the next two decades, I taught thousands of students how to put their own creative spin on classic games like Space Invaders, Asteroids, Pac-Man, and Mario. I became highly skilled at rapid prototyping, and my favorite teaching approach was to have students cast their screen to the projector and simply ask, "So, whatcha wanna do?!" From there, I would guide the entire class through their creative process, answering specific questions as they arose. This method proved to be highly effective—students learned exactly what they needed at the moment they were most engaged, and it stuck.

In recent years, I've especially enjoyed identifying and collaborating with talented digital artists in each class, helping them bring their personal game ideas to life.