Graham Reid, a 32-year-old Jamaican video game developer has recently welcomed his second child into the world. On August 4, he will welcome another creation, his latest game, Super Space Club.
With only a few weeks until release, Reid is putting the finishing touches on everything.
Game development is a multidisciplinary practice combining the techniques of filmmaking, graphic design, programming, and plain old storytelling. As he counts down to D-day, Reid is putting on another hat — marketer.
One of the more recent trailers for Super Space Club drew eyes and ears with its arresting, bombastic visuals, backed by a sultry smooth reggae track performed by Jamaican artiste Rizk. The combination is no accident. “I’m Jamaican no matter where I go in the world…that’s who I am. I want to infuse my culture in [my games],” he explained. “[And] one of the biggest things we have is music.”
Super Space Club is unapologetically Graham Reid. He describes the game as a combination of classics — the gameplay of the timeless shoot ‘em up Asteroids combined with the quirky Saturday morning cartoon energy of Nintendo’s oeuvre.
A lifelong gamer and student of the industry, Reid grew up in Jamaica playing classic console games and hobbyist flash games made using the same technology that powered the internet of the early 2000s.
After high school, he migrated to the United States and attended SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) in Savannah, Georgia. “
They had a game dev course [there] but I didn’t think it was a valid option for me. In the Caribbean you don’t hear about independent game developers,” Reid elaborated. “You think of [game development] and you think of these big companies — the Sonys and the Nintendos.”
Getting a foot in the door
These misconceptions around game design and development have stifled interest in the field as a viable career path for Caribbean talents. Reid does not mince words. Game development is a difficult field to exist in. It combines all the pressures and technicality of a traditional job in technology with the day-to-day struggle that comes with the territory of a freelance artist. But Reid would not give it up for the world. He’s already given up a lot to chase this passion.
After moving to New York City after completing a BFA in Broadcast Design and Motion Graphics from SCAD, Graham Reid worked as a freelance motion graphics designer & animator, collaborating with clients such as IGN and NBC. In 2015 he landed a position at Snapchat, the popular messaging application which boasts almost half a billion active daily users, as the Senior Visual Designer.
“It was a choice,” he laughed wryly, referring to the decision to go “full-time indie.” Reid makes it clear that a job in technology is not as stable as it seems. While many tech companies thrived during the pandemic as the field is suited for ‘Work From Home,’ 2022-23 has been a different story. Record firings across the industry have left those still employed reeling and fearful.
Anyone can make games
He is envious of the younger generation. Despite being a young man himself, his time is at a premium, split between running marketing, networking, and being a parent. Despite the tertiary education, Reid’s no.1 teacher was Youtube. Anything he didn’t know he hunted down through video tutorials. Working with friends Audley Gordon, Glen Henry, and Robert Morrison, they’d push each other further, honing each other skills.
“Mobile was the big changer,” he reminisced, “before that, every phone would ship with [pre-made] games. Once the app stores and the play stores were established, anyone could make and release a game.”
Today there are even more avenues for developers to create and release games. Technology before exclusive to expensive software is now available for any hobbyist to tinker with for free. While development is difficult, Reid insists it’s not as unapproachable as it may seem. Across his work, there’s a consistent minimalist style — simple shapes, and bright primary colors. Super Space Club is his biggest departure from that style with its anthropomorphic characters but the gameplay retains that simplicity. Reid laughs at the portrayal of a deliberate style; his style was born out of necessity.
“What can I do that’s attainable?” he asked himself. “I can make something that’s very simple look beautiful and elegant. I know colour theory…so I can make simple colours work. Somehow, I just did that multiple times,” he laughed. Now there’s space for writers, artists, musicians, and all other creative disciplines to create a game, if not professionally, then as a fulfilling creative outlet.
Reid hopes his games can crossover into the Caribbean mainstream. As a Caribbean immigrant, he understands how intense parental pressure can be when navigating careers. Through his work as GrahamofLegend, he wants his work to stand as a paragon of what is possible for Caribbean creatives.
The same options that are available to creatives in the US, Europe, and Asia, are available to Caribbean natives and immigrants. Reid jokes about not having time to work for free but is himself heavily involved in the Jamaica Game Development Society, a key component in setting up the first annual Windies Direct in 2022.
The breakthrough event turned heads across the industry and Reid is now working directly with ID @ Xbox to get Super Space Club onto the Xbox console.
