Four-year-old Eli Bock was bugged. His six-year-old brother, Sam, had all the fun. Look at him, Eli thought, playing Super Smash Bros. anytime he wants! It was true. Sam had his head buried in his Nintendo 64 every free moment. As for Eli? Nooooooo. He was too young, his parents told him.
Well, something would need to be done about that. First of all, Eli knew he'd get older. Soon. Second, he knew he would be awesome at video games. He thought about them all the time. The Newton, Massachusetts native was right about one thing: he grew up and got the green light to play video games. But — oh, and this is painful to report — Sam was better at them than Eli. The older but, in Eli's mind, no way wiser brother crushed it. Was it experience? Maybe. Luck? For sure. But there was no denying the truth of the matter.
A few years later, Eli started high school at Newton North. It was then he discovered he had a talent of his own: art. He earned some coin drawing logos for one his mother's friends, and then he created animation for a small company. But in the dark of the night, Eli wasn't thinking about brand imaging. He was thinking about characters and plots — the video game of his dreams. The Eli Bock video universe would be inhabited by meanie moon men hellbent on invading the Earth! It would take Space Kiwi and all his might to fight back! Braving land, sky, and sea (and 28 monsters!), the cute but roguish Space Kiwi must save the world, or else we would all die! Now, that's a game, Eli reckoned.
Long story short, Eli did it. For reals. He drew a storyboard, created a cast of characters, composed the soundtrack, and hired some web-development guys with his art money. When Space Kiwi was finished, Eli submitted it to the Mac App Store and waited. He waited and waited. And then — bang! Quicker than teleporting one of his Flying Puppies, Eli's video game was approved. And now, just three months later, this high school sophomore has sold some 2,000 downloads and created his own company, Orro Games. The best part? Eli can beat his older brother at this game. The nice part? Sam and his parents couldn’t be prouder.
www.Orrogames.wordpress.com