James Spruin - Game Programmer

About

Hello!

I'm a game programmer currently specializing in Unity, with 4 years of professional experience. I've been making games for the majority of my life and I almost always have some project on the go. Here's some of what I've been working on over the years!

Projects

Past Work

We Broke the Fairy Tale
By Gopoyo Inc.

Unity/C#

A currently in-development co-op action platformer where players must unite to solve mysteries and defeat enemies to escape from a broken fairy tale.

While I was a part of the team I was involved in various key aspects of the gameplay, including character controls, combat, enemy behaviour, and environmental mechanics as a few examples.

Follow them on TwitterX:

https://x.com/Broke_FairyTale

Game Jams

Fog Force
Global Game Jam 2021

Unity/C#

A low res shoot 'em up where you lose your vision due to a fog and need to search around for enemies.

Solo developed and I was responsible for the art, music/sound, and gameplay.

The theme was "Lost and Found", I loosely adhered to the theme by having the player lose their sight and giving them an alternate way to find enemies.

Try it in the browser:

https://jamie-mr-jam.itch.io/ggj-2021-fog-force

Space Robots Connect
Extra Credits Jam #4 (2019)

Unity/C#

Take control of two robots as they try to collect floating cubes scattered around their ship. The bots are connected by a wire, so you will need to get them to work together to find them all. Both bots can grab onto walls, floors, or ceilings to allow the other to use the wire to swing around.

I was the sole developer on this game and was responsible for the art and programming and sound.

The theme for this jam was "Connect"

Try it now in the browser or for Android:

https://jamie-spruin.itch.io/spacerobos

Step Ahead - NSCC Jam 2019

Unity/C#

For 2019's NSCC jam I worked with 2 artists and 3 other programmers to create a mini game collection. The theme was "Aesthetically Pleasing" so we each tried to make mini games based on what we thought looked cool for a game. The best part of the game is that it is entirely dance pad compatible and was built with dance pad controls in mind.

I was responsible for some animations, the score and mini game selection screen, and a minigame where you dodge obstacles on a skateboard.

Try it now for Windows:

https://jamie-spruin.itch.io/nscc-jam-step-ahead

Hamster Power - Extra Credits Game Jam #3

Unity/C#

This was created for Extra Credits Game Jam #3. I was the sole developer on this game and was responsible for the art and programming though I did not create any of the audio. The theme was "Cycles".

Protect the city from giant lizards by taking control of a mech, which just so happens to be powered by a hamster wheel. Any action from the mech costs energy, so you will have to manage how much energy you spend compared to how much you generate.

Try it now for Windows:

https://jamie-spruin.itch.io/hamster-power

Personal Projects

Bounding Boxes

Unity/C#

For a self directed college game project, I created a proof of concept for a game similar to Super Smash Brothers that only uses single touch controls.

Players can swipe the screen to jump or double jump, they can tap to do a weak attack, tap and hold to guard, or tap hold and swipe to do one of three special attacks based on which direction was swiped.

Try it now for browser or Android:

https://jamie-spruin.itch.io/bounding-boxes

Completely Accurate Fish Simulator

Unity/C#

A small game where I tried to see if I could make a decent game out of an intentionally terrible idea.

It's a game where the only thing you can do is feed fish to try to keep them alive. Fish can last for about 2 minutes at best without food so make sure to feed them regularly. Overfeeding them will end badly so make sure not to give them too much food.

I created the gameplay and art, though I used a royalty free track for the music (link in the video)

Try it now for Windows:

https://jamie-spruin.itch.io/fish-simulator

Mr. Jam's A-maze-ing Adventure

JavaScript

This was a small prototype I made quite a few years ago(don't remember exactly when), but it was one of my favorite games to make. This was my first attempt at making a JavaScript game from scratch and my first game using mobile inputs. It was a lot of fun making a game without an engine for the first time!

You take control of Mr. Jam as he tries to navigate through a maze. Once he starts moving he can't stop or change his direction until he hits a wall. Special tiles can change his direction and these tiles can also turn on and off to add a bit of challenge to the level.

Pokemon Bingo
HalCon Fan Panel

JavaScript(Card Generation)

Unity/C#(Calling program)

Designed and helped present a popular interactive panel at HalCon (a fantasy and sci-fi convention) where participants played a custom-developed version of bingo which used Pokémon instead of numbers. We have presented it once a year at the convention since 2014 (with the exception of 2020 due to the pandemic)

I developed the software for generating the cards to print and I created an application for displaying called numbers. The examples here are from one of the years we ran it.

This is entirely fan-run, we are not affiliated with Pokémon in any way.