Steve Crouse

ABOUT ME

Hey there!

I'm Steve Crouse—game designer, writer and director, and public speaker (among a bunch of other things) with professional experience in the games industry since 2015. I’m a founding member, creative director, and producer at the award-winning indie studio Pixel Maniacs (2024's Studio of the Year) in Nuremberg, Germany, where I live with my wife, two kids, and a fairly sizable zoo.

Working in a tightly integrated team of talented developers has given me a deep understanding of all aspects of game development, from project planning to gameplay scripting to production and distribution. I specialize in game design, UX design, and player psychology, and I have a passion for creating engaging experiences with a strong focus on usability and accessibility, as well as narrative design and interactive storytelling. I wrote and directed the upcoming story-driven puzzle adventure ChromaGun 2: Dye Hard. I’m proud to be part of a passionate team that is committed to creating quality games.

I’ve held talks and workshops at a range of events—from major industry conferences like Develop: Brighton and devcom, to high-profile corporate events, like a Samsung product launch. My sessions have covered a variety of subjects, like game design principles, project management insights, technical deep-dives, or the issue of mental health in the games industry. I also host Nuremberg's Indie Outpost—a free bi-monthly micro conference for indie game developers and hobbyists that regularly draws about a hundred attendees.

TALKS & WORKSHOPS

What the Bleep am I Doing?

Being Gamedev Without a Clue

A talk from Develop:Brighton 2017, on impostor syndrome, how to put others' work into perspective, and not lose hope. This talk is aimed at new developers, just entering the industry. Click here for a video of the original presentation.

Leveling Up Your Company

How to Up Your Game

An all-round talk from Talk+Dev, touching on many topics of the game industry, from art, to design, to production and financing. Aimed at new and established developers, looking for tips on how to increase proficiency in their fields or others.

Games Financing

(Entirely in German)

An in-depth talk about how to fund the development of games, where money flows during and after development, and unforseen traps of common ways of funding. Aimed at established developers looking to increase their knowledge of funding a studio.

Okay, One More Round

Designing for Replayability and Retention

An introduction to methods game designers can use to keep players engaged for longer – within a single session, and across gameplay sessions. This talk was originally held at devcom 2019 in Cologne. For a version with the presenter's notes, check this out.

From Development Hell with Love

Hard-learned lessons in Project Management

After spending six years developing what was going to be our biggest game yet, we had to put development on ice. This talk is a look at what went wrong, and what we learned from it.

SELECTED GAMES