Jason Rohrer
Encyclopedia
Jason Rohrer is a computer programmer, writer
, musician
, and game designer. He publishes most of his software under the GNU GPL
or into the public domain
, and charges for the iPhone
ports of his games.
He practices simple living
and said in 2009 that his family of four had a budget less than $14,500 per year.
Cultivation - Rohrer's second game, released in 2007, is "a social simulation about a community of gardeners."
Passage - Rohrer's third game, which was released in 2007 and garnered much attention from the mainstream and independent gaming communities. The game lasts exactly five minutes, and focuses on life, mortality and the costs and benefits of marriage. It was featured in Kokoromi
's curated GAMMA 256 event.
Gravitation - Rohrer's fourth game, released in 2008.
Between - Rohrer's fifth game, released in 2008. It is hosted by Esquire Magazine as an adjunct to Rohrer's profile in the December 2008 issue and was the recipient of the 2009 Independent Games Festival's Innovation Award.
Primrose - Rohrer's sixth game, designed for the iPhone (although released for home computers as well). It was released on February 19, 2009. It is a departure from the art-game
theme, and is a simple puzzle game.
Sleep is Death - Rohrer's seventh game, released April 16, 2010. Sleep is Death (abbreviated SiD) has received favorable reviews from a number of mainstream game review sites.
Game Design Sketchbook - In 2008 Rohrer created a number of games for The Escapist
. These would usually be unpolished prototype games that explore a single theme, with an accompanying article by Rohrer describing the creative process of making games.
Inside a Star-filled Sky - An "infinite, recursive tactical shooter" released in February 2011, favorably reviewed. Selected for presentation at the 2011 Tokyo Game Show's Sense Of Wonder Night.
Rohrer won the annual Game Design Challenge by proposing a game that could only be played once by a single player and then passed onto another. This idea was based on stories of his late grandfather that had been passed down. He stated "We become like gods to those who come after us." With this in mind he created a Minecraft
mod that was put on a single USB stick, which he then passed onto an audience member. The rules of the game were simple;
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
, and game designer. He publishes most of his software under the GNU GPL
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....
or into the public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
, and charges for the iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
ports of his games.
He practices simple living
Simple living
Simple living encompasses a number of different voluntary practices to simplify one's lifestyle. These may include reducing one's possessions or increasing self-sufficiency, for example. Simple living may be characterized by individuals being satisfied with what they need rather than want...
and said in 2009 that his family of four had a budget less than $14,500 per year.
Games
Transcend - Rohrer's first game, released in 2005. Transcend is "an abstract 2D shooting game that doubles as a multimedia sculpture."Cultivation - Rohrer's second game, released in 2007, is "a social simulation about a community of gardeners."
Passage - Rohrer's third game, which was released in 2007 and garnered much attention from the mainstream and independent gaming communities. The game lasts exactly five minutes, and focuses on life, mortality and the costs and benefits of marriage. It was featured in Kokoromi
Kokoromi
Kokoromi is a Montreal-based group with the intent of promoting videogames as an art form, and experimental gameplay worldwide. The collective consists of game pioneers and curators Damien Di Fede, Phil Fish, Heather Kelley, and Cindy Poremba...
's curated GAMMA 256 event.
Gravitation - Rohrer's fourth game, released in 2008.
Between - Rohrer's fifth game, released in 2008. It is hosted by Esquire Magazine as an adjunct to Rohrer's profile in the December 2008 issue and was the recipient of the 2009 Independent Games Festival's Innovation Award.
Primrose - Rohrer's sixth game, designed for the iPhone (although released for home computers as well). It was released on February 19, 2009. It is a departure from the art-game
Art game
An art game or arthouse game is a video game that is designed in such a way as to emphasize art or whose structure is intended to produce some kind of reaction in its audience. Art games typically go out of their way to have a unique, unconventional look, often standing out for aesthetic beauty or...
theme, and is a simple puzzle game.
Sleep is Death - Rohrer's seventh game, released April 16, 2010. Sleep is Death (abbreviated SiD) has received favorable reviews from a number of mainstream game review sites.
Game Design Sketchbook - In 2008 Rohrer created a number of games for The Escapist
The Escapist (magazine)
The Escapist is an online magazine covering video games, gamers, the gaming industry, and gaming culture. Published by the Themis Group, it was edited by Julianne Greer up to June 30, 2009, then by Russ Pitts through September 2011, and is currently edited by Steve Butts. The Escapist was first...
. These would usually be unpolished prototype games that explore a single theme, with an accompanying article by Rohrer describing the creative process of making games.
Inside a Star-filled Sky - An "infinite, recursive tactical shooter" released in February 2011, favorably reviewed. Selected for presentation at the 2011 Tokyo Game Show's Sense Of Wonder Night.
GDC 2011 Game Design Challenge
At the 2011 Game Developers ConferenceGame Developers Conference
The Game Developers Conference is the largest annual gathering of professional video game developers, focusing on learning, inspiration, and networking...
Rohrer won the annual Game Design Challenge by proposing a game that could only be played once by a single player and then passed onto another. This idea was based on stories of his late grandfather that had been passed down. He stated "We become like gods to those who come after us." With this in mind he created a Minecraft
Minecraft
Minecraft is a sandbox-building independent video game written in Java originally by Swedish creator Markus "Notch" Persson and now by his company, Mojang, formed from the proceeds of the game. It was released as an alpha on May 17, 2009, with a beta version on December 20, 2010...
mod that was put on a single USB stick, which he then passed onto an audience member. The rules of the game were simple;
- No text signs are allowed in the game
- Players may play until they die once.
- Upon respawning they must quit the game.
- The game must then be passed onto someone that is interested and willing to respect the rules.
Other projects
- konspire2b, a pseudonymous channel-based file-distribution system
- token word, a XanaduProject XanaduProject Xanadu was the first hypertext project, founded in 1960 by Ted Nelson. Administrators of Project Xanadu have declared it an improvement over the World Wide Web, with mission statement: "Today's popular software simulates paper...
-style text editing system - tangle, a proxy serverProxy serverIn computer networks, a proxy server is a server that acts as an intermediary for requests from clients seeking resources from other servers. A client connects to the proxy server, requesting some service, such as a file, connection, web page, or other resource available from a different server...
which tries to find relationships between websites a user visits. - MUTEMUTEThe MUTE Network is an unmaintained peer-to-peer file sharing network developed with anonymity in mind. The MUTE client is open source software released under the Public domain and includes support for the Linux, Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows computer operating systems.-History of MUTE:MUTE was...
, a file sharing network with anonymity in mind. - Monolith, a thought experiment that might be relevant to digital copyright. This has expanded to a computer program implemented on his ideas.
- seedBlogs, a modular building block that lets you add PHP and MySQL-backed dynamic content to any website.
- silk, a web-based hypertext system to simplify web page linking. Similar to wiki markup.
- hyperlit, a literary hypertext authoring system.
- subreal, a distributed evolution system.