Luke Muscat, gamemaker (Fruit Ninja, Jetpack Joyride).

My guest today is Luke Muscat, the Australian video game designer behind some of the best-known smart phone games yet made. After graduating from Queensland University of Technology with a degree in IT and Games, he joined Halfbrick Studio , a game developer in Brisbane that specialised in games licensed from film and TV. There he designed a simple yet compelling iPhone game in which players must slice fruit thrown into the air by swiping the device's touch screen with their finger. Fruit Ninja released in 2010. Within a year it had sold more than 20 million copies. In 2011 my guest developed another once-in-a-lifetime hit with Jetpack Joyride , a game that won a slew of design awards and that continues to be a bestseller today. After a stint working as head of design for the company that makes Snapchat , in 2022 my guest went independent, and is now preparing to release his first indie title, Feed The Deep , a lovecraftian deep sea roguelike. LINKS Feed the Deep Steam Page Luke's Game Dev YouTube Channel Quake ' Annihilation ' video. Simon's 2013 New Yorker piece on 'endless runners' Daryl Baxter's 50 Years of Boss Fights . Become a My Perfect Console supporter and receive a range of benefits at www.patreon.com/myperfectconsole Take the Acast listener survey to help shape the show: My Perfect Console with Simon Parkin Survey 2025 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.