Who is Dylan Abela

Game Developer since 2012. Game freak since 1992.

About Dylan

A gamer from sunny Malta with a variety of gaming interests, which are mainly focused on PC, Mobile games and an off few xbox games. Being brought up with a trusty Gameboy, he also enjoys a fair few handheld games on platforms such as; the Nintendo DS series and the PocketChip.

In terms of games, his taste varies and are mostly dependant on the game not on the genre. Games such as the XCOM series, the Warcraft series and the Elder Scrolls series are amongst his favorite. That being said, similar games such as the Witcher series or the Dark Souls series do not even interest him in the slightest. In addition to this, he enjoys playing Jam games with a particular interest in innovative or games with fresh ideas.

Epic High

Epic High was a venture where together with Sean Savona they set out to create great games, especially during game jams. Unfortunately, not many games were created under this name, specifically due to a lack of a dedicated artist. Still having a close friendship this project is never really dead, especially when a game jam is approaching.

Over time, Epic High became less of what it was created for and more of a persona for both of us when collaborating with other people.

Past Education

After obtaining the necessary certifications to be able to enter the Univeristy of Malta, Dylan realized that none of the courses provided would aid him achieve his dreams. Instead, he opted to enroll at the MCAST and obtained an Honors Degree in Software Development. Which is a more hands-on course granting knowledge of different areas of development. These included Web Development, Design Principles, Desktop Applications, Databases and Game Development, amongst others.

In addition, this course teaches it's students important aspects which are tied to both personal and personnel management. As such he believes that he's able to estimate realistic expectations for both time and quality for any given task.

Job Experience

Dylan started his career during his last year of education, where he met his first employer when he attended a local session of the global game jam. Once he finished his studies he joined the company as a Game Programmer. During his stay at PlayMagic he grew both due to the experience of fellow veterans he met, and while being on solo projects since it was a startup company with a few personnel.

When the time was right, he decided to move on and an ex-coworker introduced him to Flying Squirrel Games. Another startup company where he worked on a variety of games most notably the kid-friendly mobile mmo Airside Andy, a multiplayer racing game Dirt Trackin and a city-builder/plant simulator Cannafarm, amongst other small projects.

Now he has moved onto another adventure joining fellow friends at Anvil Game Studios where he's working on the multiplayer napoleonic era shooter, Holdfast: Nations at War.

Commercial Games

Games I've professionally worked on

Jam Games

Finding Freedom from Constraints

try them out with

Room 14
Global GJ 2014

With the theme of "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are", we created a 3d first person puzzle exploration rubix cubed themed game. The game won "Best Digital Game" judges award. Made with Alan Duca, Mark Azzopardi, Mina Tolu, Samwel Mallia and Stephen Cutajar.

Rage Against Hipsters
Global GJ 2015

With a weird theme of "What do we do now?" we decided to create a hybrid game, which consists of a game where it's in part a board game, and in part a digital game, where the players follow the struggle of a band playing music during a concert. This game won "Best Hybrid Game" judges award. Made with Marco Vergantini, Nina Olsson and Sean Savona.

Unforeseen Lifetime
Gecko GJ #3

For this jam with the theme of "Lifetime", we created an interactive story based game. We won second place in this jam. Made with Naomi Rizzo and Toms Štāls

Yuusha Kishi
Ludum Dare #34

My first solo entry for a jam, which had the theme of "Growing/two button controls" .I focused mostly on a simple mechanic two button input mapping, animations and used art which was free to use. Overall the game took the 788th place out of the 2870 entries which partook the jam.

The Blind Prophet
Global GJ 2016

With the theme of "Ritual", we created this experimental game, where we took a simple concept of a game, Breakout or Arkanoid and removed one simple element, Visuals. Made with Edward Bamber, Mariano Galea, Miguel Mizzi and Kyle Pace.

Quotypo
Mini Ludum Dare #65

A fun little experimental game we made for the mini Ludum dare 65 with the theme of "Youth". We went for a more personal interpretation where youth generally require guidance and lecturing on more important side of life. Made with Mariano Galea

Restonerant
Ludum Dare #36

A fun little cooking game, which held the theme of "Ancient Technology". As such, we decided to make a cooking game; something which both of us had no experience in doing previously, and gave it a prehistoric theming. Made with Toms Štāls

The Hunt Is Off!
Ludum Dare #37

This is a game I created based of the theme of "One Room". Where you're in a top down shooter view, but you have to stop the diseases from killing each other,if one of the diseases extinct the one that's supposed to be eaten from it will dominate and destroy the world!

Trigonometry Trumps Toupees
Global GJ 2017

Based on the theme of "Waves", we decided to go crazy with the theme. As such, we have made a weird pvp game where the players play a high action rock-paper-scissors game themed around are throwing mathematical waves at Donald Trump. We added an additional type of waves, the Mexican wave once one player wins. Made with Andrew Calleja, Alan Duca and Mark Anthony Cassar.

Tiny Man's Skies
Ludum Dare #38

Created as a parody to the flop of "No Man's Skies" and how it felt to play that game. It's a planet exploration game with the jam's theme of "A Small World". This was my first time utilizing realtime lighting to give off a sense of grandeur. The physics of the game are a strong point of the game, since I managed to squeeze out 4 different planetary behaviours.

Star's Gift
Birthday Present

A quick "game" inspired by visual novels, where the main character is a friend of Dylan and is filled with a lot of inside jokes about the guild he plays in on World of Warcraft.

Eat, Pray, Live
Ludum Dare #39

A game made with buddy Sean, Alex and Logan who are 2 awesome guys I met for this jam. The theme was "Running out of Power" so Sean and Alex, whom were mostly responsible for how the game ended up looking and playing, went with the crazy idea of giants having to run off "Jesus Fernando Power".

Kitchen Things
Ludum Dare #40

A game made with Sean, Aurelien the god of sound and Andre the god of art whom I met for this jam. We took the theme of "The more you have, the worse it is" in a literal way. Where you as a lone restaurateur has to take orders, cook and serve weird food to impatient aliens.

Glitch Rush
GGJ 2018

Created with Anthony, Lynda and Marlon, we took the theme of "Transmission" and created a fully networked 4 player trivia game where the players have to answer questions and bounce around a glitch in the game by taping appropriately.

Idle Hatcher
Ludum Dare #41

Together with Lynda, for this ludum dare we had a theme of "Combine 2 Incompatible Genres", so we took the genre that recquires full attention while another that requires as little from you as possible, so we created an Idle Rythym Game.

Sink or Swim
Ludum Dare #42

Another jam with buddies Sean and Lynda together with an awesome new audio guy called Colton, we took the theme of "Running out of space" and made a quick game about a fish in a sink and an evil psychedelic cat.

Falling Apart
Alakajam #4

A jam with Lynda, Mark and a cool audio guy called CDWpod, we took the theme of "Falling" and did a small slice-of-life game whihc puts the player in the shoes of a "Robot Combat" mechanic.

The War of the Four Races
Ludum Dare #43

Quick solo entry inspired by Marvel's Avengers: Infinity War which had the theme of "Sacrifices must be made".

Light's Out: It's Time for Bed
GGJ 2019

A really janky drop-in 4 layer local co-op, made by Lynda and I. The theme was "What home means to you" and we took it in a literal sibling-rivalry combat game with flashlights.

Untitled YEET Game
GGJ 2020

A Monthy Python themed party game, in which two players fight by 'repairing' and YEETing items using the nintendo switch joycons. Made together with Mariano, Marie and Walki.

Get in touch

If you have any question, contact me


Copyright © 2024, Dylan Abela