Donald Kooiker:
I am the game designer/pixel artist at Duckbridge and 50% of the company.
After getting my degree in Communication and Multimedia Design at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences I decided to study Game Design & Development right after. It turned out it wasn’t really challenging enough for me, and it felt too much time was wasted on not developing games. I quit after 3 years to go my own way.
After that I lived in Kyiv for some time, at that time me and Marciano were working on a lot of smaller game projects and when we realized we can work very well together; even from a long distance using skype/team speak.
I’ve made a lot of games in the past, for University and fun. Of course i’m more proud of some then others. They often say your first 10 games will all suck, so i’m glad that’s behind me. I have always been obsessed with creating all around fairness. So balancing is very important to me. Level design came pretty natural to me. I’ve been drawing levels on paper since I was very little, starting with Mario Kart tracks.
Favorite games: Deus Ex, Shadow of the Colossus, We <3 Katamari, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy 9, Super Mario World, The Legend of Zelda: A link to the Past , Super Mario Galaxy 2, Megaman 9, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater and well…a lot more.
Facts: I wish my last name was Duckbridge. I complain a lot and Marciano is forced to listen to it. I watch a lot of movies. I have a game idea book that is nowhere near full. I got the first place award at the Game Design minor and third place at the global game jam 2015 in Amsterdam.
Marciano Viereck:
Heya, I’m Marciano and I’m the programmer at Duckbridge (and also ½ of the company). I’m born in Holland but my parents are from Suriname.
After high school I decided to study Software Engineering and from the moment I had my first class of programming I instantly fell in love with it. It was so magical to me that you could write.. words and then create games or applications out of it, it’s so cool!
During my studies I’ve traveled quite a bit and have also worked as an intern at a Chinese game company for half a year, which was super cool and allowed me to experience a different culture for a while. After my studies I went to work for a company as a Software Engineer, but I always wanted to do ‘more’ with my programming skills, I wanted to work on something that I was passionate about. I found that making videogames (with Donald) allowed me to use the best of my programming skills and allowed me to fuel my passion, so we decided to go make games full-time!
Facts: My favorite games are FFVIII, Shadow of the Colossus, To the Moon, Jetset Radio and more. Besides programming I also spend some time skateboarding, which I have been doing for many years. I’m bad at languages and my favorite game genre is RPG. I’ve lived in Sweden for half a year and in China for half a year and cannot speak either languages. I’m a sucker for M&M’s and Hot Chocolate milk. I have won the award for best programmer at Global Game Jam 2014 in Leeuwarden!