Meet Gage Tilly | Game Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Gage Tilly and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Gage, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I’m from Fairbanks, Alaska, which is sort of a shrinking half-rural, half-urban town. Growing up in that environment is what motivated me to go into game design, since the games I played growing up helped my friends and I deal with the day-to-day of living there. It also pushed me to be more self-reliant and aware of the world around me, since there really wasn’t much of an establishment for game development or education. There’s a kind of anarchic do-it-yourself mentality a lot of my friends have that inspired how I approach my work, particularly in how eclectic it can get.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I got to where I am professionally out of a combination of continuous work, imagination, dumb luck, and a lot of help from the people around me. It was not easy. I’ve overcome the challenges in my career thus far by approaching art as a learning exercise and trying to constantly question my assumptions. When you can find a healthy, joyful way of making things, and when you try to find the feeling and meaning in anything you create, you’ll never really fail when making art. And when you try to empathize with others rather than cater to them, you’ll never really fail when designing.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I enjoy wandering around town a lot of the time, so I’d probably just put them through a cavalcade of coffee shops, arcades, and concert halls, plus some hole-in-the-wall restaurants.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’d like to thank all my friends, collaborators, and peers, but most of all my partner and my friends and teachers from back in Fairbanks. They’ve been there for me as long as I can remember, and they’re the ideal I hope to live up to and give back to.

Website: https://gagetgames.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gaget