Part 1 of 11

Once upon a time: how Mikolaj Studios started

Once upon a time, my son Mikolaj asked me a question at our kitchen table:

"What if a garden gnome robbed a whole house, one kettle at a time?"

I laughed. Then I grabbed a pencil and took notes.

That question became Gnome Heist, our first game. Mikolaj directs, I build, and we test every level together. Then came the ducks, and our second game, River Rations.

We're Matt and Mikolaj, a dad and his son making video games together. This is where we'll share how we do it. Follow along.

What's on screen

The video has music but no talking. These are its words, in order.

  1. Once upon a time… there was a dad called Matt and his son, Mikolaj.
  2. Mikolaj asked a question…
  3. “What if a garden gnome robbed a whole house, one kettle at a time?”
  4. Dad laughed. Then he took notes.
  5. Mikolaj directs. Dad builds. With help from AI tools.
  6. Our first game: Gnome Heist.
  7. Then everyone played it. Things broke. We fixed them.
  8. We went on a walk to feed the birds…
  9. And then Matt had an idea! Our second game: River Rations.
  10. Two games in. The best bit? Playing them together.
  11. Mikolaj Studios. A father and son making games together.