DS Game Maker - Fan Forum

I was only 12 when I built DS Game Maker and sold the first copy. DS Game Maker - or DSGM - allowed thousands of people to make their own Nintendo DS games without learning to code. The barrier to entry on games consoles and embedded systems was - is - especially high, which meant that by age 16 I'd sold 1,500 licenses around the world, and 300 kits that allowed people to play the games on their own DS.
These numbers are impressive for a kid and unimpressive for a grown up, but it doesn't matter. DS Game Maker didn't have a strategy because I was too young to understand what that meant.

In the same way that DSGM meant that teenagers didn't have to learn C or assembler, Sticky means that people don't have to learn JavaScript or advanced UX patterns. And in the same way that DSGM games often looked indistinguishable from commercial games, yet had their own individualism and feel, Sticky experiences are often best-in-class, yet offer the flexibility and 'jump into code' ability the enterprise requires.
DSGM helped me understand one thing better than anyone else: the power of helping people make things, or empowering them to do more. This idea is something that has stayed with me for the last 14 years, and is what fundamentally inspired Sticky's mission - to democratize creating amazing consumer experiences.