I'm Alex Johansson, an award winning experimental games designer, installation designer and educator based in and from Sheffield. I've been making unusual, playful experiences that use unconventional inputs for over a decade and have had opportunity to tour my works and teach internationally. 

Find directly below the latest video showcase of my work:

EXPERIMENTAL GAMES DESIGNER()

I've shipped over 7 commercial titles, had a number of Apple Features with titles that subvert popular mechanics with minimalism and style. I've designed mobile apps, desktop games, digital poems, board games and many, many prototypes. For most of the experiences, I've handled programming, design, illustration, UI and occasionally sound/music, but I have also enjoyed rich collaborative experiences with poets, fine artists, stem cell researchers and other folks beyond the industry.

Notable commercial projects include:

• MORSE, 2022, a minimalist strategy game that teaches the lost skill of telegraphy, operated using a Morse Key, launch button and 1930's naval headphones. Shown across the world and winner of multiple experimental design awards.
  
• GNISTA, 2023, a frantic Scandi-horror bullet hell operated by a woodland firelighter. Exhibited in person with a firelighter with synced to flashing LED strips. 
• CORPORATE SALMON, 2017, by far my most successful commercial title, a fishy fiscal flop fest where you must fling yourself (a salmon) up an escalator to financial glory and buying new suits. It received over 2 million downloads and a significant number of features by Apple.
  
• NARCISSUS, 2017, my first commercial title featured platformer that became easier to play when the experience is shared with another person. The title was displayed in a handmade display cabinet and was toured around the UK.
• 100% GOLF, 2019, a minimalist golf game produced in 3 months which reached #1 in sports in the USA upon launch.

INSTALLATION ARTIST()

A particular burning drive of mine is bringing the often insular medium of video games into the public square in ways accessible to a wider audiences. These often utilise Alternative Controllers (ALT CTRL), a fringe but vibrant subculture of games development which I've immersed myself into for most of my career. I've been a staunch advocate for ALT CTRL as both a means of breaking the boundaries of the way we engage with technology but also to make inputs more familiar to those who don't play games by using universally recognised objects . I've toured my works internationally, winning exhibition space and awards around the world and had the privilege of giving many people young and old their first experiences of the medium.

Notable installation projects include:

• THE INTERGALACTIC HANSEATIC LEAGUE, 2021 An installation piece in collaboration with Collusion in East Anglia, featuring a projection mapped, foot pedal cooperative game relaying the hopes and solutions of local children for the future of the planet into space. Had the humbling experience of giving the Mayor and his granddaughter their first experience of games together, operating one pedal each.
  
• SPACERAGERS, 2015 A muppet boxing game which doubled as a performance piece, where beautifully hand crafted puppets were made to fight by the public and I patched them up between fights with fabric plasters. 
• VACCINATION, 2018 A strangely prophetic cooperative game about saving a patient being overtaken by sickness. One player scans the body and identifies outbreaks, the other injects a mix of vaccines in the various limbs of the patient to stave off the spread. Shown internationally, shown at medical conferences and housed at GSC Berlin. 
• FLUX, 2023 I recently was hired to replicate the electronics for quickfire tabletop arcade experience FLUX to be exhibited at Day of the Devs in LA. I'm also experimenting with potential concepts for new game modes for the platform..  
• GLOW GOLF, 2023 my most recent project is a 1 dimension golf game played on an LED strip and operated with a pinball launcher. I intend to develop this as just the first of several accessible games installations to reach audiences otherwise dismissed by the wider games industry.  

EDUCATOR & MAKER()

From my origins founding a class teaching 7-17 year olds games development at a summer camp deep in the Catskills, I have since taught over 1,000 hours in various classroom environments around the world from accessible arts spaces to the V&A with over 500 students of various groups taught. I focus on simple tools and an emphasis on creativity over technical proficiency or commercial viability, which allows me to bring a broader audience into the fold. 

Notable educational projects include: 

• INSTALLATION REQUIRED, an organisation me and Katy Marshall founded to not only share a slew of wonderous contraptions internationally and publicly but empowered ordinary people with the creative practice of custom controller design. 
  
• Lecturing for 4 years at Huddersfield University and Anglia Ruskin in Cambridge along with running lectures and workshops throughout the curriculum. 
• I wrote my thesis exploring how games could be used to cultivate collaboration in the classroom, easing the burden on teaching technical subjects, such as programming and I've since sought ways to democratise the process as a primary driver of my career as an educator.  
• I've recently started running alternative controller workshops for children with special needs at accessibility arts space Level Centre and have plans over the next year to facilitate similar workshops with other marginalised groups. This is being done in part to prove that audiences such as the elderly or folks with disabilities are not only worthy of play, but bring fresh insight long overdue to the medium.

CONTACT()

If you're interested in my work, get in touch with me via Twitter. Open to new client work, running workshops with organisations or something else if you think it'd be a good fit! Thank you for taking the time to give this a read. 

LINKS()

YouTube

App Store

itch.io Page

Twitter

TALKS / ARTICLES

Keeping that torch a' burning - Some tips on how to remain involved with games development. (2016)

An Ode to Flash (2015)

Take Note - Why having a sketchbook shouldn't be overlooked. (2015)

Installation Required - The incredible potential of custom controllers. (2015)

Installation Required - Why you should build an arcade cabinet for your game. (2014)