Hi, everyone. First and foremost, I’d like to thank everyone for being here for this. This is an incredible accomplishment. We made a game! Not our first and definitely not our last. A lot has happened since I first embarked on this project over ten years ago. I was literally a different person and now, at long last, Bob and Liz’s story is ready to be told all over the world.
I’d first like to thank the first person who saw the potential of this project (or maybe he was just bored, it’s hard to tell) John Wilson. The most talented engineer I know, John has been an asset to this project every step of the way and continues to be the IT person’s IT person. Thank you for your continued support, John. We quite literally could not have done this without you.
I’d next like to thank our QA staff, especially Jeffrey Mintz who has been testing the game at every stage from concept to final and Savvy Cormier who helped provide invaluable feedback on making the game more accessible to disabled players. Thanks to them and so many others, we’re releasing Super Sketch Bob in an extremely playable state.
Super Sketch Bob’s soundtrack is a huge part of what makes it such a uniquely wonderful game. I’d like to thank all the members of Hearty Har, especially Shane and Tyler Fogerty for licensing their wonderful tracks “Dig the Burrows” and “Coyote” for the game as well as Deep Fry’d Dynamite and Max Silver for their contributions as well. Of course, the game’s original tracks are incredible and their wonderful punny names make them even more enjoyable and help bring Bob and Liz’s world to life. That’s all thanks to Marc Dyen whose tireless efforts and fantastic compositions made Super Sketch Bob’s Super Sketch Soundtrack as incredible as it is. Marc composed over 40 tracks for this game and that’s an absolutely insane task. But he did it and he delivered on every single one. We earned that “Great Soundtrack” tag on Steam for sure and that’s thanks in no small part to Marc who never lost faith in us. To all of our musicians, thank you so much for helping make the music of Super Sketch Bob something to remember.
There were a number of people who also aided the development of the game indirectly, but were important contributors nonetheless in one way or another. Some of them I’m still in touch with, some not. But your contributions do not go unnoticed. Ben Paddon, Adam Sakellarides, Michael Wilson, Jason Brain, Jacob Brenner, Alicia Aihara, Michael Ledoux, Mike Redmond, and of course my mom and my amazing family. Your support of this project means so much to me. I’d also like to thank my little sister Carly for being the unwitting semi-inspiration for Liz and to whom I’ve dedicated this project. No matter what, we’ve always had each other’s backs and we always will.
Last, but certainly not least, I’d like to thank someone for whom I could not have done this without. Super Sketch Bob, you may have noticed, is a very art-heavy game with a lot of assets, animations, and effects. Though I definitely shouldered a few of those, the style the game now features, the smoothness of the animations, and everything from Bob’s adorable smile to Liz’s irate scowl and everything in between is thanks to one person: our lead artist Kelly Jensen. Kelly took this project seriously from day one and I’d argue that she poured just as much of her heart and soul into it as I did. Kelly, I am honored to have worked with you on this project and I am even more honored to call you my friend.
The completion of this project is not my achievement; it belongs to all of us. Every single person who supported us. Who played the beta. Who told me how excited they were to play it. Everyone who dared to imagine along with us. We, all of us, are Wayward Thoughts Interactive and I mean it from the bottom of my heart when I say this: thank you for making this dream a reality. If even one person out there finds this game and enjoys it, we’ll have made something worthwhile and, in that sense, this is already a huge success.
Super Sketch Bob is, was, and continues to be a labor of love and we’re just getting started. After our launch today targeting Windows, macOS, and Steam Deck, we’re moving forward with an internal port of the game to launch on the Xbox family of consoles later this year. I, for one, could not be more excited about our partnership with Microsoft and the Xbox team on this and future projects from Wayward Thoughts Interactive.
For now, however, we’ve more than earned a break. So, let’s toast to a job well done, a dream realized, and a story told. To Bob and Liz. To all of you. And to the future. Cheers!