My name is Itske van Teutem, I’m a Dutch Game Designer and Developer. Ever since I can remember I have always wanted to make games. I possess an extremely broad set of skills such as Programming, project management, level design and much more. Involving myself in all the different facets of game production is where I feel at home. I can chip in wherever it’s needed and keep everyone on track to create incredible games! I treasure not only the process but also working with like-minded people as to make something awesome. At the end of the day, our job is to make games, how cool is that?!
Over the time I’ve grown to love the process of making games more than playing them, and therefore after high school I went to college where I studied Game Development. Afterwards, I worked for a few years as a developer on several small projects before deciding I wanted to broaden my skill set and study Game Design. I am now getting my Bachelor’s Degree in Game Design at the HKU, and I’m loving every minute of it! I feel at ease in the industry and my aforementioned skills alongside my knowledge aids me in the Game Design process.
I’m always interested in learning new skills and over the years I have accumulated quite a few hobbies. I love finding outlets for my creativity, from working with electronics like Arduino’s and Raspberry pi’s, to building custom guitars from the scratch. If something peaks my interest I’ll learn as much as I can about it, which I tackle by diving in head first. There is an infinite amount of expertise and knowledge to be acquired and I can’t wait!
I love cinematic narrative-driven games such as Uncharted, The Last of Us and Horizon: Zero Dawn. Over the time I’ve found myself gravitating more toward Design and Production than the Development, it is however something I still am fond of.
Background
I grew up playing Tony Hawk games on the PS1, and they had a huge influence on me. From my hobbies like skateboarding to the music I listen to. I believe that from a Game Design perspective they are awesome, however I can be a little bit biased as I love them dearly. The aesthetics are sick, the music is incredible, and the overall game feel is just great. The way they were able to make skate culture accessible without alienating the real skaters is an incredible achievement.