John has an undergraduate background in psychology and media studies and an MBA in Digital Media Management from St. Edward's University. But, perhaps more importantly, he's been playing video games ever since he could hold a controller. Put it all together and you have a character with strong critical insight into the workings of the game industry and what it means to be a gamer.

Day-to-day, John keeps Minicore Studios running, juggling networking, financials, and industry analysis, as well as hands-on project management, testing, and design. In short, he’s the guy that finds the place where individual creativity and public demand meet.

Peter envisions a universe where video games not only tell a story but evoke a sense of discovering another world. His passion underscores Minicore's commitment to making the games that players will remember forever and always.

Peter is the man behind dialogue, backstory bibles, and narrative progressions for Minicore games as well as conceptual and design tasks. His contributions are seemingly endless and even include rough (most often hilariously rough) concept sketches. Although Peter is fond of the kind of work he produces hunched over his laptop after a burst of inspiration, you can more often find him leading collaborative discussions that leave our team brimming with novel ideas and perspectives.

Shelley grew up watching videos games more than playing them. The only game she could ever beat her older brother in was Goldeneye for Nintendo 64 (a fact of which she is immensely proud). Shelley is a graduate of the University of Texas Creative Program and has spent years in the advertising, marketing and business development fields both here in Austin and in London.

Shelley’s professional background is outside of the game industry, which is exactly why Minicore wanted her. She is perfectly placed to offer us the fresh perspectives that the industry needs to grow and that Minicore needs to craft meaningful, informative messages.

Patrick has a lifelong passion for gaming in a wide variety of forms - from video games and board games to pen-and-paper RPGs and tabletop wargaming. Yes, he’s a nerd. But he is one extremely talented nerd. Case in point: He won the 2010 ScreenBurn at the SXSW Game Design Competition, a nationwide contest in proposing a theoretical AAA project.

Here at Minicore, Patrick oversees the code that makes up all of our games. His laserlike focus on the nitty-gritty of coding and debugging goes hand-in-hand with the sky-high standards he brings to designing, balancing, and testing play mechanics.

Michelle draws on her lifelong love of fantasy illustration to produce her own art, a rich blend of detailed draftsmanship and vivid character design. A graduate of the University of Texas, Michelle creates each piece with one-of-a-kind content and tone, making our games a continual sequence of revelations. Her artwork takes Minicore’s games to the next level. Unique high-quality visuals bring to life the characters and narratives we live work for. Ultimately, it embodies our value of creating games that players can lose themselves in.

We would also be remiss not to mention her obsession with dragons. Michelle likes dragons. A lot.

Elizabeth Salazar is a graduate of the University of Southern California and has a Master's Degree from the University of Texas School of Information in Austin. She takes the helm coding the iOS version of our mobile title, Tank for the Memories. With her boundless store of energy, Elizabeth leaps into learning any language or process that could help us produce quality games.

As a non-Texan at Minicore, it’s still difficult for Elizabeth to come to terms with our obnoxiously passionate BBQ preferences. We like to think of her as a BBQ-lover in progress.

Avery makes Minicore’s ideas live and breathe. She creates stunning traditional 2D animation and is equally adept working in vector and raster formats. A fan of animation in all genres and styles from the world over, she uses her instincts and skills to infuse a striking energy into the concepts Minicore is working on.

Avery also brings a special energy to our office, often breaking out into improvised versions of such classics as “Rocket Man.” Her skills - in both animation and song - as well as her openness to a wide range of influences enable her to capture new angles on all of Minicore's projects.

Matt is an avid gamer and programmer extraordinaire originally from California, which makes Elizabeth happy. He spent his high school years in Hawaii, which makes all of us infinitely jealous. After a short stint in Washington State, Matt made his way to Austin and into the Minicore family. In his spare time, Matt builds proprietary engines and custom mods, so you can imagine what he's capable of while on the clock.

A quiet genius, Matt describes himself as "very smart, but not really into having conversations." However, the loud, friendly debates that often dominiate the office are slowly bringing him around.