Ryan Barker, former Centralian and founder of Stonethunder Games.
Centralia native Ryan Barker recently released a new mobile game called Fruit Folly.
After a decade of working on the popular online game EverQuest, a Centralia native has now started a new business endeavor and studio, recently releasing a new mobile game called Fruit Folly.
Ryan Barker, 36, graduated from Centralia High School and entered into the world of video games shortly after college. He lives in San Diego, where he is now focusing solely on Stonethunder Games, a studio he founded last year.
Previously, he worked up the ranks at the former company Sony Online where he started in customer service, and later advanced to the lead designer of EverQuest. His 15-year career at the company brought him much success and recognition as he worked with a team to expand the virtual world of the popular game.
After the company sold to Daybreak Game Company, Barker decided it was a good opportunity to go off and do his own thing.
He founded Stonethunder Games, “a tiny studio with not so tiny dreams,” states the website. The studio’s first game, Fruit Folly, inspired by the plinko game on the Price is Right, is a completely different venture than those Barker was involved in before.
“Going through this first project, I’m learning some of the parts of making and marketing a game I didn’t know about,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s better, it’s just different. I like having control of what’s going on.”
The action physics game, which mimics strategies in old arcade games, is a lighthearted game where players have to direct falling fruit through levels, collecting coins and prizes, while unlocking new characters and stages.
Barker recruited Kycen Donahue, the son of Kyle and Stephanie Donahue, who are both teachers in Centralia, to help test the game. Kycen helped create one of the characters and its special ability.
Barker said the 8-month development period of the game has been a good learning experience. He started small because of his budget and his small team, consisting of himself full time and a few contractors.
“EverQuest, those teams were giants, sometimes 100 plus people. This is totally different,” he said. “I think it was really good for the first project to have something small I could do myself. I would like to do something bigger on the next one.”
The game, which was released about a month ago, is doing OK so far, said Barker, and he is currently working on a marketing deal to help get it some more exposure.
This is just the first for Stonethunder Games. Although Barker is currently focusing on Fruit Folly, he hopes to expand into more games. No deadline is set for future projects, and he said a new game probably won’t happen until next year. Currently he’s attending classes at San Diego State to further his knowledge on advanced programming topics.
