Local students find viral success with video games | News, Sports, Jobs

Photo by: Emma Delk

The five months that Ben Roberts (left) and Mac Parsons spent creating and designing their video game “TheVentStalker” have paid off, as the game went viral on the Rec Room platform.

WHEELING — While most kids earn extra money during the summer running a lemonade stand or mowing lawns, two local teenagers have chosen a less conventional way to make money: developing a video game.

Five months spent writing, designing and modeling their video game have paid off for Mac Parsons, a second-grader at Linsly School, and Ben Roberts, a student at Wheeling Country Day Middle School. More than 235,000 people have played their creation, “TheVentStalker.”

Parsons and Roberts' path to viral video game success began in 2021, when Parsons was Roberts' counselor at Wheeling Country Day School's summer camp.

Despite their age difference, the two quickly became friends through their shared love of video games, particularly the gaming platform Rec Room. They not only had an affinity for gaming, but also for designing games.

“Mac had known for some time that I made games, and I knew Mac could draw very well since he was into digital art,” Roberts said. “One day I just said to him, 'Hey, let's see your video game design skills,' and he did really well.”

After Parsons' initial trial of game design, the friendship that began as a counselor and camper soon developed into a friendship as a mentee and mentor as Roberts taught Parsons the basics of video game design. Although Parsons already had a flair for designing characters and objects, he needed to learn the details of in-game sound design, modeling, timing, and coding with Roberts' help.

During the course of their collaboration, the idea of ​​developing a video game emerged. In January, they decided to tackle the project under the name “DeviousInk” and signed a contract that regulated the division of the profits from the game between the two.

Before the pair began developing the game, they had to outline its story and aesthetics.

“I was originally inspired by movies, shows, books and other media that offered unique horror entertainment,” said Parsons. “Horror is a different kind of entertainment because it's a mix of thrills and humor, depending on the game.”

Parsons explained that the pair were inspired by “older horror themes,” and chose the “dark, confined space of an air vent” as the perfect setting for a disturbing horror game.

The game begins with the player finding themselves in a facility that has been closed for unknown reasons. To gather evidence and solve the mystery of my closed facility, the player collects IDs of missing employees while also avoiding the titular “Vent Stalker” monster that stalks the player throughout the game.

To realize their vision for the game, the friends divided the tasks of the project. Parsons built and animated models for the games, while Roberts was in charge of coding and audio creation.

To turn the concept into a real game, the two spent many hours on the phone discussing things like programming and the design of the game's visual elements, including the different shapes and textures of the objects.

Roberts said the pair often drew inspiration from their own experiences when selecting additions to the game, making note of spooky objects and places they encountered in real life.

Parsons and Roberts spent more than five months developing TheVentStalker.
(Photo provided)

In addition to the appearance of the game, the two also had to clarify other details such as the game mechanics and the size of the game layout.

The two spent at least two hours each night working on the game. Roberts said his favorite part of the project was the “random funny conversations” they had late at night.

“Because it was all very relaxed, the process wasn't as stressful as it could have been,” said Parsons. “We really tried not to take it too seriously and just had fun talking to each other.”

Although they maintained a relaxed attitude, the pair still experienced frustrating obstacles that delayed the project. Other Rec Room players the pair worked with on the project sometimes failed to fulfill their roles, leading to the pair having to “fire” people for the first time.

“I've learned valuable lessons about making final decisions with the people I work with,” Roberts noted. “When people complain, I tell myself, 'It's your game. You can control who works on it.'”

Despite these setbacks, their digital work began to unfold before them. Parsons recalled his excitement as he took teaser photos for the game and uploaded trailers for the project online.

The two began beta testing before the game came out, having their friends play through the game to see if there were any “bugs” or errors that needed to be fixed.

“We simply invited friends to play and tell us what was going wrong,” said Parsons. “We encountered problems, but they were fixed within a day. We learned that there are some features for the game that we cannot implement when many users are playing at the same time.”

After fixing the bugs, the pair released the game on July 27. Parsons noted that while the game had built a fan base during the design process, player count was “pretty low” in the first few days.

“We had built up a pretty big fan base for the game because we told so many people, 'Hey, this is in development and we're going to release it soon. We're not going to disappoint,'” Roberts said. “At first, it was slow to get traction, but once we got a fan base, a lot of people started playing.”

As more players tried the game, their project's popularity on Rec Room grew, and it became one of the site's most played games, displayed on the most trending games page.

The high player frequency and the large number of people spending money through the game's currency system have given the pair a payday in real life.

Mac Parsons' mother, Mimi Parsons, knew her son and his friend had been developing a video game for fun over the summer, but she didn't realize the scope of the undertaking until she saw how popular the video game was after its release.

“I knew they were making a video game, but I didn't realize how big it was going to be until they released it and Mac started talking about how he was making money,” said Mimi Parsons. “We were on vacation a few weeks ago and had to fill out a tax return so he could get paid. So it's a serious, real thing.”

While her son is excited about payday, Mimi Parsons points out that her son has also learned valuable skills for the future through developing the game.

“Even if for some reason they decide next year that they're done with game design, it's still a great way to boost their resume for college,” said Mimi Parsons. “I think the skills he learned in game design are very valuable, especially today, and I think it's something he can use forever.”

The friends have already rolled up their sleeves and started working on the next “four to six games” that they plan to release next summer.

“Ben and I would call it the 'grueling process' while we were designing the game, but it was also a lot of fun,” said Parsons. “It was definitely more entertaining than my summer reading.”

“What I learned at Rec Room is really helpful for my future passion, which is designing even bigger video games,” Roberts said. “It's great to do something you love with your best friend and make money doing it.”