Meet Aidan Cushing | Technical Game Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Aidan Cushing and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Aidan, how do you think about risk?
As any game developer could tell you, committing any more than a hobbyist level of investment into making games is an incredibly risky procedure, especially as a solo developer. The essential skillset from farm to market with games requires us to wear a number of hats from development itself to marketing and outreach, quality assurance, accounting and more.

I took a leap of faith when I began making games; what started out as a hobby eventually became a fascination, and I found myself devoting more and more time to the craft. I recently graduated from Rutgers University with a degree in ITI specializing in game design in the hopes that having any other skill set may mitigate some of my career worries and maybe create a safety net, but I’m unbelievably lucky to say that I have not needed that net quite yet. Games have always been my real passion, and I can say wholeheartedly that I do not regret the endless 10 hour work days, frustration and past failures that have led me to where I am today. Games are what I know, and sometimes it feels like they’re all I know, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

The truth is that while the games industry is incredibly intimidating from the outside, it is this exact culture which ties us together as a community. I only recently began to network with industry professionals, but without a single exception those I have gotten in contact with have jumped through hoops to see me succeed. Maybe it’s deterministic, a culture bred from the expectations created by its reputation, but people in games really do stick together. I can only hope that I have the opportunity to do for others someday what these incredible connections have done for me.

Game design as a field is one deep with risks, especially for those with generalist perspectives like myself, so I cannot overstate the importance of embracing the camaraderie of the industry. Risks should always be calculated, but it is never too early to start preparing yourself for the future. I hope to spearhead my own studio someday, and I could not be more glad to have the challenges set out by my industry and the friends I have made to guide me toward success.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I grew up playing a lot of video games. So many of my formative memories in a creative space involved finding ways to hide just how much I was playing video games from my mom when I was young, as my play time was limited during school days. I couldn’t get enough, and I’ll never be able to thank my dad enough for bringing home a Playstation on that fateful day.

I grew up in a space where analytical thought was deeply encouraged by my family. I was always questioning things, always wanting to learn, and I think it’s this innate curiosity that led me to begin making video games. I had studied them for years, and after hours creating Unreal Tournament maps with a friend of mine in the fourth grade, I was hooked for life.

It took me a few years to really get in the saddle with making games, but I think it was the insistence of both my friends at the time and a thankfully small number of my college professors that “no one makes it in the game industry” to light a fire in my stomach to prove them wrong. Spite is an incredibly powerful motivator, even in a good natured setting, and I published my first game within 6 months of picking up Unreal Engine almost exclusively to prove a point.

Living disabled has caused a lot of people throughout my life to tell me exactly what I can and cannot do. For a long time this only led to sequential burnouts, abandoned hobbies and poor academics, but something was different here. I had finally found my spark and I knew it was time to prove them all wrong.

In that time though I rediscovered the incredible joys of creation. Competitive spirit gave way to inspiration and I pushed on, creating small prototypes, and finding myself in the small arthouse pieces I was able to find at the time on websites like itch.io and gamejolt. I came to the realization that games were about more than just mindless fun, and that people chasing the creative high like I was were out there. I joined a number of development communities, but the one where I felt most at home was Haunted PS1. The queer-friendly nature of the community was inspiring for me as a recently-realized non-binary and bisexual individual as a place of peerless expression for my newfound life, and I never looked back.

Of course, there are always bound to be failures, hiccups, burnout and any other number of bumps in the road on the way to success, but I refused to let any of that push me away. Tragically the thing that caused me to commit fully to my passion was the passing of my best friend Charlie. I committed myself to finishing the game he and I had started before his passing, and until that game is finished I will never be able to stop making games, not that I would ever want to.

These past four years have been a wild blur, and each challenge only made the prize of changing someone else’s life the way games changed me when I was young all the more enticing.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
My new home in Austin is the first time a real city has ever felt right for me. I grew up close to New York City, a place I hated from the moment I set foot in it, but Austin is different somehow. From the phrenetic atmosphere of the bars and museums of sixth street to the calming shores of Barton Springs, there’s always something to do.

I’ve been here a few months now and with a few marked exceptions like Jewboy Burgers and Pepe’s Tacos I rarely eat in the same place twice. From street vendors to steakhouses, there’s a little something for everyone. Food is absolutely no object here and I think that that new horizon has been incredible for me as someone who grew up very picky.

I’ve also been absolutely fascinated with the LGBTQ+ culture here in Austin, the number of art installations, relics, clubs and spaces that not only accommodate but celebrate the culture I’ve come into are almost unavoidable. Austin is very weird and very gay, and I think that any trip here that misses out on the experience is lackluster at best.

Of course there’s always something for the kids in us as well, a personal favorite of mine has to be Blazer Tag, the biggest laser tag arena in all of Texas. The three floor arena has been home to an incredible number of great memories, and the pizza ain’t half bad either.

Rounding out the experience is just finding a bar somewhere and sitting down. A good friend of mine has taken me out pretty much every week to a different independently owned bar, each with their own particular flavor and atmosphere, and I have enjoyed both food and conversation with the people there every single time. There’s something friendly about Austin, you can wave to people in the streets you’ve never met and they’ll wave back, which is incredibly alien to me having grown up in New Jersey.

Honestly I could go on, I would never want to live anywhere else again. I want to see the world, but I think Austin is going to be my home forever.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I am incredibly lucky to have the support that I do in my career. I cannot find the words to express my gratutude to my incredibly supportive girlfriend and family, the amazing industry connections I have made in folks like Jan Stec, Wilson Villegas, Sheri Ray, Aaron Heuser and many others who have made an incredible difference in my career, and the undying support of those involved in my creative home, the Haunted PS1 community.

I would also be remiss in not acknowledging my first supporter, my late best friend Charlie Schulz, the first person to tell me I had what it took to succeed. We made it kiddo, I hope you’re proud wherever you are.

Website: https://linktr.ee/rabbitrungames

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rabbitrundev/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aidan-cushing-2981941b5/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/rabbitrundev/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCnLs0Ji3yHyDFOaWt6aUkA

Other: https://rabbitrungames.itch.io https://rabbitrungames.myportfolio.com/

Image Credits
Adrienne Park