Ryan Sumo is the CEO and the art director of Squeaky Wheel, an independent game development company based in the Philippines that's focused on creating thematically unique PC strategy and simulation games.

He is the artist of Prison Architect, and is currently developing Academia : School Simulator.

As I am an aspiring game developer, I decided to contact him about how he got into the games industry. I told him that I was a young game developer and he was gracious enough to provide answers to all of my questions in detail.

How did you get to where you are?

My path to the industry was very weird.

I took a chance on a small mobile games company with a huge pay cut because I was sick of the call center.

I took a chance on working with a guy who wanted to make a DS game even though I had a decent job (at a non-games tech company). That project collapsed, but it led me to all the other opportunities that I've had so far.

Every chance you take may open a new path for you. The more chances you take, the more possibilities. That becomes less efficient as you grow older and each failed opportunity has a bigger impact on you. But while you are young, naive, and too stupid to know any better (I don't mean this as a insult, if I knew then what I know now, I might not have made some of these crazy decisions), it's the best time to take some chances.

What do you wish you could've known before you got started?

I think that question throws me off because I don't like the idea of "wishing" about anything and would rather be focused on "doing". But that aside:

I wish I had learned to sell better. In life you always have to sell stuff. When you do a job interview, you sell yourself. When you pitch a game to a publisher, you sell your game. When you argue about what to add to the game with your teammates, you are selling an idea/game mechanic.

Understand that your beautiful ideas are pointless unless you can convince people they are good ideas. So learn to sell. Obviously there is a line here where you just become an asshole that sees everything as a selling opportunity. Its up to you where to draw that line.

I wish I'd taken more chances and asked more questions. I used to be very afraid of rejection and asking for things. But ultimately "you never get what you don't ask for". So you're doing a good job with this right now by cold emailing me. Don't be afraid of rejection and don't think too poorly of people if they don't reply. Sometimes they're just busy and they have their own lives.

What are the difficulties you go through that are the hardest to overcome?

At this point, it's worrying about whether or not I can keep up in this fast paced world as I grow older. But that's not really something for you to worry about.

I'd like to thank Ryan for taking the time to answer these questions for me. I am truly grateful. You can follow his Twitter here