Brittany Kelley
BUDA — Hays High School alumnus Jason Patterson recently launched the first game from his business, Dolphin Entertainment, in July. Now, it’s receiving the first update.
Patterson has always loved games, specifically, he recalled being drawn to them for the ability to escape reality. This began a childhood dream of his to create a game studio in grade school.
“I was already trying to figure out game ideas [and] taking notes on different video games to figure out how they could have done things better, where they just messed up,” he said.
His favorite was the Command & Conquer series, which is a real-time strategy game. So, after launching Dolphin Entertainment in 2012, he began fleshing out concepts for some of his own.
The one that stuck was Clockwork, a multiplayer steampunk word game, leading Patterson to put together a small team to bring his idea to fruition.
Players can create words out of a given set of letters in a four-minute game and — what makes Clockwork stand out, he explained — after each minute, the tiles shift off screen, where they reorder and are then brought back. Then, each tile previously used is worth more points than it was before.
The game can be played in various game modes, including an option to use power-ups. The founder is hoping to add more in the future on a rotating basis. For example, the game mode Wild adds a blank tile, allowing any letter to be used in its place. This will last for three days, until it switches out.
Although public response has been positive, Dolphin Entertainment aims to continue adding to the platform. Patterson and his team have been working on an update that will introduce the ability for players to taunt their opponents with customized avatars, a friend system and additional social features.
“This update represents a major step toward realizing the larger plans we have for Clockwork,” said Patterson. “Playing Clockwork has already become part of the daily routine for some, whether using it to pass the time or to help wake up their minds when first starting the day. We’re excited to see how these new changes will be received and how they can help to grow our overall player base with the ability to more easily connect with friends for matches.”
Clockwork is available as single- or multiplayer, with the option to play online or locally, and can be found in the iOS and Android app stores.
In the future, Patterson hopes to open up a storefront in Buda. He also has begun writing and hopes to turn his stories into games and vice versa.
To learn more about Clockwork or Dolphin Entertainment, visit lnk.at/DolphinEntLLC.
