Zonto Games: From Childhood Game Dev Dreams to Indie Studio

I'm Jamie Bartlett, and I have wanted to make games for as long as I can remember. Zonto Games is the indie game studio that grew out of that dream. It took a few detours to get here, so let me tell you the whole story.

In this post

• Where it all started: Snail & Co
• Growing up: why Snail & Co became Zonto
• The dormant years
• Coming back as an adult
• The missing piece: game art
• How AI changed what I can make
• Recreating the games we dreamt of as kids
• What's next for Zonto Games
• FAQ

Where it all started: Snail & Co

As a kid, I started my own "company" called Snail & Co. It was me and my brothers making silly little games together, and we had no idea what we were doing. We learned on whatever tools we could get our hands on, including Visual Basic 5, Clickteam Games Factory and RPG Maker.

None of those games were good, and that wasn't the point. We were building worlds, arguing over ideas and actually finishing things. If you started out making games with tools like RPG Maker or Clickteam, you'll know exactly how that feels.

[Add a short memory here. What was the very first game you made? Who came up with the best ideas? Who did the worst art?]

Those tools taught me more than I realised at the time. Visual Basic 5 gave me my first taste of programming, and RPG Maker taught me how stories, maps and game systems fit together. Games Factory showed me that you could make something playable without writing much code at all.

Growing up: why Snail & Co became Zonto

As we got older, we wanted the brand to feel more grown up. Snail & Co was a great name for kids messing about on a family PC, but it wasn't going to carry a serious game studio.

We landed on Zonto, named after the F1 driver Zonta. It sounded sharper, faster and a lot less like something a child had made up in a bedroom, which of course it was.

The dormant years

Then, as these things go, we got bored of the idea. The brand went quiet and life took over. School turned into work, and work turned into a career.

[Add a line or two on what you were doing in those years and whether you ever stopped thinking about games.]

But the itch never fully went away. Every few months I'd have an idea for a game and a nagging feeling that I should be making it.

Coming back as an adult

As an adult, I started making games under the Zonto name again. The first two were Hungry Birds and Meaven in Space.

Hungry Birds

[2 to 3 sentences on what Hungry Birds is, how it plays, and what you enjoyed most about building it. Add a link to play it.]

Meaven in Space

[2 to 3 sentences on what Meaven in Space is, the platform it runs on, and what it taught you about shipping a game. Add a link to the store listing.]

Releasing real games, even small ones, felt completely different from the projects I made as a kid. Someone else could download them, play them and tell me what they thought. That was a big step for me as an indie developer.

The missing piece: game art

Most solo indie developers hit the same wall, and for me it was art. I can build the systems and write the code, but I can't produce the artwork a game needs. That gap held a lot of my ideas back.

A game with great mechanics but placeholder graphics rarely gets played. For years I either shelved ideas because I couldn't make them look right or shipped things that never quite matched the picture in my head.

How AI changed what I can make

With the arrival of AI tools, I've been able to fill the gaps in my game-making resume, especially when it comes to art. Character designs, backgrounds, icons and concept art that would have taken months to learn or a budget I didn't have are now within reach.

[Add your real workflow here. Which tools do you use for concept art, sprites, 3D models or textures? How do you keep a consistent style across a whole game? What do you still do by hand?]

I want to be honest about this part, because people have strong feelings about AI in games. AI doesn't make a game for me. I still design the gameplay, write the code, make the decisions and clean up the output. What it does is let one person cover the areas where they lack skills, so more ideas get finished instead of abandoned.

[Optional: add a line on how you think about AI art as a tool versus a replacement for artists.]

Recreating the games we dreamt of as kids

This is the part I'm most excited about. Back in the Snail & Co days, we had huge ideas and tiny tools. We dreamt up games that were far beyond what we could build at the time.

Now I can go back to those ideas and finally build them properly. [Add an example of a childhood idea you've revisited or plan to revisit.]

It feels a bit like finishing a conversation I started with my brothers decades ago.

What's next for Zonto Games

Zonto is now a place where I can build and release the games I always wanted to make. [Add what's coming next, such as new games, a games hub, devlogs or a mailing list.]

If you want to follow along, you can [add your links here, such as your games page, social profiles or newsletter]. I'd love to hear what you think, especially if you also grew up making games with Visual Basic, Clickteam or RPG Maker.

FAQ

What is Zonto Games?

Zonto Games is an indie game studio run by Jamie Bartlett. It grew out of Snail & Co, a childhood games "company" he ran with his brothers.

Where does the name Zonto come from?

The name Zonto is inspired by the F1 driver Zonta. We chose it when we wanted the Snail & Co brand to feel more grown up.

What games has Zonto Games made?

The first games released under the Zonto name as an adult were Hungry Birds and Meaven in Space. More are in development.

What tools did you use as a kid?

My brothers and I made our first games with Visual Basic 5, Clickteam Games Factory and RPG Maker.

Do you use AI to make your games?

Yes. I use AI mainly to fill gaps in game art and to help bring ideas from my childhood to life. The design, code and creative decisions are still mine.