Despite a failing economy and a challenging job market, a small gaming company emerges in the heart of Worcester, Massachusetts. In an effort to hold their own in the current economy, a father with 30 years of experience in the Graphic Design industry teams up with his fresh-out-of-college son in a difficult journey to create opportunity and a future for themselves in the gaming industry.
Located in downtown Worcester, Earl Gray Entertainment is working on their newest game for Apple products. Kevin Grimm, Creative Director and Co-Founder commutes from outside Hartford, CT., while son Chris Grimm, Lead Developer and Co-Founder, travels from Marlborough. Commuting from a distance and small budgets mean that they could only work together in the office three days out of the week. Teaching himself how to program, Chris changed his focus from bagging groceries to creating the technical side of the games using art created by his father. Both father and son overcame any and all obstacles the gaming world threw at them and released their first complete game, MILQ – The Quest, on June 18th.
Dedication and determination create the foundation of a great company. Along with the support of family and friends who helped raise money for their current office, both Kevin and Chris’s dedication to their dream has led them to the success of their first game. An acronym for Massive Intergalactic Leche Quest, MILQ features an alien named Klim, whose alien brethren have discovered the deliciousness of Kookies as invented by the great alien scientist Dr. Krevin Ookie – creator of the perfect snack. In a quest to find the perfect drink to accompany their delicious snack, Klim and his fellow aliens fly throughout the galaxy only to discover Milk, the perfect drink, exists on no other planet but Earth.
This well animated game featuring aesthetically pleasing artwork is sure to provide entertainment for people of all ages as they work to aid Klim in his quest for milk. This time of economic depression brings about discussion of buying locally and supporting the “little guy,” here, we see the underdog deciding their own fate and overcoming the obstacles and succeeding. Applying his passion and experience in art, Kevin Grimm took to designing and drawing, while his son Chris, a UConn graduate in Political Science, taught himself programming in order to begin their premiere company Earl Gray Entertainment. As a start-up company, Chris and Kevin strove to create a family friendly game available via iTunes and the Apple App Store. When asked about starting a game company amidst difficulttimes, Chris replied, “The idea was as exciting as it was scary - neither of us knew much about making games, or had even thought about it."
Not long after their project began, Kevin and Chris took on a third member to their team, Artan Myrtolli, as their main story writer. As irony would have it, Artan was being deployed to Afghanistan, an event which he refused to let get in the way of this project. In regards to his deployment, Artan never lost sight of his mission. However, he felt very strongly about his friend’s project. “There was no way I would let this company fail. There is too much talent and it feels too right. So the little free time I had was devoted to whatever they needed.”
