The gaming industry is one of tremendous growth, and it shows no signs of stopping. Just ask Andrew Keplinger. For him, games are more than just a time-wasting indulgence; they represent an untapped opportunity.
Keplinger is the founder of Left Brain Games, a business that makes entertainment both educational and profitable. Since forming the company in 2004 to handle his own programming projects, demand has grown exponentially—he now requires 14 full-time developers and artists to keep up. Left Brain Games has worked with some big-name clients, ranging from McGraw Hill and Discovery Health to American Girl and DirecTV.
The company creates games for their clients’ websites, which are designed to entertain visitors while subtly referencing the company's products and services. Ideally, these games associate the company brand with a fun and positive experience.
Left Brain Games also works for the education industry. The right game can introduce new subjects and test students’ understanding, simultaneously capturing their attention and encouraging high retention of information. It's an effective teaching method regardless of the audience—some corporations even use these methods to administer employee training in a fun, engaging way.
Keplinger started programming on his Radio Shack TRS-80 Level 3 computer in the mid-1980s, and published his first game in the eighth grade. In 1992 he was hired by Queue Incorporated to head a group developing educational CD ROMS. Within a year he moved on to The Cute Company, one of the innovators of the new edutainment field. A few years later he joined McGraw Hill in its new CD ROM development unit. When McGraw Hill closed its technology division due to the economic downturn, Keplinger formed his own company, BrainStorm Institute, to pursue freelance opportunities. Eventually this company became Left Brain Games and Keplinger hired several of his former colleagues, building the company up to meet the current level of demand.
The recent interest in social networking games has created a whole new market for Left Brain Games. In 2010, they released a Facebook game called “University of You,” in which players construct a university using Facebook friends as students. The game is designed to provide a highly interactive and social experience using the basic components of other popular social networking games.
Left Brain Games also develops iPhone applications, stand-alone animations, kiosk applications, movie and TV promotions, virtual worlds, and other miscellaneous projects. Most of their programs are designed to run on both Apple and PC platforms. The company recently developed a Flash-based game development system called StoryTool that helps authors build complex content for eLearning and other educational programs.
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