Smiling Cat Entertainment, LTD is a small, independent game development studio based in central Ohio. Founded in 2009 by long-time gamer Duke, Smiling Cat seeks to create unique games that are enjoyable to play and usually suitable for the entire family.
Past Successes
In August 2022, “Prepare For Warp: Unlimited Edition: Beyond Insanji” was released on Steam. This ambitious overhaul of the 2013 mobile title upped the ante with a much more aesthetically pleasing sensory experience.
An annual participant in Ludum Dare for several years, Duke set the bar higher than ever in Ludum Dare 38 (April 2017) by placing 34th in the Innovation category out of over 1,800 entries with the entry “The Deific’s Guide to Creating, Destroying, and Exploiting Pocket Worlds.“
In May 2016, “Dehoarder 2” was greenlit on Steam. This paved the way for Smiling Cat to move forward with development of the sequel to Smiling Cat’s first Ludum Dare entry.
In Ludum Dare 35 (April 2016), Duke placed 66th in the Humor category out of over 1,100 entries with his zany puzzle game with the nonsensical story, “Werepenguin’s Escape.“
In Ludum Dare 32 (April 2015), Duke placed 108th in the Humor Category out of over 1,300 entries with his 3D tribute to the classic arcade game Food Fight, “Dirty Fork: Unleash the Mayhem.“
In July 2014, Smiling Cat’s third mobile game, “Breaking Block“, was released. This loving and faithful tribute to previous games of its genre stands out with over 100 levels, including 13 boss fight levels. It has been downloaded over 16,000 times through Google Play and AppStore.
In May 2013, Smiling Cat’s first mobile game, “Vintage Pachinko“, was released. It is possibly the most accurate simulation of a classic pachinko machine. As of January 2018, it has sold over 2,300 copies.
In Ludum Dare 26 (April 2013), Duke’s freshman Ludum Dare entry, “Dehoarder“, placed 118th in the Humor category and 127th in the Innovation category out of over 1,600 entries. This game went on to be featured in several Let’s Plays and has inspired the sequel “Dehoarder 2”.
In February 2013, Smiling Cat released “EARL’s Warehouse“, a 3D voxel-based puzzle game, on Kongregate. It garnered over 5,000 plays.
In December 2010, Smiling Cat released the browser-based game “Chroma Invader”, a throwback to wave-based arcade shooters of the early 1980’s. It was featured as “Browser Pick of the Week” by the now-defunct diygamer.com site.
Executive Profile
Duke
Duke has been an avid gamer since the age of three, starting back in the era of the Atari 2600. He got his start in gaming late one night when he couldn’t sleep because his parents and their friends were having a rowdy match of Video Pinball. With no prior gaming experience, he proceeded to school everyone in the room before being sent back to bed. He narrowly survived the video game crash of 1982, and eventually became a professional software developer, never turning his back on his gaming roots. Smiling Cat Entertainment is his big opportunity to do what he has always dreamed of doing, on his terms.
In April of 2022, Duke took the next big step on the Smiling Cat journey, making the change to working for Smiling Cat Entertainment full time.
When not working for Smiling Cat, Duke can usually be found cooking for his wife, working on his house, playing video games, or watching anime.