Stephen Gillmurphy, known professionally as thecatamites, is an Irish independent

video game developer A video game developer is a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a large business with em ...

known for publishing short independent

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games, including '' Space Funeral'' and ''

Anthology of the Killer ''Anthology of the Killer'' is a series and collection of nine comedy horror, horror comedy games that were developed by Irish independent game creator Stephen Gillmurphy under the pseudonyms "garmentdistrict" and "thecatamites". The nine horror ...

''. His games are typified by the use of self-drawn, mixed-media graphics and offbeat, satirical tone. Described as publishing "weird outsider games," Gillmurphy has received positive reception from independent game outlets.

Career

Gillmurphy first started making games in 2008 using

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after exposure to the software in secondary school. He cites the independent games ''Wilfred The Hero'' by Brandon Abley and ''Psychosomnium'' by

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as major influences to create his own art in video games, which are often composed of diverse handmade materials including

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, paper cutouts, clay figurines, and scanned drawings. He has worked with a preference to developing short-form games, as illustrated by his 2014 compilation '' 50 Short Games'', due to the shortness "giving (the games) a larger range" and reflecting the "practical impulse to compress and avoid unnecessary work." Gillmurphy states this approach was influenced by his experience with

game jams A game jam is an event where participants try to make a video game from scratch. Depending on the format, participants might work independently, or in teams. The event duration usually ranges from 24 to 72 hours. Participants are generally program ...

, stating positive experiences with "shared constraints that kind of sync you up with other people." Gillmurphy has distributed his games on several websites, including under the names ''Games 4 Schools'', ''Mystery Zone'', and ''Harmony Zone'', the latter of which he has used to publish commercial titles including '' 50 Short Games''. He has also published critical essays on

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under the handle ''My Friend Pokey''. In 2020, Gillmurphy began publishing the ''

'' comedic horror series on GameJolt under the name garmentdistrict.

Recognition

Gillmurphy's work has received praise for its unique method of composition and unusual tone. ''

Game Jolt Game Jolt is a social community platform for video games, gamers and content creators. Founded by Yaprak and David DeCarmine, it is available on iOS, Android, and on the web and as a desktop app for Windows and Linux. Users share interactive ...

'' praised Gillmurphy as possessing "one of the most exciting and original bodies of work in gaming," describing his games as "funny, surreal, boundary-pushing, and full of wonder over the possibilities of videogames and the worlds they can create." Brendan Caldwell of ''

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'' praised Gillmurphy's writing, stating that it possesses an "odd humor .that lies somewhere between absurdity and academia," and complimented his

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as "self-contained asylums of weirdness." Writing for ''Game Developer'', Mike Rose stated that he "isn't like other developers," noting "the underlying mechanics of play will often force you into the sort of silly and sometimes uncomfortable territory that video games simply don't explore." ''Anthology Of The Killer'' received the 2024

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Nuovo Award The Nuovo Award or Innovation Award is an award given at the Independent Games Festival (IGF), an annual event that takes place during the Game Developers Conference, one of the largest gatherings of the indie video game industry. The award is g ...

Personal life

Gillmurphy was born in

Inchicore Inchicore () is a suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Located approximately west of the city centre, Inchicore was originally a small village separate from Dublin. The village developed around Richmond Barracks (built 1810) and Inchi ...

, a suburb of

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Ireland, and studied as a mathematics student. In 2012, Gillmurphy briefly worked in a full-time role as an insurance broker in Dublin. He is noted as being reticent to discuss his personal life on the Internet, preferring to "stay in the shadows."

Works

Under the names thecatamites, Harmony Zone, and garmentdistrict, Gillmurphy has self-published several independent games, including:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillmurphy, Stephen Irish video game designers Indie game developers Living people Video game writers People from Dublin (city) People from Inchicore Year of birth missing (living people)