Brent Boehner (’12)

I had originally intended to only play one round of Arlo’s Adventure, Bethel alumnus Brent Boehner’s (’12) new iPad and iPhone app. But I quickly realized that was only wishful thinking after an hour of traveling through dungeons, shooting zombies and scaling castles. I was fortunate to speak with Boehner, the man behind the game, and was able to see how a visual art major became the creator of his own app.

Boehner graduated from Bethel with a detailed knowledge of illustrating programs like Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. This knowledge led him to  Kyle McKeever who he later partnered with to create Cinopt Studios, an organization that partners with CrumplePop to create video effects for editing software. Boehner serves as the graphic designer for the company, while McKeever handles the coding of the apps. Together, McKeever and Boehner created a few arcade games for the app store, but decided to devote their time to a larger project.

“We wanted to challenge ourselves by taking on a project much bigger than our previous efforts,” says Boehner.

Boehner and McKeever wanted to create a game that was reminiscent of the retro-inspired games of their youth. The result: a pixelated, multi-level game following a wizard named Arlo whose magical powers were stolen by unknown villains. Arlo must set out on his journey to retrieve his stolen powers and defeat his enemies.

“Expect to feel like a kid in the 1980s playing Nintendo games in the family room,” says Boehner.

Boehner’s app is refreshingly distinct from the other more modern games found in the app stores today. The combination of the pixelated graphics and kitschy music reminded me of my days playing Mario Bros with my siblings. From the classroom to the app store, Boehner has put his education into practice, giving graphic design majors another avenue to possibly follow in the future.

Another App Grad

Boehner is not the only Bethel alum to create and sell his own iPhone and iPad app. Brandon Yates (’12) graduated with a degree in organizational management.

His schooling came in handy when he set out to create a mobile app development company called B2Y2. Yates’ experience at Bethel taught him how to divide the responsibilities of the company between the other owner and himself. Together, B2Y2 created the app Stacked!

Stacked! is a card game based off Skip-Bo and Gin Rummy that allows you to play with friends and also against a computer. Yates’ app is free and offered in the app store.