The Kid Who Uploaded Games to Yahoo Korea, Now Making Games at 31

Uncategorized
·Dante Chun

I was in 4th grade. While playing Flash games on Yahoo Korea (야후꾸러기), a thought suddenly crossed my mind.

"Can I make something like this too?"

A Kid Who Dreamed of Making Flash Games

Those were the golden days of Flash games. Yahoo Korea, Shiftcafe, Jujeonja.com... I spent countless hours playing all sorts of Flash games on these sites.

One day, I installed Flash MX and started following ActionScript 2.0 tutorials. There were barely any resources in Korean, so I had to translate them word by word with a dictionary open beside me.

My first game was incredibly simple. Move a character with the mouse to dodge falling objects. Looking back, it must have been terrible, but at that moment, the fact that something I created was moving on the screen felt like pure magic.

Programming Started with ActionScript

ActionScript 2.0 was actually my first programming language.

// Some code I wrote back then
onClipEvent(enterFrame) {
    if(Key.isDown(Key.LEFT)) {
        this._x -= 5;
    }
}

Writing code like this, I naturally learned concepts like conditionals, loops, and variables. School didn't teach any of this, but my passion for making games drove me to learn on my own.

I made several games and uploaded them to Yahoo Korea. I still remember the thrill of seeing ratings and comments. Someone was actually playing my game—that feedback brought immense joy.

Some Things Never Change

Nearly 20 years have passed since then.

Flash has become history, and Yahoo Korea shut down long ago. I became a developer, building web services, designing APIs, and working with databases.

Yet somehow, the passion for game development always remained in a corner of my heart.

Whenever I found an interesting algorithm at work, I'd think "this would be fun in a game." On weekends when I had nothing to do, I'd have Unity or Godot tutorials playing in the background.

At 31, Making Games Again

Earlier this year, I made a decision. Let's actually release a game.

Nothing grand—just a simple but fun game. Something anyone can play easily and enjoy, even if just for a moment.

That's how Pencil Picker was born.

Pencil Picker gameplay screen

It's a simple game where you find the longest pencil among several. The rules are simple, but it's surprisingly tricky and addictive once you start playing.

First Game Launch on Toss App-in-Toss

Pencil Picker was registered on Toss's App-in-Toss platform. While web, iOS, and Android versions exist, the App-in-Toss version holds special meaning.

You can play directly within the Toss app and compete with friends. And most importantly...

It's my first official game launch on a platform.

The kid who uploaded games to Yahoo Korea in elementary school has finally taken his first step on a proper gaming platform at 31.

What's Next

Pencil Picker is just the beginning.

I plan to continue making light, casual games. They might not be AAA titles, but I want to create games that people can enjoy during their commute, lunch break, or before bed.

I want to tell my younger self:

"Hey, you'll still be making games as an adult. And way more people will be able to play them."

Want to try Pencil Picker?

다른 글