Kaizen Game Works is a UK based independent game studio formed in 2018 by two games industry veterans. Drawing on their experience working on BAFTA winning AAA narrative games and wildly popular high end mobile games, Kaizen want to change the rules around game narratives and how players experience them. With a focus on player agency and story interaction, Kaizen want to allow players to craft their own tales and express themselves within games.

Oli Clarke Smith

As I grow older I realise that my mind is full of indistinct memories. A moment when the light hit the concrete in a certain way. An instant where the quiet of a street made it feel like I was the only person alive. These memories are so hazy I have trouble remembering if they were from my life or from a scene in something. Does it matter?

Can we create games that do that? Can we take these half memories and create game worlds filled with vignettes that cause the player to distantly recall them on a hot summer’s evening?

More than that, can we create a game where the player has the freedom to explore and learn and in doing so, make these hazy vignettes have that much more meaning and power?

Games are at their best when we are creating our own paths; discovering the thousand mysteries of a unique world. When we express ourselves in a game, pushing and pulling at the mechanics and boundaries, we learn about ourselves and who we are.

That’s what this is all about.

Selected Previous Games

  • The Dark Pictures – Supermassive Games ­- Lead Designer
  • Until Dawn (PS4) – Supermassive Games ­- Level Team Lead
  • Wonton 51 (iOS) ­- Quarter Circle Punch Games ­- Creative Director
  • 50 Cent Blood on the Sand (360/PS3) ­- Swordfish Studios ­- Level Designer
  • Without Warning (PS2) ­- Circle Studio ­- Lead Designer

Phil Crabtree

One of the joys of travelling and experiencing new culture is how that challenges your perception of the familiar and normal. Different cultures bring new ideas. These cause excitement, intrigue and a burning desire to learn more.

The taste of a new style of food, or a view of a unfamiliar landscape can start a new obsession to uncover as much information as possible. Each discovery simultaneously answers and raises more questions, deepening your connection with this new world.

Playing games can offer the same sense of joy and discovery. Every new character, environment or sound adds depth to a world and invites further exploration. The most powerful experiences come from building a world where the player can truly choose their own path of discovery and piece together their own stories.

Selected Previous Games

  • Unannounced (Mobile) – Pixel Toys ­- Server Lead
  • Drop Dead (GearVR / Rift) – Pixel Toys ­- Senior Programmer
  • Magic Mixup ­(Mobile)- FF ­- Programmer
  • Flick Golf ­(3DS) – FF ­- Programmer
  • Wonton 51 (iOS) ­- Quarter Circle Punch Games ­- Technical Director