Michael Hicks is a busy guy. Before even graduating from the Game Development bachelor’s program in 2013, he released three independent games for Xbox 360. And he hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down since getting his degree– he released the critically acclaimed game Pillar in 2015 and, more recently, The Path of Motus for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

The Path of Motus follows a young goblin as he attempts to build a series of bridges connecting his forest homeland to the outside world. Along the way, he encounters adversaries who use verbal insults to thwart his quest. Players build bridges, deflect bullies, and face other unique challenges related to Motus’ journey. Michael handled the game’s story, programming, design, and music, while his friend and collaborator Goncalo Atunes focused on the art and animation.

“We spent three years working on this game,” says Michael. “The biggest challenge was that our standards of quality kept increasing. Personally, I kept discovering more interesting things on the design side that I wanted to explore. The metaphor I like to use is that you plant a seed that represents your initial idea, but as time goes on the seed grows into a tree and you can never predict what the final thing will look like. At bigger studios, they're forced to trim limbs off to meet deadlines and such, but we weren't constrained by time so we could nurture the tree naturally as it grows into something special.”

You can download The Path of Motus here. In the meantime, check out the trailer.