Who says you can’t mix work with play? Brian Robbins (BS computer science ’01, MBA ’01) does it every day.
Plenty of folks would love to sit at his desk. Robbins is an executive producer and “gaming evangelist” for Fuel Industries, an interactive ad agency that literally adds fun and games to advertising.
Really cool games, too. Take, for example, Watch Me Change, the game Robbins helped build for the clothing giant The Gap. It lets users create a version of themselves online and perform virtual strip-teases that they can e-mail to friends.
Then there’s Mini Putt Adventures — an entire 18-hole mini-putt game on a course made of Lifesavers—on Wrigley’s Web site Candystand.com.
It seems Robbins was destined for the career. “When I was a kid, I’d play as many games as my parents would let me play,” he says. “I’d play pretty much
anything—racing, sports, even occasional word games.”
Gaming insiders have dubbed Robbins “one of the leading voices in the casual game industry.” He’s also the co-founder and chair emeritus of the industry’s leading trade group, the International Game Developers Association’s Casual Games Special Interest Group.
Beyond all the accolades and achievements, Robbins says the coolest part of his job is “seeing the games in action, and getting to see and hear the public’s
response. That’s fun.”