Nicodemus Madehdou isn’t just a lover of video games. He’s obsessed with creating them, too.
He co-founded Jumpbutton Studio in 2009—when he was still in middle school, no less—and brought on developers and designers from all over the world to create video games.
Currently, his team is hoping to launch a mobile app called ME.mory, which is aimed at helping brain-injury patients and other people who suffer from memory loss to log their life events. Jumpbutton Studio is also developing “Keeper and the Soldier,” a video game that follows a young girl as she helps a “forgotten guardian in a quest to restore history.”
CATEGORY: Science and Tech
AGE: 20
HOMETOWN: Philadelphia
EDUCATION: Penn State, Abington
SOCIAL MEDIA: Twitter, Instagram
In 2015, he presented one of his first video games to the White House after being selected as an Entertainment Software Association LOFT Innovation fellow. For “Turbo Finger Swipe,” an educational game for kindergarteners, Jumpbutton received a $1,000 grant to keep creating socially conscious games.
In 2017, Jumpbutton hopes to launch a nonprofit organization, titled Curiosity180, to inspire, educate and motivate gamers. Instilled in the mission of Jumpbutton Studio is a dedication to not only create fun games, but to also “help create a better world.”
“We hope that ‘Keeper and the Soldier’ is able to reveal the harsh reality of child abuse, but also pave the way for other game developers to create games that tackle important social issues,” Jumpbutton Studio’s website reads.