Jeremy Miles Johnson is an award-winning independent game developer who earned his Ph.D. in Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics from The University of Texas at Austin for his work advancing techniques for the optimization of slow positron moderation. Jeremy earned a Bachelor of Science in Physics and a Bachelor of Arts in Classical Studies from UT Arlington.
Jeremy began developing video games when he first had access to a computer, at age 9. He continued to develop his own games, and create mods and levels for others. In 2016, he cofounded 4th Wall Games and developed Harrowing Adventures, a multiplayer interactive fiction game, which led to his transition from teaching physics to video game development. He has also worked as a freelance artist, a research scientist, a technical writer, a staff comics artist for The Daily Texan, a storyboard artist, and a script writer.
Dr. Johnson鈥檚 creative interests exist at the intersection of teaching and experimental independent game development. His primary medium of expression is that of video games, but he also develops board games, gamebooks, and other related media. Working in media adjacent to video games enables him to hone his craft and improve as a developer on a shorter time scale than video game development allows for.
In his creative work Dr. Johnson has multiple foci, reflecting the diversity of efforts required to make a video game. From a design and programming perspective, he develops systems that enhance gameplay and provide greater quality and variety of interaction. As a storyteller, he is especially interested in how those systems interact with the narrative aspects of the game. Finally, he finds much of his inspiration for his work through constraints. This is particularly true for the visual aesthetics. So, he favors the simple aesthetics of black and white illustration, low-poly 3D models, or pixel art.
Dr. Johnson has developed and taught numerous courses in the Video Game Development major including Pixel Art and Animation, Senior Game Studio, Game Design Studio, Introduction to Digital Animation, Advanced Digital Animation, Coding for Non-Coders, Introduction to Digital Audio, World Building, Methods of Digital Production, and Interactive Storytelling.
- Ph.D., Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics, University of Texas at Austin, 2016
Dissertation: Toward higher-intensity positron beams : investigations in moderation efficiency and beam design - B.S. Physics, University of Texas at Arlington, 2005
- B.A. Classical Studies, University of Texas at Arlington, 2005
Chirality
Chirality is a gamebook created for The Lindenbaum Prize for Short Gamebook Fiction 2024/2025 competition. This work explores mechanics linked to the contest鈥檚 limitation of 100 entries.
Tenebrus
Tenebrus is a cooperative horror board game where the players are trapped in an ever-changing underground maze. Dr. Johnson created the artwork and visual design elements.
Jupe
Dr. Johnson was commissioned to create a black-and-white illustration for a story in the book Lone Wolf Anthology: Volume Two - Echoes of the Past. Jupe accompanies the short story 鈥淭he Legend of Vynar Jupe鈥 by Mark Baumann. It was published in March of 2025 by Holmgard Press. In this, he took inspiration from the original Lone Wolf illustrators, and sought to blend their styles with his own.
鈥Sagebrush鈥&苍产蝉辫;
This video game is currently in development. It is a modern retro old-school pixel art dungeon crawler roguelike-like. In it, the player controls a group of up to four characters who are attempting to ascend a tower. For the art style, Dr. Johnson has revived the obsolete technique of simulating 3D by using hand-drawn pixel art for every element of the environment in every possible position in the same way it was done in the late 1980's. Once games like Doom and Ultima: The Stygian Abyss came along, this pixel art technique became prohibitively time-consuming relative to using 3D. Fortunately contemporary technological advances have allowed Dr. Johnson to revisit this technique and revive a beloved visual aesthetic.
What Lies Beyond the Standing Stone
What Lies Beyond the Standing Stone is a fantasy/science fiction gamebook. This work was developed to minimize the amount of state-tracking a player was forced to do to play the game. This enabled a deeper exploration of the connection between traditional narrative and game mechanics.
Awakening Aboard the Anastasia
Awakening Aboard the Anastasia is a science fiction horror gamebook. The exploratory foci of this book hinge upon: 1) using novel presentations of standard interactive structures to influence the player鈥檚 experience, and 2) presenting multiple similar endings where the reward is not a particular story outcome but how much the player learns about the internal mystery.
Happy Fun Activity Book
Happy Fun Activity Book is an experimental interactive fiction and puzzle gamebook. Dr. Johnson's two main foci when creating this work involved reducing player/character separation to a minimum, and requiring players to violate rules and conventions of normal gamebook play in order to win.
Harrowing Adventures
A multiplayer interactive fiction video game created in Unity that was in development from 2016 to 2019.
Even Weirder Worlds
An extensive mod for the game, Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space, the sequel to Strange Adventures in Infinite Space.
Even Stranger Adventures in Infinite Space
An extensive mod for the 2002 game, Strange Adventures in Infinite Space. Elements of this work were incorporated into the sequel to this game.
- , NarraScope, Philadelphia, PA, June 2025
- Leaning into the limitations of Physical Gamebooks, SWPACA 2025, Albuquerque, NM, February 19 2025
- Asteroids Meets Snake: Facing New Design Challenges When Mashing Up Old Video Games, SWPACA 2024, Albuquerque, NM, February 23 2024