THE head of an award winning mobile games company has been grilled by games development students at Coleg Llandrillo, Rhos-on-Sea.

Carl Jones, owner of Pwhelli based Pixel Knights, fielded questions from more than 80 students on a wide range of topics: from how to get feedback on their work, through career opportunities, to how to get themselves known within the gaming industry.

He also gave a talk on his career to date, as well as explaining what he does on a day to day basis, current games in development and the different game engines utilised.

Pixel Knights specialises in mobile gaming for phones, iDevices and Android. It is one of the largest independent games studios in Wales. Its team has worked on a number of large projects for internationally renowned clients such as Microsoft, Credit Suisse, Ford Motor Company and the Metropolitan Police. As Carl said, “Things aren't just play here at Pixel Knights HQ”.

Two of the gaming company’s biggest hits are ‘Stackimals’ and ‘Retro Racing Rampage’. With the former, Carl decided to develop the bilingual game after he realised there was a lack of Welsh language games available for his three children. The latter was the fourth most popular title on Indie DB out of 47,865 titles and contains digital creations by two ex Coleg Llandrillo students.

Carl, who is a renowned software developer, photographer and avid gamer said: “I was delighted to be able to visit the students at Coleg Llandrillo. They asked a range of probing questions and I was delighted with both their enthusiasm and breadth of knowledge.”

Carl was brought up in Caernarfon, and the former Ysgol yr Hendre and Ysgol Syr Hugh Owen pupil went on to study at Manchester University. Before setting up Pixel Knights in 2011, Carl worked for VW (Japan), where he was part of the team which helped to develop in-car app, which included six different games.

Coleg Llandrillo Games Development tutor Rob Griffiths said: “This was an extremely valuable visit for our Games Development students. It was a fantastic opportunity to be able to see how the industry works from an insider’s point of view.”