Tom Francis is an indie game developer, games journalist, and occasional author from the UK. He is the founder of his own tiny game studio, Suspicious Developments.
Francis began his career as a games journalist, and worked for many years at PC Gamer. Eventually he decided to try his hand at creating a game himself. His debut game, Gunpoint, sold far better then he ever dreamed, so he officially quit his day job
and started making games full-time.
He's pretty funny.
His blog is http://www.pentadact.com/.
The Defenestration Trilogy (i.e. "major" games):
- Gunpoint (2013)
- Heat Signature (2017)
- Tactical Breach Wizards (still in development as of November 2023): An isometric, turn-based tactics game where you control a magical SWAT team as they unravel a global conspiracy.
Other games
- Distance (2014): A "visual short story" by Natalie Hanke. Francis only did the programming.
- SimAntics (2014): 2D multiplayer game where players steer anteater tongues down long tunnels. Co-created with Liselore Goedhart. Made in two days for the Super Game Jam documentary series. Name is an obvious pun on SimAnt.
- Floating Point (2014): A 2D grapple-hook game with chill vibes. No objective beyond getting a long combo and feeling real smooth.
- Morphblade (2017): A hex-grid, turn-based tactics game with no story. The space you land on after you move determines your weapon type for your next move. Spaces can be added or upgraded between enemy waves.
Non-game works
- Francis contributed short stories to both of the Machine of Death anthologies:
- "Exploded" in Machine of Death
- "Lazarus Reactor Fission Sequence" in This Is How You Die
