I will never forget the first time that I saw Erg Dude jump in my app after I had finished a pull on the rowing machine in the original game.
The story of Erg Dude starts with a course I was following on Udemy, in which I built my first iOS Spritekit game in a chapter called “Coin Man.” It was not lost on me the similarities between this game I had built and the fish game on Concept 2.
So, I thought it would be cool to combine what I knew about Bluetooth and SpriteKit for iOS and make a game that allows you to control the height of the character’s jump with a rowing machine. The game could feature obstacles like the Fish Game, but I could add power-ups, a shooting dynamic, and as many explosions as possible (which were lacking in the Fish Game) 
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When I showed my family, they liked the game, but the feedback was that I should add a health mechanic. This was beyond my programming capability at that time. Erg Dude was released five years ago.
Now, I have returned to make the sequel to that game and have advanced the game in many directions (Development took seven months on and off).
These include:
A story and an arch-enemy for Erg Dude. Specific levels, when completed, there is a boss fight to add variety to the game. A health mechanic with shields. Better graphics (Once I had given the designer the story and concept, it cost me $3000 in designer fees to create the graphics). A high-score leader board.I’m not a heavy-hitting app development studio with a big budget and venture capitalist backing. I’m a 37-year rowing enthusiast, essentially a big kid with a curious and creative mind, who happens to love rowing and all of the life-changing experiences that being involved with the sport has created.
This could help kids get off the couch and exercise while playing video games, which has mental and physical benefits.
I’ve no idea if this game will be a commercial success, but the artist engineer in me is happy with my Indie efforts, and I think I have developed something through a lot of blood, sweat, and tears that I am proud of.
I hope you like my game.
Respectfully submitted
