About Me

Updated October 16th, 2023

Meet The Developer

Hello, my name is Matthew McCutcheon, and I am the creator of Dream Portal Games and Recurring Dreams. I've always had a passion for games, art, and coding. My first experience with game design was with RPG Maker way back in middle school. In high school, I made custom maps for Warcraft 3 and created a small Fire Emblem demo using Java. At college, I created a short Zelda demo using C++ and Allegro, which the professor was so impressed with he showed it to future classes as a sample project. I graduated from college at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, FL in 2012, where I earned a Bachelor of Science degree with honors in aerospace engineering. At the time, I believed engineering would teach me a lot and lead to a good career, but ultimately I still found my passion to be designing games. About a year later, I decided that I would create and manage my own game design company using my knowledge of math, physics, art, and programming. I started teaching myself how to use Gamemaker Studio, which I have now used for over 10 years. With patience and diligence, I refined my game ideas and artistic ability since then all while working a full time job to pay my bills. In 2020, I launched Dream Portal Games, and released my first demo for Recurring Dreams. It was a homage to many of my favorite games growing up as well as a loveletter to the dreamworld I adore to this day.

My biggest inspiration for going into game design was playing The Binding of Isaac in college. This was a very fun game for me, and it was primarily made by just two people. It got me thinking that it would be possible to make something on my own if I wanted. When brainstorming on what types of games I wanted to make, I knew that my dream experiences would really shape an interesting world for players as just about anything is possible there. I've always had a strong memory for my dreams, and around the age of 15, I started having lucid dreams. Since then I've had all sorts of interesting abilities while dreaming such as flying, elemental manipulation, teleporting, reshaping surroundings, rotating gravity, superspeed movement, travelling through time, etc. Many of the levels and enemy designs within Recurring Dreams are based on actual dreams I've had. A big part of the game is about overcoming fears and defeating nightmares. This too was an experience I had as a child with some recurring nightmares I experienced. Eventually, I found the courage to defeat them, and never had another nightmare since. I felt nightmares were a good focal point for the primary gameplay but also wanted to feature other types of dreams, so I designed minigames that could give a different experience to players and reward them for completing them.

My goal as a developer is to create fun, interesting, and challenging games. I strive to create an enjoyable experience that players of all ages and skill levels can enjoy. Throughout my journey of development, I encountered many hurdles to adapt to, which I believe have strengthened me as a developer. I decided at one point to release my game demo on as many platforms as possible, and I learned a lot about the production pipeline for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and HTML5. New updates to Gamemaker Studio often broke things for some platforms, and I took those opportunities to create workarounds and report bugs to the engine developers. These updates often presented new features to learn and grow with, which is part of why I like Gamemaker Studio so much. Everything is well documented and there's a nice community where developers can work together to make a better engine for everyone. I always welcome new challenges and am eager to grow my skills, whether it be from learning new software, getting feedback on my game, or otherwise. Making games is a long journey, and I hope to have your support along the way. It is my sincerest hope that my games fondly inspire your dreams, both asleep and awake.