About

Ludisto is a small indie studio based in Berlin, Germany. The name is Esperanto for “player,” with the -isto ending that marks a profession. I’m Chuck Smith, and I’ve been making games and apps since the App Store launched in 2008!

I like to take a classic game and rethink it for the modern gamer. What the Shell started from five-in-a-row games like Renju and Pente, which have been played the same way for centuries with the first player having quite an advantage. Letting both players move at the same time changed everything: nobody can be sure of the next turn, and the game is never won or lost until the very last moment.

Many of my games are meant to be played together, in the same room or across the world. And I don’t make pay-to-win games: the heart of a good game should stay intact.

Not everything I make is a game. Dominion Minion takes the shuffling out of setting up the card game Dominion, and Sonow puts whatever is playing on your Sonos onto the big screen (fun fact: Sonow, like What the Shell, was written in the game engine Godot).

Questions or ideas? Get in touch.