Carmack grew up playing with computers in a suburb of Kansas City (he was sent to a juvenile home at 14 after breaking into a school to steal an Apple II) and quit college early to become a game programmer.

FORBES: Magazine Article

The free game was designed by programmer Mike Armstrong, and its creators, who include researchers Yoham Bachrach, 32, and Pushmeet Kohli, 29, hope they can eventually establish a Facebook Game Theory Lab.

FORBES: Microsoft Uses Facebook As Giant 'Lab' To Study Game Theory

Preece, a former Visual Basic programmer, says the game was played by 4 million people after it went live in March 2007, allowing him to quit his day job and build games full time.

FORBES: Casual Games, Hard Money

Double Fine programmer Anna Kipnis pitched the idea of a game jam for Molydeux titles on Twitter, and it quickly picked up steam.

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With their small screens and limited processing power, mobile phones are a throwback to the 1980s, when a lone programmer toiling over a computer could cook up a hit game in a few weeks.

ECONOMIST: Video games

As a pure game experience, Lords of Midnight remains a masterclass, and a demonstration of what one sufficiently imaginative programmer can do with a solid and extensible mechanic.

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Valve programmer Joe Ludwig revealed as much during a recent visit Engadget paid to the Bellevue, Washington-based game company.

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