James Long: the Top Secret developer on how video games can change the world

'I'd like to see more games engage people politically. Playing a game can even be a form of activism'

Midway through a university course in theoretical physics, James Long decided that he wanted to make video games for a living. "Video games are just more communicable than theoretical physics," he says. "They're more primal, more political." Long's realisation came at a key moment, not only in his development, but also in what he sees as the medium's evolution. "Games were becoming a superset of all other art forms: painting, architecture, music, narrative," he says. "And on top of that, they explore agency, discovery, and play itself."

Long's first game, made with four friends for an international student competition, seemingly does little to meet this grandiose potential. Sculpty is an iPad game in which players must squeeze, squash, and stretch an anthropomorphic blob while guiding it through a jungle's sweltering terrors. Despite the game's simplicity and child-like appeal, Sculpty, which was nominated for a Bafta, was a crucial learning experience for Long. He describes the thrill of seeing people play and replay the game as instrumental in giving him confidence to continue.