We are Aesthetician Labs
A worker-owned games cooperative based in beautiful Rochester, NY.
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Our babies
Project: Fish 2023 - WIP!
Project: Fish is like if Goat Simulator and Grand Theft Auto had an aquatic child.
Terrorize humanity, undergo eldritch mutations, and take the fate of the world into your fins in this slapstick action sandbox.
Aquarial
2021 – Jam + PrototypeEmbark on a classic hero's journey, recover the golden pearl, and save the day! Aquarial is a jam game that went on to become the foundation for Project: Fish!
Unluck Quest
2017 – Jam + PrototypeJoin Dollop, an accidental hero who just wants to get where he's going, as he solves the problems of some unlucky objects and ultimately faces the horrible unluck goblin. Unluck Quest started as a jam game, and is now also a prototype for a larger world of radical consciousness anarchy where we want to explore identity and consciousness through a queer lens with quirky gameplay at its core.
Udder
2019Sometimes all it takes is an image. When Aidan came across an unsettling gif of a cow walking on its udder, he thought "I want a game of this." The result: an udderly ridiculous runner. Balance yourself as you gain speed and try not to hit your head!
Crazy Platez
2018Your responsibility as a Crazy Platez delivery driver is to keep the people of Rochester, NY satisfied and full! Race against the clock to deliver plates and refill your tank before you run out of gas.
Awards
Client Projects
Monster Loves You Too!
2022-23Monster Loves You Too! is a graphic novel adventure from Dejobaan Games and Radial Games. We worked with Dejobaan and Radial to port and optimize the game for Nintendo Switch and iOS, as well as provide general development support.
Mini Metro
2022-23Mini Metro is a strategy simulation game about designing a subway map for a growing city. Draw lines between stations and start your trains running. As new stations open, redraw your lines to keep them efficient. Decide where to use your limited resources. How long can you keep the city moving?
We're working with Dino Polo Club and Radial Games to bring the global and China Switch releases up to date and fix bugs along the way!
The Vote Needs U
2020Voting accessibility was a major issue on the ballot in the 2020 US General Election and media agency Partners + Napier was looking for an engaging way to represent that for their voter engagement campaign, The Vote Needs U.
We worked with P+N to build an award winning game within a tight (and understandably immutable) timeline. It communicates the frustration felt by disenfranchised voters, and drives players to take action by making it easy to register to vote.
Awards & Recognition
- RAF American Advertising Awards - Online Interactive
- RAF American Advertising Awards - Political Advertising
Squire for Hire
2020Letiman Games and Jon Merchant asked us to help them bring their innovative 1-4 player tile laying table top game to Android and iOS in a way that would make it feel like it was designed to be there in the first place.
The result? A game that "does a wonderful job of capturing the feeling of the original game" while improving on UX issues in the physical game. But we didn't just develop an excellent mobile adaptation of the original game, we also worked with Letiman and Jon to add mobile-exclusive features like challenges, achievements, leaderboards, unlockable content, and more while still staying within their budget.
Awards & Recognition
- App-solutely Amazing - Squire for Hire (Digital Edition)
- Squire for Hire Review - Pixelated Cardboard
Team
Our Team
Aidan Markham
He/Him Lead Artist
Sam Magnolia
They/Them Producer & Operations Manager
Noah Magnolia
They/Them Lead DeveloperAbout
Who we are
Aesthetician Labs (pronounced “es-the-tish-en”) is a worker-owned games cooperative based in beautiful Rochester, NY. We founded AeLa in 2018 after winning the New York State Game Dev challenge with our game, Crazy Platez. Our team has experience building games for many different platforms including desktop, console, mobile, and beyond. We've even built an arcade cabinet!
Our Vision
We're children of the internet. We grew up during the golden era of Flash games and as designers, we cut our teeth on game jams like Ludum Dare and Global Game Jam. We've spent years honing our skills building games inspired by online culture, and we continue to bring the quirky, tight, and juicy energy of the Flash era to the games we make today.
As queer creators, we bring our experiences and perspectives into the stories we tell. We want to make games that are silly, whimsical, and subversive while still being sincere, uplifting, and accessible for everyone.
Our Mission
Our core mission as a cooperative is to enable our members to focus on their creative passions by cultivating a secure and sustainable environment. AeLa's goal is to serve as a "shield" from capitalism with equitable pay, security, and compassionate production schedules that best support our members.
We're also committed to consensus-based operations, transparency, and accountability. We each have our specialties, but everyone has a voice and a vote when it comes to the decisions we make. We believe this makes for both stronger work and better working conditions for our members.
Services
Let's work together
We bring fresh creative energy to every project we work on and we love to take on new challenges. No matter how big or small, we can help you bring your ideas to life!
Ports & adaptation
We have years of experience shipping Unity games for Nintendo Switch, Xbox, macOS, iOS, and Android. Let us help you get your digital or physical game on these platforms!
Programming & development support
Need a hand with a specific technical problem or just general development support? From front end to back end, we've got you covered! We can also help you with optimization, performance testing, and build automation. We have tons of experience with Unity, C#, Node.js, Jenkins, and more!
Rapid prototyping & design
We can help you generate and prove new ideas lightning fast. Whether you need consulting, implementation, or the full package, we're ready to help!
3D modeling & rendering
Is your asset list overwhelming? We can provide prop and environment modeling, UV mapping, texturing, lighting, and more!
Testimonials
Who we've worked with
Mailing List
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Contact
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