By: Joel Bryant

Ever noticed the random buffalo posters hanging around the school? That buffalo symbolizes Bison Software, a programming company formed right here in Heritage High School.  What started simply as the “Programming Club”, has morphed into an actual software company.  Led by advisor Mr. Bullock and president (now CEO) John Champion, a group of six students’ has realized their dream of professionally making games.  In the past months, Bison has launched three professional apps: two games (Space Gravity, Circularis) and the official HHS sports app, simply named Husky Athletics.  All are free and found on the iOS App Store, while Husky Athletics can also be found on the Google Play Store. Each app functions remarkably well, considering the level of experience these young programmers have.

Now, Bison is about to launch their biggest app yet- which according to CEO John Champion may also be one of the most revolutionary applications since the original launch of iOS. With Game Forger, Bison has created an app that accomplishes a feat that has never been reached.  Game Forger allows any person to create and play their own games- all in an app.  To explain it a little better, anyone can create an app and use an app inside this app.  Lead artist James Hamil creatively referred to the concept as “Appception”.   Now, players can make their own game when they’re tired of the games on the App Store. People can create their own content without having to do any complex coding- Bison did that for them.

“[Game Forger] may also be one of the most revolutionary applications since the original launch of iOS”

Game Forger lets  gamers utilize pre-loaded sprites, designed by Bison’s art team, as well as add their own images and art into the game.  In addition to the pre-installed art, the fledgling company will have continuous updates coming in that will provide even more goodies.  What’s most impressive about Game Forger is that it’s essentially unlimited in the types of games and animations users can create.  The app lets people apply almost every possible movement to their in-game objects and incorporate any method of controls imaginable.  Saying that this new app is one-of-a-kind is also not an exaggeration.  According to Champion, it needs its own category in the App Store. Game Forger has a legitimate chance to flip the mobile games industry on its head because Bison made the ease of use a top priority in development to attract a general audience of iOS users.  Game Forger started an open beta testing period on November 28th and Bison plans to release the free app completely in the first quarter of 2015. Time will tell if Game Forger can fulfill its massive potential.

In addition to Game Forger, Bison is also developing their company in other ways.  First, they plan to launch Urban King, a ridiculously funny app that quizzes users on various Urban Dictionary definitions.  While Urban King wasn’t as big a focus as Game Forger, the up and coming programmers still cared a lot about it. Urban Kinghas a shot at becoming one of Bison Software’s biggest successes.  Another new development for the company is their new website, which uses a very crisp and modern design that could be compared to very large businesses, such as Apple.  The new site will certainly help the word of Bison Software spread even further.  To learn more about Bison and their products, click here.