Moon Studios, of Ori and the Blind Forest fame, recently hired a fresh designer specifically for design skills demonstrated in a Dreams project that took two years to make. We’ve seen Dreams creators produce studio-grade experiences before, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a clear straight line from ‘made a thing in Dreams’ to ‘got hired at a major studio’ before. It’s the kind of career path that I expect and hope to see become more common as creative tools like Dreams become more available, and as the generations who grow up with them start considering or seeking games jobs. I was instantly curious what that process looked like here, so I reached out to Thomas Mahler, the creative director on both Ori games and Moon’s upcoming RPG as well as the primary person who hired this young designer, to learn more.