J.E.Moores | My latest adventure has been designing indie iOS games for iPhone app store.

iOS Games

One of the greatest challenges I have as an artist is to stay with any specific medium. It’s true. One year I will be making resin toys, another year writing books, then suddenly laser cut wood, and then, from out of no where, video games. OK, shiny things distract me. It seems every time I grow an audience, I move on to a different art form. I don’t mean to abandon any of you. It’s like I’m unaware of everything else. I’m inside my own head, and each art project inspires the next in a most nonlinear way. I don’t ask my muse why, I just do as she commands.

Because I’m a cartoonist, I have always been into animation, but never very good at it. Many years ago I made a ton of clunky Halloween inspired animations that are still up at JackOLanern.ORG for your amusement. My buddy Mark Harvey and I recorded the Halloween songs, and I animated them using Flash, but Flash does not work on iOS devices, so it’s a thing of the past. I wanted a new animation program to replace Flash. You will notice my Halloween animations are simple, jerky, and have a basic graphic style. What I realized is that my style would be better for video games. That way the simple animations could come alive. It’s more fun to have control over the characters and join the interactive adventure. Gaming was the next logical step from the Flash animation, so I have begun making retro style arcade platform games.

Because I’m an art teacher with all that art school behind me, I have a thing for ancient art history. Since all that stuff is well over 100 years old, it is public domain. I thought it would be amazing to use art history as settings and sprites for video games. I could call it the boring art history series, or something like that. I started with Egyptian Hieroglyphs, because they already look like a platform video game to me! The game, Papyrus Underworld starts out a bit somber, but as you work your way and find the secret entrances into the underworld, the deeper you go, the crazier it gets. Eventually you will find your way to Eternity and join the never ending party.

To continue the boring art history series I used 17th century woodcuts of witches and demons to make a very naughty game based on a terrible real life court case documented in France 1677. The Affaire Des Poisons unveiled many cases of poisoning, Satan worship, child sacrifice, and lead to many witches being burned at the stake. In the game you play the top witch, gathering babies for Satan to exchange for potions to turn you into different demons, imps, and familiars with which you play the game with all new super powers. It’s cute, it’s creepy, it’s cool.

Art history does not have to wait any longer. I will cut it up, make it’s arms and legs wiggle, and let it dance around and party once again! I will admit I need a rest. I’m a bit of a wreck. To give these drawings and paintings life I have to give up a little of my own. I’ve been doing nothing else but making these games since I started. The game engine I use is called, Buildbox. It is a subscription cloud software, which means I am always paying for it. That motivates me to get ROI on the software. To do that, I have to make a lot of games and promote them so the games get players. All of that is new to me. I’m not a social media person either. I’m a recluse. Promotion is the hardest part for me, or at least the part that comes the least natural. I just want to be making stuff. I get lost in it. Who knows where the next good idea will come from? I forget there’s a world, and it feels great.

So I hope you will play my games. I hope you will tell others about them too. Share a link or screencap on your social media or Instagram. I’m all alone in here. It’s kinda dark and scary, but I’m used to it, so don’t worry, I’m OK. Have fun, and let me know what you think. Thank you for being you. Happy gaming!

Games by J.E.Moores

Affaire Des Poisons

Many of our fears of witchcraft come from the series of 1677-1682 investigations known as the Affair Des Poisons which focused on two notorious French Fortune Tellers, Catherine Monvoisin (La Voisin) and Marie Bosse (La Bosse). They sold love potions, good luck potions, and a hot little item referred to as inheritance potions, which was a very fancy name for poison. For a nominal fee La Bosse would sell these potions and powders, and instruct you how to use them. Wives could escape marriages, family members could inherit wealth, and lovers could remove rivals.

Woodcuts illustrating witches mixing potions, sacrificing babies, and consorting with devils were partly inspired by La Voisin and La Bosse’s 17th century crimes. La Voisin conducted Satanic black masses with the French aristocracy at her side including King Louis XIV’s favorite mistress, Madame de Montespan. Mme Montespan fearing that the king may soon tire of her, was willing to sell her soul to the devil, and poison her rivals, to keep her position.

After several poisonings and murders, the scandal made it to the court’s inner circle where the king feared for his life. Many deaths among the aristocracy were attributed to the secret sale of poisons. It led to a 5 year investigation and the systematic torture and execution of 36 people by burning at the stake.

La Voisin had been a midwife by trade. She secretly performed illegal abortions, and used the fetuses to conduct Satanic black masses for her wealthy clients. It was confessed by Madame Montespan that she paid La Voisin a great fee to conduct a black mass that involved a child sacrifice. During the investigation the remains of 2,500 infants were dug up in La Voisin’s garden. The horrific news spread across Europe.

The woodcuts that illustrated the news stories of the time created mass hysteria and fear of witches worldwide. I have always had a fascination with these old world depictions of witches. Because monsters and creatures are a feast for the imagination, I have made a video game based on 17th century woodcuts of witches, demons, devils, and imps. The game is oddly cute, while maintaining all the underlying horror of it all. It’s a strange trip, because you’re playing as the evil La Voisin herself, out on one of her terrible crime sprees!

The game starts out with La Voisin running around the countryside with Madame de Montespan. The two of you are collecting all the babies you can find, you know, for Satan. You must avoid the angry mob of Bible thumpin’ church goers, and find your way to Marie Bosse’s Potion Shop. There you can purchase different imps and familiars to do your evil bidding. Once you’ve paid Marie Bosse’s fee and unlocked the creature of your choice, you can play the game again with all new powers in the form of a flying demon, witch on a broomstick, sweet little pig, or a very handsome goat. It’s wicked good fun, and you’ll only go to hell a little bit for playing this game! Just a little. Like your toe. It could be possible that your toe might go to hell for playing this game.

Enjoy your evil rampage. You know you’ve earned it. The Affaire Des Poisons video game is available for free in the iOS app store.

Marie Bosse

Trumpty Dumpty Wall

Make America Great Again! Help Trumpty Dumpty build a wall. New iOS video game by J.E.Moores. It doesn’t matter if you are for or against this crazy wall that has shut our government down. Let this silly game relieve you of a little stress. Tap the screen and stack the bricks up high. If they topple off the base, you have to start over. I even bet you know the perfect person to share this with for a laugh.

Shout Outs

I thought it would be cool to offer shout outs on the walls of the Wiggly Loaf iOS game. That way you could submit a shout out, and when it publishes have your friend download the Wiggly Loaf iOS game. When they reach their custom level IT BLOWS THEIR MIND!

It’s a great way to send the gamer in your life a little love, and confuse the heck outta them all at the same time! They will wonder how you did it. This is how:

Go to WigglyLoaf.com and sign up for the Loafer List. That will email you the directions for getting your shout out published in the Wiggly Loaf iOS game! During the next update, the Loafer List will alert you when your shout out has gone live so you can share it with your friends.

Thanks again for getting Wiggly.

Papyrus Underworld

I have always loved the graphic design and craftsmanship of Egyptian hieroglyphs and hand painted papyrus. Because hieroglyphics are so linear, they already look like a platform game to me. I thought it would be cool to make an Egyptian themed game.

The ancient Egyptians mummified and preserved their bodies because they believed they would one day live again. I did what I could to return their Ka, and breathe life back into these ancient characters so they can rise up, run, dance, and frolic again. All you have to do is play the game to give them another chance to live in this world. It’s mind blowing to think they knew this day was coming, thousands and thousands of years ago. Amazing!

The game play of Papyrus Underworld is simple enough. Tap and Double Tap to hop over obstacles so the Goddess Isis can lead Queen Nefertari to her never ending banquet in Eternity.

First you must find the secret passage from the Temple into the Underworld. Once there, collect 10,000 Ankh to unlock the Toom of Doom Bonus Level, and from there find your way to Eternity where the party never ends.

Birdie Builds A Nest

Birdie Builds A Nest by J.E.Moores

Meet The Flanders

A reading from my book, Snotgrass.
Maine Humor by J.E.Moores.

I always wanted to write a humorous memoir about growing up in Maine during the late 60’s and early 70’s, and so I did with my first book, Snotgrass. This is a reading from the first chapter in that book called, Meet The Flanders.

I was born in 1964. It was a really crazy time in history. Maine seemed isolated from the violence of the civil rights movement, the assassination of JFK, and the sexual revolution. Maine seemed more like Norman Rockwell’s 1950’s. An idealized world where kids still walked to school all by themselves, and played outside with other kids unsupervised until dark. We didn’t have seat belts, the internet, iPhones, or YouTube, and we were just fine.

I was in love with comic books, MAD magazine, Sid and Marty Krofft’s Land of the Lost, Godzilla, Planet of the Apes, building tree forts, and writing and drawing our own comic strips during study hall ~ or we’d skip recess like total geeks and draw in the school’s library! I still love to draw comics.

My grandmother supported anything to do with reading and writing, so she often took me to the Rockland, Maine Greyhound Bus Station to browse comic books and the sci-fi fantasy horror magazines. I have put together a ton of family photos from that time, and have mashed it all together in the video above for your viewing entertainment. Thanks again, Jay ~

Rattler #2

Rattler #1

Rattler #1 for you all to enjoy.

I have been an Arts and Crafts camp counselor since 1984. This past summer I thought it would be fun to make an underground newspaper with our campers age 8-15. I wanted to give our photo department a boost with a ‘zine project mixed with a class in making comics. This way campers could draw, photograph, write, and create games, and have it all bound together into our own magazine.

Our camp already has an official yearbook called The Tattler, so we called our project, The Rattler. Those that contributed became Vipers interviewing counselors at picnic lunch, drawing snarky cartoons during rest hour, and Photoshopping things that never happened. Here is our first fun filled issue from summer 2017.

About Wiggly Loaf

I have been an arts and crafts camp counselor for most of my summers since 1984. Working at summer camps along the lakes of Maine have been the best days of my life. First, I like working in the art room with kids so I can steal all their great ideas. Second, I now have friends from all over the world, and camp friends are the best friends ever! Over time my own daughter became one of the campers, so here we are getting into two generations at camp!

I am such an old timer there. Part of my job is to set up camp early in the season. I go ten whole days before my family joins me. I get camp and the art room ready while my daughter and wife stay home until it’s time for everyone else to arrive a week or so after me. Our time apart happens to fall on Fathers Day, so each spring as I pack up to leave for eight weeks of camp, we have an early Fathers Day celebration before I go.

In our kitchen there is a chalkboard. I’m a great cook, but I’m a horrible namer. Even worse, I like to write the horrible titles of my entrees on this chalkboard. My version of Emphysema Lambada is delicious; it just has a horrible name. I don’t go a week without making a big batch of Bodarg-a-larg. The kids love it. I think you would, too.

Often, after a meal, I like to doodle on the chalkboard. One night before I went off to camp, I wanted something fun to leave behind. I wanted to draw a new character. I remember it well. I wanted to make the simplest creature I could. Sort of a Yupapotamus body mixed with a Swamp Bogger face… but simplified until it was only what it needed to be. I started to draw a rectangle with a face, but I gave it four little stumpy legs. I wrote “Don’t Get Weird” under it.

Wiggly Loaf 2016

Wiggly Loaf was born on our chalkboard. We had our Fathers Day party and all went off to sleep so I could get up early for that long drive to camp. But you know what? By morning that crazy daughter of mine had stayed up late and felted a nifty plush version of Wiggly Loaf for me to take to camp. It was my Fathers Day gift so I wouldn’t be all alone my first week of camp. I had Wiggly Loaf to keep me company.

Felted Wiggly Loaf

When I got to camp I was so taken with the Loaf my daughter made, I decided to make “Don’t Get Weird” posters and put them up all over camp. That way when she got there, she would see Wiggly Loaf everywhere, kinda in response to the life she gave the character by taking the time to make me one. If I needed to make a sign that said, “Please wash your paint brushes,” I drew Wiggly Loaf saying it.

In no time Wiggly Loaf was friends with everyone and became mascot of the Arts and Crafts room. Soon campers were making Wiggly Loaf comics, plush toys, necklaces, hand carved stamps, and screening T shirts. When other people wrote notes or made signs, they included their version of Wiggly Loaf. The character is simple enough for anyone to draw that it took on a life of its own.

thanks for being my friend

I made hundreds of #wigglyloaf memes during the winters to stay in touch with my summer friends. Several years later, the Loaf is going strong. I thought it would be fun to make a video game, so my camp friends could get in some quality Loaf time this winter.

Because Wiggly Loaf was born from love I wanted to be sure the game contained all of the essential elements to capture the pure Wiggly Loaf vibe. The game has to be non stressful and pleasantly challenging. Appropriate for all ages and skill levels. Funny, cute, or even better, kawaii. I didn’t want there to be any hurry. No timer, no rush, just zen comic mayhem. The background does not automatically scroll by, so you can go at your own pace.

After making Wiggly Loaf memes for years, I wanted the game to also contain positive affirmations so the player is congratulated for clearing levels and being so skilled. There are even friendly reminders to do your homework, which amuses me to no end. I wanted the game to be uplifting and fun for both parents and kids, so the homework reminders are a big hit. Oh yeah, I decided the game must be set in a chalkboard world, where it all began!

Nothing in the game harms you. Instead, you’re the problem! You only get in trouble when you step on the flowers or fall off the platform into the pit of doom. You must figure out the challenging puzzle of each level, dig tunnels, build stairs, and collect hearts along the way to open up new levels of the game. When you get far enough, there are new characters to unlock, so you can go back and play the different Wiggly Loaf variations.

Because it’s an indie game that I personally grind out myself from a dirty little machine in my basement, I can do things like publish shout outs during each upload for all you Loafers. People love seeing their secret messages and personal jokes in a game! It’s really cool. Want a shout out added to the game? Contact us through the WigglyLoaf.com web site, and we’ll see what we can do.

The game keeps growing. I love to sit down and design new levels for the game to keep it fresh. Do a search for Wiggly Loaf on the iOS app store, and keep the app updated to get new content as the game grows.

Want to help me spread a little campy joy and kindness? Tell your friends about our silly homemade game – but please remember:

Don’t Get Weird ~ Get Wiggly!
J.E.Moores