Seth Able Robinson
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Seth Able Robinson (born February 14, 1975) is an American video game developer best known for creating the influential BBS door games Legend of the Red Dragon (LORD) and Planets: The Exploration of Space (TEOS). As founder of Robinson Technologies, he has created numerous games spanning from the BBS era through modern mobile platforms.
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[edit] Early Life and BBS Era
Robinson began programming at a young age, creating Legend of the Red Dragon in 1989 when he was only 14 years old. He developed LORD for his Amiga-based BBS to attract new users. The game became wildly popular across BBS systems and is considered one of the most influential door games of the era.
In the early 1990s, Robinson released Planets: The Exploration of Space (TEOS), which he described as "kind of like LORD mixed with TradeWars." Though Robinson never hosted TradeWars on his own BBS (it wasn't available for Commodore systems), he was an avid player and considered TradeWars 2002 his favorite BBS door game. TEOS incorporated several elements inspired by TradeWars, including:
- Cartels (similar to Corporations in TradeWars)
- Good/evil factions inspired by the TradeWars FedPolice (Alliance) and Mafia (Maraken)
- The Dark Ship Tavern (inspired by the Lost Trader's Tavern)
- Various character and location references
He also developed Legend of the Red Dragon II: New World, which featured an ANSI-based graphical map concept allowing players to control a character that could roam around the game world.
[edit] PC and Mobile Development
In 1997, Robinson Technologies released Dink Smallwood, an isometric adventure/RPG with a comedic focus. This marked his transition from BBS door games to standalone PC titles. In 1998, he sold the rights to his BBS games (LORD, LORD2, and TEOS) to Metropolis Gameport.
Through the late 1990s and 2000s, Robinson developed various PC titles including:
- Teenage Lawnmower
- Dungeon Scroll
- Funeral Quest (a Flash-based game)
He later expanded into mobile development, working on games for the Pocket PC platform and later smartphones. His mobile credits include ports of Duke Nukem and work on various other commercial titles.
[edit] Recent Career
In 2013, Robinson collaborated with Mike Hommel of Hamumu Software to create Growtopia, a multiplayer creative sandbox game for iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS. According to Robinson, Growtopia became his most commercially successful game, surpassing even the popularity of LORD.
As of recent years, Robinson describes himself as a "semi-retired indie gamedev" who focuses primarily on open-source software development.
[edit] Personal Life
Robinson is married to Akiko Robinson, who serves as CEO of Robinson Technologies. They have two sons, Cosmo and Eon. The family lives in Hiroshima, Japan, where they continue to operate Robinson Technologies.
[edit] Legacy
Seth Robinson's BBS games, particularly LORD, had an enormous impact on early online gaming communities. His work has inspired numerous clones and spiritual successors, including the web-based Legend of the Green Dragon. His career spans multiple gaming eras, from BBS door games to PC titles to mobile gaming, demonstrating remarkable adaptability across decades of technological change.
