Lassie Games Presents: "What Makes You Tick?"
What Makes You Tick? is a classic adventure game that tells the story of a young man named Nathan who has been sent by his university to deliver an important message to a retired professor. However, while searching around the professor's last known residence, Nathan discovers that he's not the only one seeking the old man and his brilliance.
Originally released in May 2007, What Makes You Tick? was a freeware game by Matthias Kempke built using Greg MacWilliam's original Lassie game engine (built on Macromedia Director). Following its release, Tick quickly received wide recognition as an outstanding independent developer achievement by sources including BBC Entertainment and PC Gamer Magazine, and has remained a popular indie title since.
In response to Tick's popularity, Matt and Greg teamed up to produce a sequel, titled What Makes You Tick: A Stitch in Time. Stitch greatly expands upon the world of What Makes You Tick? to conclude the original story and introduce many new intrigues. Stitch was built with a formal production budget and released in September of 2010 as a commercial game.
The original What Makes You Tick? had been left poorly supported on modern systems as time and technology moved on. Keeping the spirit alive, Matt and Greg worked to modernize the original What Makes You Tick? into an online-playable adventure powered by the Stitch engine (built on Adobe Flash). Rereleased in January 2012 as a freeware game, the modernized version introduced licensed music, new interface features, and better continuity with Stitch.
After eight years of silent subtitles, Greg approached the fabulous Maryland-based Happenstance Theater Company about finally recording an audio drama for What Makes You Tick?. They accepted the project, and the complete game screenplay was recorded in about 5-hours of studio time. The talkie version brought closure to the game's decade-long production cycle.
In 2004, Lassie engine programmer Greg MacWilliam visited Matthias Kempke for the first time at his home in Germany. Before Greg left the United States, he asked if there was any novelty items he could bring for Matt. Matt replied, "Dr. Pepper... in a can." Years later while creating What Makes You Tick?, Matt paid homage to the visit by giving Greg a cameo in the game where he offers our hero a can of Dr. Pepper.
In 2015, Greg was sitting quietly at an airport bar when the Dr. Pepper Hermit Crab commercial came on, and he nearly fell out of his chair. Matt and Greg had no prior awareness of the commercial and assume it was released that year—which would put it about eight years after the release of Tick. While there's no hard proof that the Tick hermit crab inspired the television commercial, the similarities are difficult to ignore.