A (Very) Brief History of Hoyster Games
I could make a short story very long — but who has time for that?
I got my Amiga 500+ for Christmas in 1991, a replacement for my beloved Amstrad CPC. From that day, I knew I wanted to make games for it. I dabbled with Deluxe Paint and even started building a Doctor Who fan game in SEUCK, where K9 faced off against Daleks.
That game didn’t get very far. But the idea — the dream — never really left me.
It just went dormant for a few decades.
(Unlike my A500+, which still sits on my desk and sees regular use.)
In 2023, I was made redundant. Suddenly: cash poor, time rich. One quiet afternoon, I dug out SEUCK for a quick nostalgia trip. That quick trip turned into an afternoon… then a week… then a month. I found myself rebuilding that old fan game from 1993 — and loving it.
Until it all crashed.
SEUCK corrupted the save. Weeks of work gone. But hey — I still had time! So I rebuilt it again. And then… it happened again.
Frustrated but energised, I realised I didn’t want to give up. But I wasn’t a coder. I’d never really made a game. I needed something more powerful than SEUCK — but still accessible.
That’s when I found Scorpion Engine. Not WYSIWYG, but learnable. With a bit of scripting and a lot of tutorials, I got back to work.
By 2025, that fan game had transformed into Rex and the Galactic Plague — a nine-level, story-driven shooter for the Amiga 500, wrapped in a whole new universe. I was (and am) proud of what I made. To support the game, I formed Hoyster Games.
What Is Hoyster Games?
Hoyster Games is a home for new games built for old — but beloved — systems.
Rex and the Galactic Plague is just the beginning. There’s a sequel in the works (those noises from the Shadow Realm aren’t going away), a puzzle game spin-off called The Osiris Infection, and an entirely new horror-platformer currently known as Mask of the Beast.
From nothing but a long-held dream, a whole lot more is coming.
Meet the team
Meet the passionate creators behind Hoyster Games’ unique titles.
KEVIN WATSON-HOY
Director
Kevin has been dreaming of making Amiga games since 1992. In 2023, he finally decided to do something about it. He’s the founder, designer, artist, writer and causer of chaos behind Hoyster Games — with a love for pulp sci-fi, scanlines, and weapon names that sound like they came from a UNIT black ops file.
In-house QA team
The in-house team trying their very best to break everything (and often succeeding)
HARRISON & JAKE
QA
When they can be dragged (kicking and screaming) away from Roblox and Minecraft, Harrison and Jake provide invaluable quality assurance services — mainly by breaking everything and then explaining how dad could’ve done it better. Twice. With flair.
Hoyster Games: This Isn’t Retro, This is Brand New
It’s only old if you say it is
Great games don’t need modern hardware. They just need good ideas.
Older systems still have lots to give. We’re here to help them say it.
Creative limits are a strength. Embrace them.