About me

Hello, my name is Philip Rosenqvist. I’m 28 years old and live in Stockholm. I’ve been coding since 2018, got my bachelor’s degree in 2024, and began working professionally in 2025, although I did freelance work during my studies.

I love creating software with code, and I’m currently pursuing my dream of developing my own game. You can read about the development of my game here on my blog.

My favourite music is metal, metalcore, and deathcore, although I also love punk and rap. Anything that slaps, really and make you say “oh, damn”.

So, why am I doing this?

When I was 10 years old, there was this game called Little Big Planet , developed by the original team at Media Molecule . In short, the game was about creating things by designing platform games, puzzles, and really anything you could come up with. Media Molecule encouraged their players to be creative. I was hooked.

I didn’t understand it at the time, but I later realised that I was, in fact, programming games within that game. Although the syntax was more physical, it was programming nevertheless. I knew from then on that I wanted to develop games one day.

During school

In Sweden, after high school, you choose a programme that you want to study in “gymnasiet.” I chose the technical programme because I wanted to become a game developer. However, my time in school was very difficult due to reasons outside of school, and I felt that I needed to take a break. So, I took a year off and chose a new direction, which was social science (a.k.a. Samhällsvetenskapsprogrammet).

I did enjoy the studies, but I knew they weren’t really what I wanted to do. However, by that point, I had already given up on the game development path because I honestly thought that I wasn’t smart enough to pursue it. So, during my studies, I pursued a military career instead.

In 2014, I went to a military boot camp for teenagers in Boden, way up north in Sweden, for two weeks. I loved the camaraderie and being out in nature, so I believed that I had found my new calling. After that, I joined “Försvarsutbildarna,” which is essentially the Scouts, but within the military. At this point, I was determined to become a soldier.

Around my gymnasiet graduation, I had to decide whether I wanted to do the basic military training programme (GU, as it was called back then). I declined, however, so once again I had to find something else to do. The reason I declined was that although I loved the camaraderie and being out in nature, I despised the idea of having to shoot and kill someone. So, I couldn’t do it.

Post high-school graduation

After graduating in 2018, I did a bunch of small jobs here and there. Most of the time, I worked part-time as a preschool teacher. One day, however, during a sick day, I was bored out of my mind. Like, beyond bored. I was also slightly lost when it came to what I actually wanted to do with my life.

I began daydreaming and thought about LittleBigPlanet again, and how much I loved that game. I then started thinking about programming again. I had my little MacBook that I had bought from school, and I enrolled in an online programming course.

I began with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. I then moved on to PHP and eventually learned about relational databases with MySQLi. Although it wasn’t game development, I had finally found something that I was genuinely good at and, most importantly, had fun doing.

During and after my bachelor's programme

Between 2019 and 2021, I worked in different fields, but mainly in the steel industry. I tried applying to schools, but I was rejected every year. So, I started working on improving my grades and studied mathematics, science, and everything else I needed. Finally, in 2022, I got into the Web Programming programme in Skövde.

During that time, I began freelancing in web development, creating full-stack websites. I also started designing UI and UX. I graduated in 2024 and, shortly afterwards, began working full-time as a web developer.

Finally begun what I want

But my itch for game development has always been there. Eventually, I said, “Fuck it, let’s make a game then.”.

So, I picked up Programming: Principles and Practice Using C++ by Bjarne Stroustrup and began learning C++. I then started practising pixel art, and I’m now finally ready to develop my own game.