Meet Madison Belka!

Hailing from the chilly lands of Minnesota, Madison Belka has joined HakJak Studios as our first out-of-state team member. She's an entrepreneur and brilliant young programmer who is already proving to be an invaluable addition to the studio!

Madison's journey into game development began at the age of 19, while she was an undergrad in college. She knew she wanted to make games, but wasn't moving in the right direction. That's when she installed Unity, made a cube, and... got so overwhelmed she promptly shut her laptop and walked away.

Undeterred, she signed up for Intro to Computer Science that fall, switched her major to CS, and graduated from Knox College in 2017 with a smile on her face and a head full of knowledge, ready to build great things!

Madison then went on to work at a startup company as a co-founder. (What?! That's amazing! Oh sorry... keep going.) She thought that was great and all, but couldn't stop thinking about making games instead. Life's too short to not do what you love.

Madison left her position at the startup, went back to Knox as head TA of the Computer Science department, extended her studies as a Post Bacc, and used her newly found free time to start working on games.

But it wasn't enough. She wanted to make games full time. So she devised a plan...

Using the kind of discipline we all wish we had, Madison worked hard, paid off all her debts, and saved up enough money to pursue game development full-time for two years! In that time she created her own successful indie game company--annnnd also learned that she hated running a business on her own. She longed to work with a creative team, focus her efforts on making great games, and leave boring business stuff to someone else. That's when she discovered HakJak Studios and the rest is history!

When Madison's not making games, she's playing them. Her favorites tend to be indie titles and Nintendo games. In fact, she once competed in a company-wide Mario Kart tournament and crushed everyone so badly she felt really guilty about winning the $50 gift card. Ha!

Madison also enjoys getting crafty, making art, health, fitness, and tea... I mean she really loves her tea. Some days we wonder if she drinks more tea than water. Perhaps that's the key to all this brainy power... hmm.

We're super happy to have Madison as part of the team and look forward to seeing all the cool stuff she's bound to create!

Madison in a Nutshell:

- Loves cute things

- Always planning ahead

- Somewhat morbid

- Makes too many puns