Runaway Train: Making my first game on a train

"Do you program?" Robin asked. "No," I replied, shaking my head.

We were sitting next to each other on a plastic bench. Robin Baumgarten, well-known indie developer, game jam veteran and the creator of Line Wobbler. Charlie Hall, writer at Polygon, an internet website.

Outside the window, miles of Iowa farmland stretched out toward the horizon. Massive white windmills swept past us on either side as the train gathered speed.

This wasn't my first trip aboard the California Zephyr, and it wasn't my first Train Jam. But it was one of the memorable experiences I've ever had working in games journalism. It's not often that you get to be around so many great minds, doing such fun and frivolous things.