Charlie Dill did not arrive at Northern Michigan University with a plan to make video games. In fact, when he graduated in December 2024 with a degree in economics, he had no formal background in art or computer science at all. What he did have was discipline, curiosity and the willingness to teach himself something completely new.
Originally from Upstate New York, Dill came to NMU primarily for its National Training Site for wrestling. Like many student-athletes, his days were packed, but he credits NMU’s economics program—and its professors—as one of the most influential parts of his college experience. “We have a fantastic econ program at NMU,” Dill said, pointing to the strong faculty and collaborative environment that shaped how he thinks about systems and decision-making.
Ironically, those economics lessons would later become foundational to his work in game design. “Game design is all about tradeoffs, event creation, and giving players decisions,” Dill explained. “It’s all economics.” He often encourages students interested in game design to take an economics class, even if they never expect the two fields to overlap.
Dill’s entry into coding began shortly before his final semester at NMU, when a friend suggested he complete an online C++ course. Using free resources like LearnCpp.com, he taught himself the basics over the summer. Around the same time, he also found inspiration in NMU’s graphics professor Tom Adolphs, whose work in web development and HTML left a lasting impression. “Shoutout to him,” Dill said. “What a fantastic professor.”
That summer marked the beginning of Devoid, an indie game that started as a dorm-room project in Spalding Hall and quickly grew into something bigger. Today, Devoid is a commercial indie game developed by Luminous Bits, the company Dill founded as the project gained momentum. His co-founder, Jakub Mikolajczak—a University of Michigan graduate with a strong programming background—serves as the technical lead behind the game.
Like most new creative ventures, Devoid has yet to turn a profit, and Dill has embraced the reality of the grind. While building the game, he has taken on other jobs, including weed-whacking graveyards during the warmer months and doing marketing work for a co-working space in Cambridge, New York called The Valley. “You have to be gritty when starting a business,” Dill said. “I don’t mind it though. Quite frankly, I enjoy the grind.”
Currently, Devoid is available on Steam through an open playtest, with a major Version 4 update on the way. The update introduces couch co-op and a new level—an expansion Dill says will make previous versions feel “trivial” by comparison.
Readers interested in checking out Devoid for themselves can find more information, screenshots, and press materials on the game’s official press site at https://devoidgame.com/press . The game is also available on Steam, where players can currently jump into the open playtest for free. A major Version 4 update—adding couch co-op and a new level—is expected to release in the coming days, marking the biggest step forward for the project yet. For Dill, Devoid represents more than just a game; it’s proof that with persistence, self-teaching and a willingness to embrace the grind.
