This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Kelsey Fiegle, an independent game developer behind Vortella’s Dress Up. She developed the game with her husband, Wes Thorburn. Their games are available on the browser gaming platform Poki. The essay has been edited for length and clarity.
I spent seven years as a user experience designer at a Chicago creative agency. When two people on my team were laid off,
I was expected to take on their work.
I remember thinking, “I can’t do the work of three people.”
I left without another job lined up. My husband, Wes Thorburn, who was already developing games independently, thought we could make games together, but I wanted to find another tech role first.
After about 100 applications, I decided to give the dress-up game I had been building a real shot, and it changed my life entirely within the month.
Client work wore me down
Wes and I met in a game design class while I was studying abroad in Australia in 2013. Neither of us was pursuing game design. I took the class because I needed extra credit and thought it sounded fun.
After we got married and settled in the US, Wes started experimenting with web games while waiting for his work permit. He eventually released games on Poki, and they began bringing in enough money to help pay our bills. I helped him with sound, 3D modeling, and user experience design while keeping my agency job.
For a long time, I was the agency’s only UX designer. Some days, I tracked time for 10 different clients. There were weekly presentations, deadlines, and projects that changed when a client mentioned a requirement late in the process.
I learned a lot and had a really good team, but the work was stressful. I’d pour my heart into a project, only to find out it was all wrong because the client had forgotten to tell us something.
Once, a client needed work finished on short notice. I worked all Saturday and Sunday to get it done. When the client saw it on Monday, they decided they needed a week to review it instead of two days. Moments like that wore me down.
A layoff became the last straw
Kelsey Fiegle
At a game developer conference in 2023, Wes and I asked the Poki team what kinds of games they wanted to see more of. They said dress-up games. I liked making things in 3D, so I began building a 3D dress-up game alongside my full-time job.
I had been trying to get more help for my team, so I wouldn’t have to work so much. Then the agency laid off two of my coworkers and expected me to pick up their work.
I liked my team and didn’t want to leave them in a difficult position, so I gave the agency a couple of months to find another solution. But they didn’t, so I couldn’t keep going.
Wes told me, “Kelsey, you can do this. We could do this together. It’d be fine. We could pull this off.” I wasn’t sure. I was applying hard for jobs because I wanted an in-house tech role, not another agency job.
It was difficult to make that move. Going through interviews and getting rejected hurt my confidence, especially when I really wanted a particular job. I told myself that if I reached 100 applications without finding anything, I would try game development.
That’s what happened. I spent about four months working full time on my dress-up game. I needed income, including money for health insurance, so I eventually released it even though I didn’t feel it was finished.
“Vortella’s Dress Up” launched in December 2024. I was shocked at how well it did. It got about 10 million plays in its first month.
The game gave us freedom
Vortella’s Dressup
Poki team members suggested that the game could do even better if it were multiplayer. Until then, Wes and I had mostly worked on separate games. He had experience building multiplayer features for his pizza game, so we decided to develop my game together.
Today, the game gets roughly 10 million to 15 million plays a month, though that changes with the season. It has so far reached 276 million total plays from 63.1 million unique players, with 50.6 million hours of total playtime. We keep adding clothing, minigames, and other features, and try to update it at least twice a month.
Wes and I had always wanted the flexibility to spend time with his family in Singapore and Australia. We visit them each year and add other destinations when we can. We’ve traveled to Vietnam and Hong Kong, visited relatives in Italy and Germany, and stopped by Poki’s office in Amsterdam.
I think about the tech job I wanted so badly during my search. If I were offered it now, I’d turn it down. I have a way better job.
