Jones in the Fast Lane on steroids. In the Middle Ages.

It is 1992. A beige 486 hums in the study, the turbo button glows, and a 13-year-old Fernand Smeets is trying to get a job, a diploma and a bit of happiness before the clock runs out. "My dad was an accountant," he laughs. "He needed the processing power. But honestly, he just liked having a fast PC."

More than thirty years later, that kid has built his own version. Wilbur Climbs the Guild Ladder is a life-sim board game: every week burns one candle, and every hour has to count. Work at the bakery, study at the cloister school, have fun at the tavern, pay your rent on time and climb the guild ladder. Before Mayor Plumpton does.

Scratching an old itch

"Jones was simple," Fernand says. "Once you knew the formula, the challenge was gone." He and his friend Maarten van Wesel, his Jones buddy since school, agreed on it years ago: the game was too short, with too few places and too few variables. "Well, now we have added them."

Weather. Fires. Fairs. A visiting king. Jousts, pickpockets and a debt collector at the door. "My favourite part is that you can't predict it anymore. You keep getting surprised. Even I have to fight to win."

"Discover how it all works, then use your tricks to beat the system."

A klutz worth cheering for

Does Wilbur look like his maker? "No, haha! But he fits Tiltwick perfectly. Crooked medieval houses, a bit of a klutz, and you are the one who has to get him back on his feet." Fernand has bigger plans for him: "He would make a perfect wizard's apprentice. One where everything goes wrong."

One dreamer, a lot of AI

Fernand is open about it: the game is made with AI. Claude writes the code, ChatGPT helps draw the town. "Vibe coding has a bit of a bad name, because everyone can do it. But there are already several hundred hours in Wilbur. It still takes a lot of work before a character looks exactly the way I want."

He is no beginner either. He studied Communication & Multimedia Design and started his career building 3D combustion engines and water pumps in Flash, for car industry e-learning.

> 90s FLASHBACK_Before the 486 there was a Philips P2000. At night the radio broadcast beeps, ones and zeros, and the next morning you had Digger on a cassette tape.

What comes next

His big dream goes back to the Sierra days: Police Quest, Hero's Quest, Kyrandia, and yes, Leisure Suit Larry, "which you weren't really allowed to play as a kid". Next up: a point-and-click adventure in the world of Tiltwick, with a new chapter every week. "My daughter Ella asks for an update every few days. We can't let our daughters down."

And the future of games? "Exciting. Maybe soon everyone gets their own AI game. A pity, because talking about a game together is half the fun." For now, the candle is lit. Play Wilbur for free.