What does it take to turn a passion for tech and product into an exciting new entry on the Skillz platform? For Venkata Miriyala, founder of an indie game developer studio, the journey has been about blending a deep love for skill-based, competitive games with a fresh, hands-on approach to development. Based in North Carolina, Venkata brings a strong product and technology background, but found himself drawn to games where strategy, skill, and split-second decisions matter most.

Venkata Miriyala shows clear enthusiasm and a thoughtful player-first approach. Before writing a line of code, he prototypes game mechanics, testing with friends and family to ensure gameplay is tight, fun, and fair. One of his early titles, Jackpot Solitaire, also reflects this design mindset.

In this edition of Behind the Build, we spoke with Venkata about developing his first Skillz-powered titles and what he learned along the way as a first-time Skillz developer.

What motivated you to create a Skillz-powered game, and how did you get started?

The opportunity to create real-time competitions and tap into a global player base was exciting—I began by adapting simple mechanics into competitive formats.

What has been the biggest learning curve or surprise in developing your first Skillz game?

Balancing game mechanics for fairness in real-time competition was both a challenge and an eye-opener. What seemed like small design choices, such as card distribution, timing, or scoring had a huge impact on whether players felt the game was truly fair. That experience reinforced that fairness is the foundation of trust with players.

How do you envision your future growth on the Skillz platform?

I aim to scale by launching a portfolio of unique, skill-based titles and leveraging insights from each release to improve the next.

From Prototype to Platform: Venkata Miriyala’s Next Chapter

Venkata Miriyala proves that fresh perspectives can carve out a promising path, even in a crowded competitive mobile space. From his North Carolina roots to his friends-and-family prototyping, he blends creativity with modern tech to build engaging skill-based games.

If you want to see what’s next for Venkata Miriyala or follow other innovative new Skillz developers, stay tuned. There’s plenty more ahead, and we’ll be here sharing the stories behind the games we all love!