Our Story

FlashFire Studios Incorporated was first conceived on August 21, 2011 from the shared dream of three Calgary preteens — Mark Craig, Leland Stevenson, and Erin Coflin — who originally called their venture M.L.E. Games. Despite their youth, the trio was ambitious, setting their sights on creating a third-person action-platformer titled Rro & Scrapbot: Liberation!. However, the game never materialized as the young team was still finding its footing. Over time, their circle grew, and M.L.E. Games evolved beyond the original trio. They expanded to a six-person team with the addition of a tech expert, a writer, and renowned artist Simoun Talion, who contributed several early concept sketches. With the group’s newfound energy and the flash-mob trend at its peak, Talion proposed a flash-mob to promote their game—a pivotal moment that sparked M.L.E. Games' transformation into the ever-evolving FlashFire Studios.

In September 2011, FlashFire Studios released its first project, a light version of a third-person action-platformer titled Wormy. Built on the Unity engine, the game was based on a tutorial that the original team followed to learn programming basics. Though the demo was incomplete, it marked a significant step forward and will soon be available on our Shop page, with a future blog post announcing its release!

By 2012, FlashFire Studios embarked on new creative ventures, including the gritty Canadian werewolf comic Climmer and a mobile side-scrolling sequel to Wormy inspired by classic Mario-esque games. However, as founder Mark Craig relocated from Calgary, FlashFire Studios became inactive by January of 2013. The studio's story resumed shortly after Mark moved to Airdrie, Alberta, where he met Travis Downey, the creative force behind The Adventures of Dentoka and Journey of The Northern Dragon. The pair quickly became friends and decided to revive the defunct studio. With Downey joining as co-founder, development on Rro & Scrapbot continued, alongside new projects like Climmer and collaborations with other artists. By late 2014, Black Jester Gaming—close friends and creative allies—merged with FlashFire Studios on the condition that their logos unite. From 2014 to 2018, the Black Jester became the official mascot of FlashFire Studios and continues to be our special Halloween logo today!

However, by 2016, development on many FlashFire projects slowed as team members, including Travis Downey, pursued higher education, with many heading off to college and university. By 2018, FlashFire Studios had largely faded into inactivity. It wasn’t until January 21, 2024, that FlashFire Studios would be revived once more.

During this time, Mark Craig had spent nearly a year writing a novel he hoped to publish in 2024, alongside various TTRPG sourcebooks and the video game Friday Force. Known as the top local artist M.C. Monarch in Alberta, Mark was also seeking a platform to release his next album. Meanwhile, Shawn Whalen, a passionate creative, had developed two exciting projects: Blazed & Refused, a modern-day stoner comic with a quirky black-and-white art style, and PDHL, a tabletop RPG board game. The duo began to take their creative endeavors seriously and enlisted the help of Liam Collyer, who had studied business and marketing at university, to bring their ideas to life. Shawn played a crucial role in shaping Mark’s TTRPG setting and proofreading Tales of Tulara Vol. 1, leading to a close creative partnership. Liam proposed launching a magazine to support their business and creative pursuits. Thus, on that pivotal day in January 2024, FlashFire Studios was reborn as FlashFire Studios Incorporated, co-founded by Mark Craig, Shawn Whalen, and Liam Collyer, with Mark Craig at the helm.

However, the initial launch of the business was tumultuous. As of November 21st, 2024, Mark Craig is the sole proprietor of FlashFire Studios Incorporated, and FlashFire Studios Incorporated is no longer associated with either Shawn Whalen or Liam Collyer.

Meet Mark Craig — also known as Calgary rapper M.C. Monarch, original founder of M.L.E. Games, FlashFire Studios, and FlashFire Studios Inc. He is the author of the Tales of Tulara book series and tabletop RPG franchise, editor for the PDHL board game, and author/editor for FlashFire Studios Monthly Magazine.

Honorable Mentions: Former business partners Shawn Whalen and Liam Collyer, and longtime friends and collaborators Michael Grovet and Jason McAlpine, both contributors to FlashFire Monthly Magazine. Michael is the author of the pulp series Zorro: The Black Blade, and Jason is the creator of the pulp series The Calico Ghost: Spirit Tales. Jason, as the first backer of FlashFire Studios, has been a great help on our journey; without his support, none of this would be possible. FlashFire Studios Incorporated gives thanks to FlashFire Monthly Magazine contributor Tristan Craig, long time supporter of FlashFire Studios and brother to Mark Craig.

Mark Craig gives special thanks to his mother and his father, who directly cultured and nourished the creativity that gave rise to the Tales of Tulara franchise and generally all his creative works. Without their support, FlashFire Studios Incorporated would never have been conceived, neither would any of the projects hosted on this website have come into being.

Without parental exposure to things like Walking With Dinosaurs, Jaws, Magic Tree House, Star Wars, Neopets, Indiana Jones, Lord of The Rings, Wizard of Oz, and Criminal Minds, such creative works as Friday Force, Flash RPG, and Tales of Tulara would not exist. Designs and elements from projects owe their inspiration to the parents of Mark, such as the use of stevia as a sugar in Friday Force, and various defining characteristics of the Tales of Tulara setting, including the Armoured Aardvark species found in the Flash RPG Rulebook.

Special thanks to the following:

Toosty, artist behind the pigmen and various upcoming assets in Friday Force.

Livelier_Vovalium, artist behind various monster and player skins including the Summer Ready Zombie with Bling and Undead Overlord skins in Friday Force.

Madalin N., artist and designer behind the art assets of the Ultimate Dice Hockey expansion sourcebook for Flash RPG.