Shawn McGrath, creator of PSN-exclusive tunnel shooter Dyad, exits his workplace - a house in the north side of Toronto - and lights up a cigarette. The rental home is lined with out-of-control weeds McGrath steps over to lean against his car, which sports novelty license plates with a leet variation of the word "hacker."

That was a high school decision, he admits.

Inside the house is a sanctuary for his art, a game McGrath has been working on for years. Dyad, which will be launched tomorrow, was the culmination of a dream McGrath once told himself was dead before reclaiming it with the help of friends; a group deeply rooted in the development of Toronto's burgeoning independent game scene.

But McGrath's obsession with game creation began many years before he, as a preteen, would program his first QBasic title. It was an obsession that began with Tetris.