For Ben, game developer, game artist, 3D artist-animator, illustrator, and ex-assistant professor, the mission is no longer escapism but excavation. He has always been at odds whether to hide behind a silk, digital screen (virtual worlds) or become a vocal presence for a more social cause (sociopolitical worlds). Hence, a battle of realms simulated and concrete begins and has been since his memory came to be. Whether this be a painstakingly hand-illustrated game discussing labor inequalities, constructing 3D skatable worlds controllable through tech-deck, or seeing if character's he sculpts in mixed reality have a purpose in actual reality.