My name is Rhys Wynne. My pronouns are he/him. I also accept mate, love, and – when you get to know me – knobhead. Please don’t touch my beard.
Where I’m From…
I was born in 1984 in Colwyn Bay – which is a small seaside town in North Wales. I first left home in 2002 to study at the University of Liverpool, when health problems meant I moved back home in 2005/06. Very much a member of the Boomerang Generation, in less than ideal circumstances. I moved to Manchester in 2010, before buying and relocating to Newton-le-Willows in 2020 which is famous for being the home town of Rick Astley, and the place where the first person was killed by a train. That was a fun fact.
What I Do
Professionally
Professionally, I’ve been working in internet and web development since 2005. Beginning as a web developer and SEO, I’ve took a break in 2010 to be a full-time SEO, only to pivot to a full time web developer in 2012.
My main source of income is through WordPress development, and away from client work I have developed my own WordPress plugins. I’ve spoken at a number of WordCamps. I also have contributed to WordPress 3.9 and 4.4 release, as well as a Volunteer Moderator on the forums, as well as help organise WordCamp Manchester 2015 and 2016. I also wrote a book – bbPress Complete – which was released in 2013.
In 2018 I went freelance. My freelance face is at Dwi’n Rhys.
For Fun
This site however is more dedicated to my other passions.
Video Games & Video Game Development
Being a long time techie, I’ve been a long time fan of video games (since the very early 1990s), and even now I write occasionally about video games I like on my site Retro Garden. I regularly attend conventions and occasionally when I visit a new city I hunt out video game and retro game stores – as I’m a bit of a hoarder of games.
In 2024 I also started some video game development as part of my spare time. Here’s what I’ve written in terms of games:-
Monoscale
Made in Godot this was a game for the 1 bit Game Jam. It did alright and I covered this on the blog here.
Frosty’s Snowed Under!
Made for the Pico-8 fantasy console for the Advent Calendar Game Jam 2024. A remake of a Commodore 64 game that I covered here.
Mari Lwyd’s Festive Rap Battle
A quick game for the same Advent Calendar Game Jam of 2024. When it was announced they were a game or two short, I had a go at making a quick game. A simple game that is a Simon Says clone, made for the Pico-8, with a Welsh theme.
Football
Around the mid 90’s I started regularly watching football. My teams are Colwyn Bay (who play in the Welsh leagues after leaving the English system in the mid-late 2010s), Liverpool and the Welsh national team. Each one of these have brought me joy and pain.
Cricket
One recent love I got post pandemic was cricket. I play for my local village team (Earlestown Cricket Club) who play in the Southport and District League. I’ve also been to watch cricket at Old Trafford.
Other Interests
My mid life crisis has manifested itself in being a runner. I regularly do parkruns and after completing Couch to 5k (you can read about it here) and sometimes even more organised races.
Finally, another love is travel. Granted I don’t do as much as I did but I like going abroad. My favourite destination is Germany (particularly Berlin), but I tend to enjoy exploring new places wherever I can find them. I usually try and coincide time away with a sporting event of some kind. In the past I’ve gone to Wrestlemania, Euro 2016, the Olympic Games and the cricket World Cup.
How to Speak to Me
As said, this site is a bit of a dumping ground all those interests, and more. Should you wish to speak to me about most things then the coolest thing to do is to drop me a message via email (no link requests), or sign my guestbook (very 90’s). I’m also on the following social media networks:-
These are the main ones, I also have a few more in the sidebar but I don’t tend to use them. I won’t use Twitter until Elon goes.
