About

ScrollBits is a solo indie iOS studio. I’m Luke Hightower — the maker.

Who I am

I’ve been an air traffic controller for nearly twenty years. I’ve spent the bulk of my career on position, working live traffic. I started ScrollBits to build the kind of game I’d actually want to play during downtime — one that respects the language, the work, and the player.

Note: I don’t speak for my facility, my employer, or the FAA. ScrollBits is a personal project.

Why ScrollBits

The name is a coincidence I liked. ScrollBits is a small studio — one person, building one game at a time, paying close attention to what makes each one feel right.

Why this game

Every existing ATC app I tried felt like it was made by people who’d never actually done the job. Either they oversimplified the language to make it accessible — which defeats the point if you’re studying for the academy — or they buried the experience in such heavy realism that nobody would play it for fun.

I wanted to make a game that uses real FAA Order 7110.65 phraseology, that teaches through consequence rather than tutorials, that’s actually fun to pick up for ten minutes, and that has enough depth to be worth coming back to. Voice control was the right input because that’s how the job is actually done. iPad-first because that’s where the radar fits.

The result is ATC Games: Voice Control — seven game modes plus a five-phase guided campaign called ATC 101.

What’s next

ATC Games is the first thing ScrollBits is shipping. There will be more — both inside the ATC space and outside it. I’m interested in voice as a primary input across genres, in expertise-driven games more broadly, and in keeping the studio small.

Contact

Press inquiries: press@scrollbits.com
General / fan mail: hello@scrollbits.com
For app support: visit Support