This lecture will explore the engineering involved in creating a single frame of gameplay in the commercial video games, Zool (1992) and Snake Pass (2017). Both games have their roots in Sheffield: the first with the 80’s software house Gremlin Graphics and the second with its spiritual successor, Sumo Digital. Pitched for a general audience, the lecture will explain how principles of computer science are used to realise the extraordinary creative visions of designers, artists and animators in interactive games. In doing so it will provide an insight into the interdisciplinary skill sets involved in making games, and how they come together to produce a creative product.