Tim Pyle

Featured Projects

Some of the recent projects created & developed by Tim Pyle

Astrophysics Variety Hour

A whimsical video produced for NASA's Universe of Learning featuring comedy, character skits, original songs, and animation.

How do astronomers find planets beyond our solar system...without even seeing them? Join this lighthearted channel-surfing romp that explores where planets and people came from, and how we are finding worlds orbiting distant stars in our Milky Way galaxy.

Created & written by Tim Pyle. Co-directed by Tim Pyle & Whitney Avalon. Starring Felicia Day. Featuring Whitney Avalon, Andre Boyer, Lauren Lopez, Burl Moseley, Alyssa Preston, Joey Richter, Clayton Snyder, and Wil Wheaton. With an original song performed by Rachel Bloom.

Watch on YouTube

Dum-Dum

Dum-Dum is a PC puzzle game created by Tim Pyle, simulating a fictional old-school computer.

Travel back to the mid-1980s to discover more about the self-proclaimed “greatest operating system of all time." Navigate the weird quirks of Hogo OS 1985 Edition, solve puzzles, play mini-games, and unravel the story behind why this one-time cutting edge computer system was mysteriously lost to time.

Rumors say that an evil mastermind attempted to use Hogo OS to take over the world, and was only stopped by the bumbling actions of a complete idiot. Those rumors are true.

The year is 1985. And you are that idiot.

Steam Page Game Review

Exoplanet Spin

This free web game was developed to support the educational goals of the Astrophysics Variety Hour.

How much do you know about exoplanet technology and terminology? Put your knowledge to the test with this word-guessing game developed for NASA's Universe of Learning.

Spin the wheel and guess letters to reveal the hidden words. Compete against the computer or another human player to see who can solve it first.

Successfully guessing each puzzle rewards players with exoplanet-related science facts. And if the puzzles seem a bit difficult, try watching the Astrophysics Variety Hour first! Many of the names & phrases in this game come directly from the video.

COMING SOON

Sample Videos

Links to YouTube videos written, directed, animated by Tim Pyle for NASA/Caltech

When Galaxies Collide

Felicia Day enlists the help of a poorly-edited audiobook (Sean Astin) to describe the science of colliding galaxies to an overly enthusiastic video producer (Buffy Henshaw).

NOTGLaDOS: Fusion vs. Fission

Actress Ellen McLain reprises her role as GLaDOS from the Portal video game series to educate two hapless computer technicians (Casey McKinnon, Mike Romo) about NASA science.

Ask an Astronomy Brain Parasite

Animated short featuring a charming parasite (Alan Tudyk) that taps into the brain of an astronomer (Wil Wheaton) to teach gravitational science.

Stampy the Science-Loving Postage Stamp

Danny Pudi uses a talking stamp (Richard Steven Horvitz) to learn about telescopes from a NASA engineer (Robert Picardo).

M51 & Gizmo

In this kids' animated short, alien M51 (Buffy Henshaw) moves the Earth closer to the sun to have another birthday sooner, and learns about habitable zones.